Buy These Organic Fruits and Veggies

By Diana Herrington (www.realfoodforlife.com)

These foods look healthy but unless they are organic they have the highest levels of toxicity.

 This list of foods for 2012 is called the ‘Dirty Dozen’ and is updated each year at http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/list/

 1.  Apples: This healthy power food has to look perfect or consumers are suspicious.

New to the top toxic spot, apples are susceptible to more than 30 insects and at least 10 diseases, and so are sprayed many times during the growing season. Fungicides and other chemicals are also added after picking to prevent tiny blemishes that can accumulate during storage of up to 9 months. Read the possible health benefits of apples at   Apple Benefits.

2. Celery: “Nobody likes to find a caterpillar-damaged stalk in their celery bunch,” says Stuart Reitz, PhD, a research entomologist with the USDA.”

3. Sweet Bell Peppers: The creases in their crowns hold pesticides so they soak in.  They also have less insect deterring compounds in them.

4. Peaches: Farmers may spray peaches every week or two from bloom to harvest—and peach fuzz can trap pesticides. The USDA Pesticide Data Program found 62 pesticide residues.

5. Strawberries: Are delicate and prone to disease, including fungal attacks that can turn them to mush during transit and storage. Millions of pounds of methyl bromide are used every year by California strawberry growers. It damages the ozone layer, so it is banned in many parts of the world. “This chemical has an uncanny ability to damage DNA, which creates a host of problems, ranging from reproductive effects to cancer and neurological damage,” explains Gina Solomon, MD, MPH, chief scientist at Natural Resources Defense Council. “Since the chemical is also highly volatile, it is easy for it to drift and affect workers and nearby communities.”

6.  Nectarines: – imported are a genetic mutation of peaches so have the same weakness and “need’ the same support.

7.  Grapes: To prevent that rot that easily happens, farmers spray aggressively with fungicides.  The USDA Pesticide Data Program found 34 pesticide residues.

8.  Spinach: Those green leaves are loved by grasshoppers and other insects and the plants themselves suck up chemicals from the soil, for example spinach has been shown to contain DDT from the soil which was banned over 10 years ago.  You don’t want to just pass though on spinach though. It’s too healthy as you can read here. Spinach Health Benefits

9.  Lettuce: Like spinach there are large surface areas to protect.

10.  Cucumbers: Without spraying can be very delicate.  The USDA Pesticide Data Program found 35 pesticide residues.

11.  Blueberries: The berries are targets for insects such as blueberry maggots and bagworms.

12.  Potatoes: are sprayed 5 or more times throughout the growing season to protect against various pests. After harvesting, another round of spraying occurs in the packing shed to ward off molds.

Extras on dangerous list:

13. Kale/collard greens:  Like spinach and lettuce have large surface areas to absorb sprays.

14. Cherries: If just one of the western cherry maggots is found in a shipment, the entire load of fruit must be dumped so growers spray out of fear of losing their crops.