I struggle with this every time at the grocery store.. sometimes it's a matter of convenience, other times, price rears it's ugly head...

What to do???

 

Get organic or non GMO (genetically modified) and without pesticides, etc., etc. anytime you can. The bottom line is that our bodies are not meant to process genetically modifiied foods nor pesticides not even artificial stuff... Our bodies do what they can with them when we consume it, but eventually it catches up with us.

 

Certain above ground veggies retain more of the pesticides - so for example, celery would be one to spend an extra 50 cents for. Root vegetables- definitely try to go with natural or organic.  What's the difference? A producer who labeled their products 'natural' hasn't met all the costly requirements required for "organic certification" but are saying that they follow recognized practiceses. 

 

Meats, fish, poultry - definitely free-range, wild, organic, natural, no additives, etc... Animals (humans included!) must process the bad stuff and their organs deal with it as ours do. They store toxins in fat and in various organs. (as we do..)  So yogurt, eggs and especially butter, I always buy natural/organic and all else as much as I can...

 

The bottom line though is to eat as much "whole" foods as you can -  in that it's the least processed and.. no artificial food...

 

Remember the saying "You are what you eat" ?? Well, in class, the instructors take it a step further and say "You are what you assimilate" -

 that what we absorb - be it the vitamins, minerals and amino acids from our foods or the toxins from the artifical additives, pesticides, hormones, etc.... are what makes up our bodies. 

 

 

Most Toxic Fruits and Vegetables: source: http://www.foodnews.org/

How This Guide Was Developed

The produce ranking was developed by analysts at the not-for-profit Environmental Working Group (EWG) based on the results of nearly 43,000 tests for pesticides on produce collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 2000 and 2005. A detailed description of the criteria used in developing the rankings is available as well as a full list of fresh fruits and vegetables that have been tested (see below).

EWG is a not-for-profit environmental research organization dedicated to improving public health and protecting the environment by reducing pollution in air, water and food. For more information please visit www.ewg.org.

 The Full List: 43 Fruits & Veggies

RANK	FRUIT OR VEGGIE	SCORE
1 (worst)	Peaches	100 (highest pesticide load)
2	Apples	96
3	Sweet Bell Peppers	86
4	Celery	85
5	Nectarines	84
6	Strawberries	83
7	Cherries	75
8	Lettuce	69
9	Grapes - Imported	68
10	Pears	65
11	Spinach	60
12	Potatoes	58
13	Carrots	57
14	Green Beans	55
15	Hot Peppers	53
16	Cucumbers	52
17	Raspberries	47
18	Plums	46
19	Oranges	46
20	Grapes-Domestic	46
21	Cauliflower	39
22	Tangerine	38
23	Mushrooms	37
24	Cantaloupe	34
25	Lemon	31
26	Honeydew Melon	31
27	Grapefruit	31
28	Winter Squash	31
29	Tomatoes	30
30	Sweet Potatoes	30
31	Watermelon	25
32	Blueberries	24
33	Papaya	21
34	Eggplant	19
35	Broccoli	18
36	Cabbage	17
37	Bananas	16
38	Kiwi	14
39	Asparagus	11
40	Sweet Peas-Frozen	11
41	Mango	9
42	Pineapples	7
43	Sweet Corn-Frozen	2
44	Avocado	1
45 (best)	Onions	1 (lowest pesticide load)

Note: We ranked a total of 44 different fruits and vegetables but grapes are listed twice because we looked at both domestic and imported samples.

 And the cleanest 12! IF trying to save some green - buy conventional on these!

 

 

 

http://acga.localharvest.org/ click on state to see if there's one near you.