Dirty Dozen

Dirty Dozen

Brian and I have tried for years to eat a healthy diet which includes organic produce. We are not rich but I do take note that there are tons of chemicals that are used to grow produce so for us it's worth the cost to buy organic over conventional. We do not buy everything organic but I do read up on the research done on produce and the amount of pesticide residue left even after washing. I do not want to eat a chemical cocktail, therefore, Brian and I buy organic for the dozen (known as the dirty dozen) fruits and vegetables that had 47 or more chemicals on them even after washing. There is also a less known list of the clean 15 which the Department of Agriculture's testing showed little or no traces of chemicals left after washing and therefore deemed safe to consume non-organically grown which we occasionally buy conventional. So, if you want to know what produce absorbs more chemicals they are listed for you below.

The Dirty Dozen List

celery

peaches

strawberries

apples

domestic blueberries

nectarines

sweet bell peppers

spinach, kale and collard greens

cherries

potatoes

imported grapes

lettuce

The Clean Fifteen

onions

avocados

sweet corn

pineapples

mango

sweet peas

asparagus

kiwi fruit

cabbage

eggplant

cantaloupe

watermelon

grapefruit

sweet potatoes

sweet onions