photo by Hannah Siegrist
Going Organic can seem daunting and expensive at first. We have learned to be a bit more ‘organic savy’, buying the products that really NEED to be organic not just any junk food revamped with a ‘USDA Organic’ sign slapped on it!
The easiest way to get Organic and Local fresh produce is to get to know your local farmers market or green grocer! They usually know where everything comes from and how it’s been grown. Plus, it’s much fresher, usually coming from farm to table in just a matter of days. My dear friend Merle Rodgers runs the best ‘farm stand’ I’ve ever every experienced. They hand pick their farmers and personally select all their beautiful produce. Isn’t she a beauty?
I have found this list to be very helpful when I am needing to economical :
The Dirty Dozen:
Whenever possible try to buy these items Organic. They are farmed with the most Pesticides and have a thin skin that soaks all of those chemicals right up.
Apples
Strawberries
Grapes
Celery
Peaches
Spinach
Sweet bell peppers
Nectarines
Cucumbers
Potatoes
Cherry tomatoes
Hot peppers
photo by Hannah Siegrist
The Clean 15
These items are farmed with less pesticides and /or have a thicker skin, therefor protecting the part you eat from whatever pesticides are used in the growing process.
Mushrooms
Sweet potatoes
Cantaloupe
Grapefruit
Kiwi
Eggplant
Asparagus
Mangoes
Papayas
Sweet peas – frozen
Cabbage
Avocados
Pineapple
Onions
Corn
This list and paragraph is from www.mnn.com.
(The Environmental Working Group has released its annual Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce. The guide ranks pesticide contamination on 48 popular fruits and vegetables. To determine the ranking, the EWG analyzes more than 28,000 samples that have been tested by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration.)