Which Produce Should You Buy Organic? Twelve Fruits and Vegetables That Contain the Most Pesticides
by B. Chancey on January 24th, 2010 at 7:00 am
With today’s tight budgets, it’s hard to think about spending more money on produce for the family. However, there are twelve fruits and veggies that you may want to spend a little more dough on. Turns out, according to an FDA study, certain fruits and vegetables can contain between 47 and 67 different pesticides per serving, deeming them the “Dirty Dozen”.
Some produce contain more pesticides than others, due to their thin, edible, porous skin. Take an orange for instance, we do not eat an orange peel because of its thickness and bitter taste, but we do however, eat the skin of a cherry ingesting more pesticides. Although washing your fruits and veggies can help; pesticides found in the tested produce had already been washed per FDA standards.
These Dirty Fruits and Vegetables Include:
- Celery
- Peaches
- Strawberries
- Apples
- Domestic blueberries
- Nectarines
- Sweet bell peppers
- Spinach, kale and collard greens
- Cherries
- Potatoes
- Imported grapes
- Lettuce
What are Pesticides?
A pesticide is a substance or a mixture of substances that prevent or repel pests such as, insects, birds, mammals and microbes that destroy property, spread disease or just cause a nuisance to fruit and vegetable-bearing plants and trees.
The first pesticide was elemental sulfur in 20 BC; it was primarily used to ward off pests in Mesopotamia. Today there are pesticides for virtually every kind of pest you can think of, and they save farmers money by preventing crop losses.
Why use Pesticides?
Through the years there has been quite a bit of controversy concerning the use of pesticides. According to the USDA, 45 percent of the world’s crops are lost to damage or spoilage, so many farmers count on pesticides. U.S. farmers estimate getting a fourfold financial return from the money they spend on pesticides by the amount of produce they salvage by using them.
The EPA and FDA are responsible for determining the appropriate amounts of pesticides that can be present in produce eaten by the public, so the fruits and veggies in your grocery store have tolerated levels and are safe to eat. Nevertheless, wouldn’t it make you feel better to know you are filling your body with less pesticides? Buy the dirty dozen in organic!
When shopping for fruits and veggies, note whether it has a tough impenetrable skin, or a soft porous skin; this will help you determine an organic or non-organic purchase.
