Environmental Working Group's annual Pesticides in Produce list now ranks apples as the most important food to buy organic. But really, it's important for everything on your shopping list.
By Leah Zerbe and Emily Main
Topics: Pesticides, organic food
Buy organic whenever you can, because there's more to the story than the produce on this list. |
| Even foods not in the dirty dozen can contain pesticides. |
THE DETAILS: The Environmental Working Group releases an annual Pesticides in Produce list to help people make smarter decisions on what to buy organic to avoid the fruits and vegetables most contaminated by pesticides. This year, however, the list was delayed by nearly five months, thanks to lobbying from the chemical produce and pesticide industries who pressured the U.S. Department of Agriculture (whose data is used by EWG to compile their list) to change the way the agency reports its figures. "This is the first time, to our knowledge, that there's been pressure by pesticide and produce industries on officials in the federal government to change the way they report residue data," EWG spokesperson Alex Formuzis told Rodale.com last month when we first reported on the lobbying efforts. The agency did ultimately release the pesticide residue figures in their original, unchanged format.
For the 2011 list, the EWG dubbed apples the most contaminated produce, with pesticide residues detected on 98 percent of the 700 apples tested by Department of Agriculture (USDA); 92 percent of apples contained residues of two or more pesticides. After apples, their "dirty dozen" list of most contaminated produce includes celery, strawberries, peaches, spinach, and domestic blueberries. This year, the organization notes, the USDA also tested cilantro for the first time, and found 33 unapproved pesticides on 44 percent of cilantro samples. Cilantro was the thirteenth most contaminated food.
On the flip side, the group's "clean 15" list of least contaminated produce includes onions, sweet corn, pineapples, avocado, asparagus, and sweet peas. Visit Environmental Working Group for the complete list of all 53 fruits and vegetables the organization includes in its study.
WHAT IT MEANS: As helpful as the EWG's annual list may be when you're buying produce, its bigger significance may be as a reminder of why choosing organic food whenever possible is so important. Avoiding chemically grown food, even the types not at the top of the EWG list, means avoiding chemicals that end up in, not just on the surface of, your food.
There are other reasons to go only organic, or as close as you can get. Organic farming mitigates climate change by trapping carbon dioxide in soil; chemically treated soil retains less carbon. And organic certification guarantees that there are no genetically modified organisms used in crops.
Summer squash, for example, which sits in the middle of EWG's list at number 26, can be genetically modified to resist viruses and fungi, exposing you to a number of problems associated with genetically modified foods, such as accelerated aging and possible fertility problems. Finally, even if pesticide residues aren't winding up on food, they are winding up in our water supplies, in our air, and in the dust and dirt that get tracked into our homes. Buying organic whenever possible translates to fewer toxic chemicals being dumped into our water and soil.
If cost and availability are your two primary roadblocks to buying organic food, grow your own! For advice on setting up a backyard organic garden, see:
5 Ways to Create an Organic Garden on the Cheap
5 Organic Gardening Tips for White House Gardeners (and You!)
Grow Your Own Farm on Less Than an Acre
How to Can Those Extra Garden Tomatoes
Don't consider yourself much of a gardener? Take advantage of your local farmer's markets, where organic food is often much more affordable than at your local grocer:
Make the Most of Your Farmer's Market
How to Find True Organic Food at the Farmer's Market
Finally, don't assume that organic is always out of your price range. As with the other groceries you buy, watch for discounts and do some comparison shopping. Depending on the source, the time of year, and the type of food, you may find that the difference is minimal.
