Top 12 foods to buy organic

While I try to buy organic as often as possible, I often end up asking myself if the package of red bell peppers really worth the 3$ more.  And what about strawberries, onions, lettuce or apples?  Should I really spend more to buy it organic?

Why should we bother to buy organic?

Even if several studies shown that conventionally grown fruits and vegetables are often as nutritious than organic ones, it is still very important to choose organic food to avoid harmful chemicals.

Chemicals found in non-organic fruits and vegetables, even in lesser amount can cause permanent damage to health.  And this is especially important during pregnancy and for young children. We now know enough about the pesticides residues to try to avoid it.

Does peeling or washing helps?

Yes it does, and you should always carefully wash organic fruits and veggies too.  But peeling and washing is clearly not sufficient to remove pesticides. And since the most nutrient part of fruits and vegetables is often in the skin, we don’t want it to go in the garbage compost.

Now from all the fruits and vegetable you can normally find at your grocery store, some are worst than others concerning pesticides residues. Which ones?

Here’s the dirty dozen:

#1 (one with the most pesticides residue): Peaches

#2: Apples

#3: Bell peppers

#4: Celery

#5: Nectarines

#6: Strawberries

#7: Cherries

#8: Curly green cabbage

#9: Lettuce

#10: Grapes (imported)

#11: Carrots

#12: Pears

So when I read that we can ingest around 10 different pesticides a day when eating non-organic food on this list, it makes me think that buying organic probably worth the price.

Note: This list has been elaborated following the results of around 87 000 pesticide tests that have been made on 47 fruits and vegetables, between 2000 and 2007, by the Environmental Working Group.