photo by La Grande Farmers' Market
Have you ever heard of ‘The Dirty Dozen’ or ‘The Clean 15′? I have been hearing about them off and on for a little while now, and when I did some research on them, I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t paid attention sooner!
In a perfect world I would buy all organic produce, raw milk, grass fed beef, and free range poultry. Unfortunately that would be beyond our budget. There are some things that we make a priority of, beef and poultry are one. (I actually can’t wait until fall when we get our grass fed beef!) We drank raw milk for a while, but when we moved into town the gas + milk prices prohibited that. Hopefully we will be able to start that up again soon though! I am pretty picky about our chicken too, although I admit that I buy the ‘best’ in our price range.
As far as produce, I admit that I don’t buy a lot of organic. I should, I want to, but unless I am couponing, the store we shop at doesn’t carry organic produce. When I stumbled upon this list it made it seem little easier to make that transition until the produce from our own garden is ready.
The Dirty Dozen:
This is a list of produce that contain the highest number of pesticides and contaminates. (I have lists that vary a bit, but I got this one from here and seems to be the most updated one.)
Celery
Peaches
Strawberries (a’superfood’)
Apples
Blueberries (a ‘superfood’)
Nectarines
Bell Peppers
Spinach (a ‘superfood’)
Kale
Cherries
Potatoes
Imported Grapes
The Clean 15
This is a list of produce that doesn’t have a high number of pesticides or contaminates, (found here)
Onions
Avocado (a ‘superfood’)
Sweet Corn
Pineapple
Mango
Sweet Peas
Asparagus (a ‘superfood’)
Kiwi
Cabbage
Eggplant
Cantalope
Watermelon
Grapefruit
Sweet Potato
Honeydew Melon
There is a great printout here that you can even take along with you to the store. It also states:
EWG research has found that people who eat five fruits and
vegetables a day from the Dirty Dozen™ list consume an average of
10 pesticides a day. Those who eat from the 15 least contaminated
conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables ingest fewer than 2
pesticides daily.And:
Rinsing reduces but does not eliminate
pesticides. Peeling helps, but valuable nutrients often go down the
drain with the skin. The best approach: eat a varied diet, rinse all
produce and buy organic when possible.
Here is a list of 49 fruits and vegetables listed in order of ‘best’ to ‘worst’ which I found interesting, and here is a list of 10 ‘Superfoods’ for Spring.
I am really looking forward to the local farmers markets to open. They are such a great source of local and organic produce. I know I will be more particular about organic produce.
Hello! I am switching to organic foods after getting groceries for really cheap with coupons and am needing to prioritize. In your opinion, what do you think is important from greatest to least….ex: meats, dairy, fruits and vegetables….on a tight budget, if I have to pick and choose, how can I get the healthiest deals and stretch those dollars? Thank you!
Hi Mandie,
I want to start off and say that I am not an expert, but enjoy sharing what I have been learning. For our family we made a priority to change our meat, honey, milk (when we can afford it) and select produce first. Occasionally you can find good deals on organic things and I make sure to stock up at those times. Mostly though, I use the money we save by my couponing to be able to afford the ‘good’ stuff.
If your family eats a lot of meat then I would start with that. Then I just try to avoid anything high on the pesticide list. Apples, potatoes, and grapes are the first things we changed.
Do you live in an area with many farmers markets? Try to go to those at the end of the day and see if the vendors have any good deals. Most of them would rather sell at a small loss than pack the stuff up and take it home with you.
Some stores offer ‘bruised’ produce at a discount, but you may have to ask about it.
Are you able to have even a small garden for your family? That’s a big priority for us this year. (If the weather even decides to cooperate!)
I just try to keep in mind that any small step to going organic is a step in the right direction. Hope that helps!
Andrea
Thank you so much!
Man, I wish that potatoes, spinach, and apples were not on the dirty dozen. They are just such staples, and some of the least expensive produce. Some of the other seasonal “treat” fruits I can just try to get from relatives with good gardens and road side stands, but it is hard to switch off of the staples. Not sure what I will do with this information, but thanks for sharing.
I’d like to ad a comment to this…i recently read that specifically potatoes are about the worst things you can eat unless they are organic!! I was shocked! It said that the farmers that were interviewed admitted that there’s NO WAY they would eat their own potatoes! They grow their own ones in a seperate patch with no pesticides used in the growing process. Regular potatoes are sprayed 3 seperate times with pesticides before they arrive in the stores! I couldn’t believe it! Now I only buy organic potatoes…definitely not worth the risk with the regular ones!