Eye on Pesticides

It is apparent that buying or growing as much organic food as possible is not only best for your health, but for the health of the entire planet. However, certain fruits and vegetables are subjected to far heavier pesticide use than others. With food prices rising, many are looking for ways to buy the healthiest foods possible at the lowest cost.

One such way would be to focus on purchasing certain organic items, while settling for others that are conventionally grown. The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit organization that advocates for policies that protect global and individual health, produces the Shoppers' Guide to Pesticides in Produce. It is based on the results of nearly 43,000 pesticide tests.

Of the 43 different fruit and vegetable categories in the EWG's Guide to Pesticides, the following 12 foods had the lowest pesticide load when conventionally grown: asparagus, avocados, bananas, broccoli, cabbage, eggplant, kiwis, mangos, onions, pineapples, sweet corn and sweet peas. Consequently, they are the safest conventionally grown crops to consume.

Meanwhile, these 12 fruits and vegetables had the highest pesticide load, making them the most important to buy or grow organic: apples, celery, cherries, imported grapes, lettuce, nectarines, peaches, pears, potatoes, spinach, strawberries and sweet bell peppers. Conventionally grown strawberries, in particular, were found by a 007 European Union study to be highly toxic due to a poisonous blend of pesticides. But be aware that these lists cover fruits and vegetables only. Non-organic meats actually have far higher concentrations of pesticides than all of the fruits and vegetables. And the highest concentration of pesticides is actually in non-organic butter.

So, if you can only buy one organic food item, it should be butter. Your next priority should be meats, and once those are addressed, focus on the fruits and vegetables listed above.

Bear in mind, also, that locally grown organics are your absolute best bet. Oftentimes, buying locally grown food is your best choice even if it's grown conventionally, as the environmental impact of shipping organic produce across the globe can cancel out many of its benefits. Organic farming standards are also questionable in many parts of the world.

Article excerpt by Dr. Mercola, published in Pathways to Family Wellness, summer 2010