Organic foods are rising in popularity. Today I wanted to share with you some foods you can eat that don’t have to be organic, and some foods that you should consider buying the organic variety if you can afford them or if they are available in your area.
First of all, do you know what growing organic means? Well, let me tell you!
Organic fruits and vegetables are by definition grown without the use of pesticides. It’s becoming a known fact that “organically grown” foods are healthier than conventionally grown foods.
However, some people don’t have easy access to, or can’t afford, organically grown foods on a regular basis, and that’s why I wanted to share this with you.
Here are some foods that you can purchase at your local grocery store, that aren’t organically grown, but have very low levels of pesticide use when farming.
The Environmental Working Group (EWA) is a nonprofit organization that advocates for policies that protect global and individual health. This summer they published the Shoppers’ Guide to Pesticides in Produce. The date is based on the results of nearly 43,000 pesticide tests.
Of the 43 different fruit and vegetable categories in the Guide to Pesticides, the following 12 foods had the lowest amount of pesticide load when conventionally grown. Because of this, they are the safest conventionally grown crops to consume. Here they are:
Broccoli
Eggplant
Cabbage
Banana
Kiwi
Asparagus
Sweet peas (frozen)
Mango
Pineapple
Sweet corn (frozen)
Avocado
Onion
Now, on the flip side of this coin, here are the 12 fruits and vegetables that were tested to have the HIGHEST amount of pesticide load. These are the foods you should consider to buy organic FIRST.
Peaches
Apples
Sweet bell peppers
Celery
Nectarines
Strawberries
Cherries
Lettuce
Grapes (imported)
Pears
Spinach
Potatoes
The best thing is to buy all local, organically grown produce, I just wanted to provide these lists for those trying to budget for certain foods.
If you’d like more information, just check out these resources:
DrWeil.com July 30, 2008
FoodNews.org Printable Shopper’s Guide
Helping you live YOUR Vibrant Potential,
Dr. Chris Frykman