The organic vs conentional food debate continues. Today, the United States uses 1.2 BILLION POUNDS of pesticides a year. With that type of use you'd think it would kill all the bugs right? WRONG! Only .01 percent actually kill the bugs; the rest ends up contaminating our food, air, and water. With pesticides entering our food chain, they have increased the rate of cancer, birth defects, brain and nervous system toxicity, hormone disruption, nerve disorders, blood disorders, and skin, eye, and lung irritation. 
If you are eating conventionally grown produce you are putting yourself at the highest risk of developing these awful diseases. You should be especially cautious if you live downwind or downstream of sprayed crops in your area too. Have children? Infants and young children need to stay away from conventionally grown produce AT ALL COSTS as their bodies are still developing and exposure could be detrimental to their long term health.
A recent study done by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found at least 1 pesticide on 63% of the produce they sampled and this was even after properly washing it! What's even worse is 10% of the sample had 5+ various pesticides.
Buying organic produce is one of the fastest growing trends in the food industry, despite the fact that it costs more. Last year 2/3 of Americans bought organic foods and many are doing so on a more regular basis. I get that finding organic isn't always easy, especially when you are at your conventional grocery store (Stop & Shop, Shaw's, etc) or box stores (Costco, BJ's, etc), so it is important to know the 14 fruits and vegetables you don't want to touch if they are conventionally grown.
Not Organic? PUT IT BACK!
- Apples
- Celery
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Cucumbers
- Grapes
- Hot Peppers
- Imported nectarines
- Peaches
- Potatoes
- Spinach
- Strawberries
- Sweet bell peppers
- Kale/ Collar Greens
- Summer Squash
If buying organic isn't an option for you 100% of the time, here is a list of fourteen fruits/ vegetables that you are OK consuming conventional.
Safer Conventional Options:
- Asparagus
- Avocados
- Cabbage
- Cantaloupe
- Eggplant
- Grapefruit
- Kiwi
- Mango
- Mushrooms
- Onions
- Papaya
- Pineapple
- Sweet Peas (frozen)
- Sweet Potatoes
How do you know if something is organic? It will have an extra digit - 9 at the beginning of the SKU #.
P.S. ALWAYS AVOID GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS (GMOs). Today there is no regulation on this and can be dangerous to consume as well. If you see an 8 digit at the beginning of the SKU on your produce, that means it is genetically modified. Put it down! Sign the U.S. Food Petition to get the Government to require labeling of GMO foods in our grocery stores!
Image Credit: quoteko.com
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