Fruits and vegetables are God’s most precious gift to man for the nourishment of the body. They are whole foods, live, full of nutrients to make strong, healthy bodies free of disease. Today, people seldom eat vegetables and fruit as the most important part of their diet.
When it comes to shopping for produce, shoppers don’t take time to consider the many pesticides that are sprayed on the produce. Usually the bigger the produce, the more chemicals that have been used. Because organic costs more, is not as available and many times does not always look fresh, people by pass this option.
The Environmental Working Groups (EWG) publishes a list each year of which fruits and vegetables have the most and least pesticides. They have divided them into 2 groups.
The Dirty 12
– Apples
– Celery
– Bell peppers
– Hot peppers
– Cherry tomatoes
– Strawberries
– Peaches
– Nectarines
– Grapes
– Green Leafy vegetables
– Cucumbers
– Potatoes
The Clean 15
– Avocado
– Cabbage
– Asparagus
– Kiwi
– Cantaloupe
– Sweet corn
– Sweet peas
– Mangoes
– Eggplant
– Mushrooms
– Pineapple
– Onions
– Grapefruit
– Sweet potatoes
– Papayas
Generally speaking, if protected by a peel, skin, or rind that one does not eat, we consider it clean in that any pesticides used do not get to the fruit or vegetable we consume. An example of these would be avocadoes, cantaloupe, and pineapple. We may then choose to buy conventional produce on the cleaner fruits and vegetables and save our money to buy organic meats and dairy. On the dirty 12 buy organic. If that is still impossible, use a spray containing 1/3 vinegar to 2 parts of water for cleaning. There are also a number of commercial products on the market used to wash produce.
