Exposure to pesticides over a lifetime can have adverse effects on your health, including damage to the endocrine system, the nervous system, or to a person’s hormonal rhythms. Choosing organic produce is a great way to avoid harmful pesticides.
However, if you can’t afford organic fruit and vegetables all the time, spend your money wisely with the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) “Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides”. The guide provides a straightforward list of popular fruits and vegetables ranked by their estimated pesticide contamination. By avoiding the top most contaminated fruits and vegetables, or by buying these in organic forms, consumers can reduce their pesticide exposure by up to 80%. See below for their “Dirty Dozen” (which you should buy organic) and the “Clean 15″.
While many consumers think that rinsing or peeling their produce is enough to rid food of any contaminants, the EWG’s warns that this will not protect the consumer, as all of the fruits and vegetables ranked highest on the pesticide scale had been thoroughly cleaned or peeled before being tested. By making a few simple diet changes, you can avoid this worry altogether.
So which fruits and vegetables should you opt for this summer? Many of the most refreshing fruits sit low on the pesticide scale, such as mango, pineapple, watermelon, papaya and kiwi. Before you head to the supermarket, grab the “Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides” application for iPhone (available at www.foodnews.org) so you can be a savvy shopper at the touch of a button.
As you reevaluate your purchasing habits, remember that buying locally grown produce is an easy way to “be green”. Produce can often travel a thousand miles before it reaches the shelf at your favorite grocery store, so look for farmer’s markets in your area and buy produce with a small carbon footprint. Visit www.localharvest.org for a listing of farmer’s markets in your area.
Posted on June 24th, 2009
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