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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