dirty dozen and clean fifteen

Gorgeous farm grown tomatoes from our local farm stand in Clark.

Are you trying to transition to buying organic food but feeling overwhelmed by the thought of spending even more money on groceries? I know this is how I feel. So I wanted to provide you with some guidelines when tackling this transition. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) annually publishes a list of the Dirty Dozen™ and the Clean 15™. Dirty Dozen™is a trademark term used to define the twelve crops that farmers typically use the most pesticides on, versus, the Clean 15™ which is also a trademark term to describe the fifteen fruit and vegetable that have the lowest amount of pesticide residue. So, when in doubt, refer to this list and whenever possible, opt to buy anything on the dirty dozen from the organic section of your supermarket.

Here is the list for 2020.

Dirty Dozen

1. Strawberries

2. Spinach

3. Kale

4. Nectarines

5. Apples

6. Grapes

7. Peaches

8. Cherries

9. Pears

10. Tomatoes

11. Celery

12. Potatoes

13. Hot Peppers (#13..EWG sneaked this one in…!)

Clean Fifteen

1. Avocado

2. Sweet corn

3. Pineapple

4. Onion

5. Papaya

6. Sweet peas (frozen)

7. Eggplant

8. Asparagus

9. Cauliflower

10. Cantaloupe

11. Broccolli

12. Mushrooms

13. Cabbage

14. Honeydew melon

15. Kiwi

For more information; check out https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/