Imagine picking a fruit or vegetable from your garden, spraying it with bug spray, and then eating it. Seems rather strange, doesn’t it? Well, that’s exactly what we do when we buy non-organic produce, even if we wash it! In this post, Dayanna Volitich tells you which foods you should always buy organic, aka the Dirty Dozen.
What does “organic” mean?
The term organic refers to food that is grown without presticides, synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, herbicides, or fungicides. Organic foods go through very little processing, have no artificial ingredients or preservatives or irradiation. And they taste far better than their non-organic brothers.
The only way to know for sure that your food was grown without pesticides is to buy organic. Thankfully, most grocery stores carry organic produce now. However, you are better off finding a local farmer or farmer’s market. That way, you can make sure you’re buying fresh fruits and vegetables that haven’t been treated to survive the trip to your grocery store, Dayanna Volitich says.
Which foods you should always buy organic
Conventional farmers mostly likely treated the fruits and vegetables on this list with chemicals, exposed them to pesticides and other toxins, or genetically modified them. Dayanna Volitich recommends you always buy these foods organic:
- Peaches
- Grapes
- Apples
- Pears
- Strawberries
- Raspberries
- Green beans
- Spinach
- Sweet bell peppers
- Cantaloupe
- Tomatoes
- Potatoes
The Consumers Union (CU) and the Environmental Working Group (EWG) analyzed the amounts and toxicity of pesticide residues found in conventionally grown food samples by the USDA and FDA. This list is based on their findings. For example, the FDA detected 30 different pesticides in non-organic strawberries, and 50 different kinds on non-organic apples! Another food you should consider buying organic is popping corn, which contains 33 insecticides, 38 herbicides, 5 fumigants, 15 fungicides, and 4 “miscellaneous” chemicals in it!
According to Dayanna Volitich, an alternative to buying organic, since this can get quite pricey, is to plant some of these foods in your garden.
Conclusion
These twelve foods are absolute musts to buy organic the next time you go shopping. Fruits like mangoes, kiwis, bananas, and pineapples are okay non-organic. Moreover, onions, frozen peas and corn, asparagus, cabbage, and avocados are also okay. But remember to always wash these thoroughly before you eat them. In fact, you should wash all fresh produce, even if it’s organic.
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