When to Buy Organic Produce

When you go to the grocery store, do you consider buying organic produce? Do you wonder which types of produce are most important to buy organic – or does it even matter? These are very common and smart questions to be asking. Fortunately, there is a nonprofit group called the Environmental Working Group (EWG) that can help us with the answers. Each year the EWG publishes The Shoppers Guide to Pesticides in Produce. In this guide they list the Dirty Dozen, which are the 12 most vulnerable fruits and vegetables when it comes to pesticides. When tested, these fruits and vegetables have the highest amount of pesticide residue on them, and therefore you should aim to buy organic when you can.  In contrast they list the Clean Fifteen, which are the 15 cleanest fruits and vegetables. They contain the least amount of pesticide residue when tested. These lists can be useful when shopping for produce if you aren’t interested in buying organic produce all of the time.  A little education can go a long way in the grocery store. I hope this list helps you the next time you’re in the produce aisle!