Go Green and Save Money with Reducing Pesticides Free Guide
Avoid pesticides in fruits and vegetables with LiveGreenStyle.com
It’s always better to buy organic, but, first, in most cases it’s costly and it is not available everywhere. The not-for-profit Environmental Working Group (EWG) developed a Guide features fruits and veggies with the most and least pesticides.
LiveGreenStyle.com consider this Guide as truly Go Green and Save Money tips. Based on the ranking of widely used products you’ll know which ones to buy organic, and which conventionally-grown ones are okay when organic isn’t available or cost too much.
Why Should You Care About Pesticides?
There is growing consensus in the scientific community that small doses of pesticides and other chemicals can adversely affect people, especially during vulnerable periods of fetal development and childhood when exposures can have long lasting effects. Because the toxic effects of pesticides are worrisome, not well understood, or in some cases completely unstudied, shoppers are wise to minimize exposure to pesticides whenever possible.
Will Washing and Peeling Help?
Nearly all of the data used to create these lists already considers how people typically wash and prepare produce (for example, apples are washed before testing, bananas are peeled). While washing and rinsing fresh produce may reduce levels of some pesticides, it does not eliminate them. Peeling also reduces exposures, but valuable nutrients often go down the drain with the peel. The best option is to eat a varied diet, wash all produce, and choose organic when possible to reduce exposure to potentially harmful chemicals.
How This Guide Was Developed
The produce ranking was developed by analysts at the not-for-profit Environmental Working Group based on the results of nearly 43,000 tests for pesticides on produce collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 2000 and 2005.
The six measures of contamination we used were:
- Percent of the samples tested with detectable pesticides
- Percent of the samples with two or more pesticides
- Average number of pesticides found on a sample
- Average amount (level in parts per million) of all pesticides found
- Maximum number of pesticides found on a single sample
- Number of pesticides found on the commodity in total
- The philosophy behind the ranking is simple: give consumers the information they need make choices to reduce pesticides in their diets.
The Full List: 43 Fruits & Veggies
| RANK | FRUIT OR VEGGIE | SCORE |
| 1 (worst) | Peaches | 100 (highest pesticide load) |
| 2 | Apples | 96 |
| 3 | Sweet Bell Peppers | 86 |
| 4 | Celery | 85 |
| 5 | Nectarines | 84 |
| 6 | Strawberries | 83 |
| 7 | Cherries | 75 |
| 8 | Lettuce | 69 |
| 9 | Grapes – Imported | 68 |
| 10 | Pears | 65 |
| 11 | Spinach | 60 |
| 12 | Potatoes | 58 |
| 13 | Carrots | 57 |
| 14 | Green Beans | 55 |
| 15 | Hot Peppers | 53 |
| 16 | Cucumbers | 52 |
| 17 | Raspberries | 47 |
| 18 | Plums | 46 |
| 19 | Oranges | 46 |
| 20 | Grapes-Domestic | 46 |
| 21 | Cauliflower | 39 |
| 22 | Tangerine | 38 |
| 23 | Mushrooms | 37 |
| 24 | Cantaloupe | 34 |
| 25 | Lemon | 31 |
| 26 | Honeydew Melon | 31 |
| 27 | Grapefruit | 31 |
| 28 | Winter Squash | 31 |
| 29 | Tomatoes | 30 |
| 30 | Sweet Potatoes | 30 |
| 31 | Watermelon | 25 |
| 32 | Blueberries | 24 |
| 33 | Papaya | 21 |
| 34 | Eggplant | 19 |
| 35 | Broccoli | 18 |
| 36 | Cabbage | 17 |
| 37 | Bananas | 16 |
| 38 | Kiwi | 14 |
| 39 | Asparagus | 11 |
| 40 | Sweet Peas-Frozen | 11 |
| 41 | Mango | 9 |
| 42 | Pineapples | 7 |
| 43 | Sweet Corn-Frozen | 2 |
| 44 | Avocado | 1 |
| 45 (best) | Onions | 1 (lowest pesticide load) |
Note: We ranked a total of 44 different fruits and vegetables but grapes are listed twice because we looked at both domestic and imported samples.
Source: Be A Smarter Produce Picker
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amazing that recent US surveys showed that sales of organic products continue to grow despite of tough economic times
I am for reasonable compromise! My suggestion is to make a list of fruits and veggies that are best to buy in organic shops and the products that are OK to buy in regular grocery shops and use it while shopping.
WOW! Onions has the lowest pesticide load! My own green tip: just eat onion when you want apples or cherries and you’ll be fine!
Sad enough: my favorite peaches are ranked as highest pesticide load! Everything that I love: apples, nectarines, strawberries (yummy!) cherries, grapes, pears. Not even talking about carrots and potatoes. It can’t be replaced by the “good products” like papaya, eggplant, broccoli, cabbage, asparagus, onions… Noooooooo!
Don’t be so stressed out =D. This article is not about avoiding the products with highest pesticide load, but buying them in organic stores. But you’re right, the most products we used to consume almost everyday (and love from the bottom of our hearts =D )need to be organic- meaning be prepare to pay more.