Avoiding Pesticides On Food

The growing rate of obesity in this country has everyone paying a little more attention to the food they eat. Adding more fruits and vegetables to the diet is a great way to add healthy choices that can be delicious, too. Unfortunately, many conventionally grown fruits and vegetables bought at the grocery store introduce you to a whole new concern with regard to your health: how much pesticide and herbicide residue you and your family might be consuming.

Organically grown meats, fruits and vegetables offer a safer alternative that lets you avoid concentrated pesticide and herbicide residue as well as other additives like growth hormones, antibiotics and flavor additives. Going completely organic, however, is not only expensive but probably not really necessary. What I recommend is that when choosing which fruits and vegetables to buy organic, you focus specifically on the foods that are the most likely to carry pesticide residue even after being washed thoroughly with water.

I’ve been doing some digging around on the Internet – something I enjoy doing when I’m not digging in the garden – and I learned that by avoiding the so-called “dirty dozen” fruits and vegetables that typically have the most residue, you can eliminate almost all – around 80% - of your exposure to the toxic stuff.

Why do you want to avoid ingesting pesticides and herbicides? They are designed to kill weeds and pests that can destroy the product while it is growing and during transport and storage. A recent study has linked higher traces of pesticides in children with a higher incidence of ADHD. While the effects of these poisons on the human body aren’t completely known, it just makes sense that you would want to ingest as little as possible.

The Environmental Working Group analyzed a significant amount of data that the FDA and USDA collected over the last ten years. They came up with a list of the worst fruits and vegetables to buy from conventional growers – and these are the ones you should either consider growing yourself or concentrate your organic purchasing budget on.

The list makes sense to me: fruits and vegetables that are more difficult to wash well or have more porous skins (thus absorbing residues into their flesh) scored higher on the pesticide residue scale than those whose skins we don’t tend to eat and those that can be scrubbed thoroughly.

The dirty dozen, as compiled by the Environmental Working Group, are:

• Celery
• Peaches
• Strawberries
• Apples
• Blueberries
• Nectarines
• Bell Peppers
• Spinach
• Kale
• Cherries
• Potatoes
• Grapes (Imported)

If you want to buy organic, the dozen fruits and vegetables listed above are the ones I would put the emphasis on. By eliminating your risk with these fruits and vegetables, you can still lower your intake of residues and improve your access to safe food without breaking the bank. The top ten safest fruits and veggies listed below are ones you can choose to buy from conventional growers and reduce your food costs without increasing your risk too much.

• Onions
• Avocado
• Sweet Corn
• Pineapple
• Mangos
• Sweet Peas
• Asparagus
• Kiwi
• Cabbage
• Eggplant

It's important to wash, scrub and peel (when appropriate) all produce well, even local and organic foods. Commercial food washes can be a great way to help ensure safety, and I use them regularly. Of course, the best way to be assured of the least amount of pesticides is to buy local organic produce from a farmers market, CSA or – my favorite - grow it yourself.

Until next month, eat well!