Tuesday, June 21, 2011

The Dirty Dozen

I've been meaning to take the time to look up 'the list'. 

The Environmental Working Group researched USDA data to come up with a list of the "Dirty Dozen" as Yahoo calls it. It is a list of the most contaminated (pesticides) fruits and vegetables sold in stores. I tried to navigate through the USDA to find the list and was met by an unfriendly-user site so to Yahoo I went.

This makes me a little sick to my stomach as I regularly buy non-organic fruits/veggies from the Dirty Dozen list for my family just so I don't have to hit the grocery store and Co-op. I'm feeling another shift in my shopping schedule though. It will be more than worth the second stop to get my fruits and veggies without the added pesticides. There is also the list of the "Clean Fifteen" which is nice to see, but I'm not even comfortable eating even the 'less contaminated'. Might have to make plans for a bigger garden next year!

Yahoo's Dirty Dozen 2011

Apples
Celery
Strawberries
Peaches
Spinach
Nectarines (imported)
Grapes (imported)
Sweet bell peppers
Potatoes
Blueberries (domestic)
Lettuce
Kale/collard greens

Yahoo's Clean Fifteen 2011

Onions
Sweet corn
Pineapples
Avocado
Asparagus
Sweet peas
Mangoes
Eggplants
Cantaloupe (domestic)
Kiwi
Cabbage
Watermelon
Sweet potatoes
Grapefruit
Mushrooms

2 comments:

Jen said...

It's really difficult as a parent or head of household on a budget to figure out how to feed your family well and still provide healthy variety for them. I am fairly committed to buy organic if it's available I'll admit it may cost me $10 or $15 more a week at the grocery, but the idea of cancer or other issues that we may not even know about it yet arising from the pesticides and chemicals is worth the investment. We do what we can--we do our best.

shannonseibel said...

Agreed. We do what we can, sometimes for my family its the simple issue of convenience. I'm not sure I am to the point where I would buy and chop pineapple instead of buying it in a can. And if we were on a shoestring budget I can say I'd be more concerned about getting any kind of fruit/veggie on the table, organic or not.