Don't Stress Over Organic

I have often wondered which items are best bought organic. This is mainly because I simply cannot afford to have a fully organic diet at this point (but dreams can come true). I do my best to keep as organic and clean as possible by shopping at the weekly farmers markets and making as many organic choices as I can while grocery shopping, but sometimes I wonder ...

Which items are best when choosing organic and where can I back off a bit?

So when I came across this it really helped med set my priorities. Now its not an organic minefield for me when shopping. Phew!

Organic produce is great — if it’s available and affordable. But what if your grocery store doesn’t have the organic produce you need? Or what if it’s too expensive?

In these cases, it’s important to know which “conventional” fruits and vegetables have the most pesticide residues, and which have the least.

We call these two groups “The Dirty Dozen” and “The Clean Fifteen”.

Most contaminated: THE DIRTY DOZEN

FRUITS:
Peaches
Apples
Nectarines
Strawberries
Cherries
Imported grapes
Pears

VEGETABLES:
Sweet bell peppers
Celery
Kale
Lettuce
Carrots

Least Contaminated: THE CLEAN FIFTEEN

FRUITS:
Avocados
Pineapples
Mangoes
Kiwi
Papayas
Watermelon
Grapefruit

VEGETABLES:
Onions
Sweet corn
Asparagus
Sweet peas
Cabbage
Eggplant
Broccoli
Tomatoes
Sweet potatoes

To download a PDF guide, or an iPhone application with the above list, visit: www.foodnews.org

What if you don’t mind springing for organic produce, but the items you need aren’t available? For example, suppose you want to make an organic peach pie, but organic peaches aren’t available locally.

Here’s one solution: plan your menu based on the organic produce that IS available.

For example, peaches aren’t in season in November — but pumpkins are. If you can buy organic pumpkins, you might consider making pumpkin pie instead. Then when peaches are in season again — next summer — you can buy organic peaches again.

If organic produce is readily available – but too expensive – you can save money by buying conventional avocados, onions, and other items from the CLEAN 15 list.