Admittedly, I lean towards healthy eating and a fairly health lifestyle. I have been a vegetarian for most of my life. My mother often told the story of four-year-old Cynthia who was very thin and would not eat. Mom was a good cook, offering meat, potatoes, salad, and a vegetable at almost every evening meal.
Mom and daddy took me to the doctor to resolve this problem. Dr. Campbell, the family doctor, suggested they let me fill my own plate and they quit nagging me about eating. They did both. Within days I began eating … mostly the vegetables. I ate a bite or two of meat but focused on salads, fruits, and vegetables. Growing up, my go-to after-school snack was a combination salad with thousand island dressing and Ritz crackers. Occasionally, I enjoy that combination today, although most of my salad dressings are oil and acid-based (vinegars, citrus) these days.
Research has shown the adage of “you are what you eat” holds true. As an adult, it is no wonder I turn to organic choices whenever possible. The idea of eating products covered with pesticides and laced with hormones makes my skin crawl. To help my shopping for clean foods, I found the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) “Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce” a helpful resource. They publish an annual Dirty Dozen tm and Clean Fifteen tm which lists the produce grown with the most pesticides and least pesticides, respectively. (See the link below.) The EWG also lists foods in the middle of the spectrum.
Forty-six foods were tested with over 46,000 samples for 2024. At the top of the pesticide-infested scale are strawberries, spinach, kale and related greens, grapes, peaches, pears, nectarines, apples, bell and hot peppers, cherries, blueberries, and green beans. If I cannot find these in organic options, I simply do not purchase them.
The website indicates the following “19 items were included in the fruit and vegetable testing data from the USDA and FDA but do not fall into either the Dirty Dozen or Clean Fifteen lists.” They are tomatoes, winter squash, cherry tomatoes, celery lettuce, tangerines cucumbers, summer squash, broccoli, potatoes, plums, eggplant, raspberries, grapefruit, snap peas, oranges, cantaloupe, bananas, and cauliflower.
Those items that have the least amount of pesticides include carrots, sweet potatoes, mangoes, mushrooms, watermelon, cabbage, kiwi, honeydew melon, asparagus, frozen sweet peas, papaya, onions, pineapple, sweet corn, and avocados.
Noted is that sweet corn, papaya, and summer squash sold in the US are produced from genetically modified seeds. IF GMOs are a concern for you, by organic varieties.
Buying organic can be more expensive, so many people opt for non-organic products. My philosophy dictates that I would rather pay more now for healthy food than for doctors and pharmaceuticals later. Obviously, each person must weigh his/her values, beliefs, and options.
For more information see: https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/full-list.php
Silver Sage Sisters 