The Dirty Dozen Fruits and Vegetables
The Dirty Dozen was named by The Environmental Working Group after they tested fruits and vegetables to find out which are the most contaminated by pesticides. Typically, these fruits and vegetables are grown using up to 20 different pesticides, and washing them will only take a small amount of the chemical off the food. Here are the Dirty Dozen of fruits and vegetables:
1. Peaches 2. Apples 3. Sweet Bell Peppers 4. Celery 5. Nectarines 6. Strawberries 7. Cherries 8. Lettuce 9. Grapes 10. Pears 11. Spinach 12. Potatoes
Keep these in mind when you go to the grocery store. If you are only able to buy a few things organic, these are the ones to buy. Incidentally, the dozen fruits and vegetables that are the least contaminated are:
Eggplant Broccoli Cabbage Bananas Kiwi Asparagus Sweet Peas-Frozen Mango Pineapples Sweet Corn-Frozen Avocado Onions (least contaminated)
Here are the ones in the middle (from 13th most contaminated to 13th least contaminated):
Carrots Green Beans Hot Peppers Cucumbers Raspberries Plums Oranges Grapes-Domestic Cauliflower Tangerine Mushrooms Cantaloupe Lemon Honeydew Melon Grapefruit Winter Squash Tomatoes Sweet Potatoes Watermelon Blueberries Papaya
The lower the fruit or vegetable is on the list for contaminants, the less important it is for your health that you buy organic. If something is low on the list, but basically the same price as the conventional type, I will go for organic so I can show that I don't support what "conventional" farming has become. It may seem that one person can't make a difference, but I believe that enough one persons add up to a big difference. As a vegan consumer, you are well aware of the impact that your food choices make on the environment and economy, and with the type of produce you pick, it's no different.
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