Which Fruits & Vegetables You Should Be Buying Organic.
If you are on a budget or just plain refuse to pay the extra for organic fruits and vegetables, there really are some good reasons to buy at least a few of those items in the organic version if you can. We buy as much organic produce as we can, and of course sometimes you have to buy the non-organic version. But I like knowing that most of my fruits and vegetables were not sprayed with toxic chemicals. It only makes sense to avoid them - after all, you don’t go around pouring pesticide in your mouth or on your clothes, so why would you want to eat food that is either A. coated with it or B. full of it? Pesticides are toxic, and they are designed to kill bugs, weeds, rodents, fungi, rot, and other pests - do you really want to eat that stuff? These chemicals have been shown to suppress the immune system, increase the risk of breast and other cancers, disrupt the hormonal system and do reproductive harm. And while you might initially say that you ate regular versions of these fruits and vegetables while you were growing up and you are fine now, the amount and incidences of pesticide use have skyrockets in recent years - times have changed. Convinced yet? Great! So now I have convinced you that you don’t want to buy the toxic pesticide versions, but you want to know which fruits and vegetables should be bought only organic and which ones it is safer to skimp on, right? Well, if you can pick and choose your organics, there are definitely fruits and veggies that either require less pesticide or absorb less of it, so let’s take a look.
The following fruits and vegetables tend to be higher in either pesticide use and/or absorption:
- Peaches
- Pears
- Green Beans
- Apples
- Squash
- Strawberries
- Raspberries
- Spinach
- Potatoes
- Tomatoes
The following fruits and vegetables tend to have less pesticides in them:
- Pineapples
- Mangoes
- Avocado
- Bananas
- Cauliflower
- Watermelon
- Kiwi Fruit
- Brussels Sprouts
- Eggplant
- Blueberries
- Radishes
- Onions
- Grapefruit
Even with washing and peeling, you cannot get rid of pesticides in your fruits and vegetables. And besides, with peeling you might be losing a lot of the good nutrients. So when you can, choose the organic version of your produce just to be on the safe side. But when you cannot, at least keep in mind which products contain less pesticides and might be safer for you to eat!
Photo by by SqueakyMarmot
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Comment by Tracey on 22 October 2008:
I work in the pesticide labeling industry (sleeping with the devil, I know!). Asparagus is also very safe as nothing can be sprayed on it once it comes out of the ground. Chickpeas and lentils likewise have virtually nothing labeled for them once they start to produce.
Its also worth noting that pesticides and other chemicals concentrate when things are dried or distilled. So there may be high residues in your herbs and spices or things flavored with essential oils than in the fruit.
Comment by David on 22 October 2008:
Thanks Tracey, appreciate your insight!
Comment by B. Wilde on 22 October 2008:
I always wonder which ones are best to buy. Thanks for doing the homework on the fruits and veggies so that I don’t have to. Very valuable for my shopping days to come.
Comment by tom on 23 October 2008:
Hi, I don’t see carrots on your list. I have heard that they are one of the worst veg for residues. It’s partly down to what growers have to do to keep the crop ‘clear’ from pests and diseases, and carrots have the dreaded carrot fly to overcome.
Comment by David on 23 October 2008:
Tom, I could not identify carrots as being on either list, so I left them off. But I would imagine, since we eat them whole and they grow in the ground, that I would buy those in organic too. I just could not find a definitive answer on them.
Comment by Marvola on 26 October 2008:
May I ask if any information on oranges and mandarins is available? They are a popular fruit but I am not sure of the quanitty of pesticide residue on them.
Comment by David on 26 October 2008:
Nectarines are the 5th worst and oranges 16th, with peaches being the #1 worst in terms of pesticide absorption. Hope that helps!
Comment by Lorraine on 28 October 2008:
It’s sad, I know, but also getting the older generation to buy organic can also be a bit of a struggle. My Mother is in her 80’s. She stayed with me recently (for a month :)) and was alarmed when I chose organic at the store. She really didn’t know what the fuss was about (because, in her day, most things were organic but not labeled as such), that the regular stuff is full of nasties and she just thought it a complete waste of money.
Needless to say, after 4 weeks at my house, she’s now gone home with a new outlook on grocery shopping, so maybe all is not lost!
Comment by David on 28 October 2008:
Yep, everything was organic before, so it can be hard to convince people that nowadays everything is coated with pesticides and other toxic stuff. Thanks for the story Lorraine, glad your mom learned a little!
Comment by bugs on 15 December 2008:
what is a good organic spray fro sweet corn,green beans,potato,eggplant?
Comment by David on 15 December 2008:
Vinegar is the best thing to use if possible.
Comment by stacy on 2 February 2009:
Thanks David!
I found this a lot more helpful than just a blanket ban on nonorganics because cost is one of the biggest obstacles for grocery shoppers (and college students coughcough). I will definitely pass this on to my friends. Do you have a link to that list btw?
Comment by David on 2 February 2009:
No, I don’t have a link because I researched it from a bunch of different sources. Just shoot them the URL for this post
Comment by William on 6 February 2009:
You can also use castile soap to wash vegetables. I would even wash organic varieties, because you do not know what has happened to it, or who has touched it, prior to making its way to your plate.
If you did not grow it yourself, wash it.
Comment by Justus on 10 February 2009:
Last year pineapples from Costa Rica got on a list here in Norway as having tested really high for pesticide residues…
These were controls done by the Norwegian dept. of agriculture.
Comment by Organic Trade on 11 May 2009:
You raise some interesting points about when to buy organic. However, the Organic Trade Association would caution people against the idea of limiting their organic purchases to the list of items you outline in this blog. While establishing such limits may help to reduce the size of your personal food budget, it misses an important point: buying organic is about more than keeping pesticides out of our bodies. It is about supporting a system of sustainable agricultural management that promotes soil health and fertility through the use of such methods as crop rotation and cover cropping, which nourish plants, foster species diversity, help combat climate change, prevent damage to valuable water resources, and protect farmers and farmers’ families from exposure to harmful chemicals. In this sense, buying organic is a commitment to the bigger, more complex picture of which our personal health is a part.
http://www.organicitsworthit.com