Which ones should you choose?
When out shopping it’s always a good idea to pick organic fruit and veg, best if produced locally and in season. But what about non-organic fruit and veg? Jon recently came across some interesting information that a student gave him. It was about ‘the clean fifteen and the dirty dozen’. Some fruit and veg contain more pesticides than others so they could have an adverse effect on your health. Therefore, if you are on a budget and can’t always buy organic then this can be a good guide.
Photo by John Lambeth from Pexels
So, with these lists you can see which fruit and veg are most affected by pesticides. The Environmental Working Group produce and regularly update them. It is a non-profit, non-partisan organisation dedicated to protecting human health and the environment. The Clean Fifteen lists the produce least likely to hold pesticide residues. In addition, the dirty dozen are those fruits and vegetables with the most pesticides.
The Clean Fifteen
- Avocados
- Sweet Corn
- Pineapples
- Cabbage
- Sweet Peas – Frozen
- Onions
- Asparagus
- Mangoes
- Papayas
- Kiwi
- Aubergine
- Grapefruit
- Melon
- Cauliflower
- Sweet potatoes
The Dirty Dozen
- Apples
- Strawberries
- Grapes
- Celery
- Peaches
- Spinach
- Sweet Bell Peppers
- Nectarines (imported)
- Cucumbers
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Snap Peas (imported)
- Potatoes
Organic fruit and veg helps pollinators too. Pesticides often harm bees in particular, due to its toxicity and can kill them. So, this is another good reason to go organic. For example, around 75% of crop plants require some degree of animal pollination. This includes many of our everyday fruit and vegetables. However, you don’t have to just shop in supermarkets nowadays. There are plenty of alternatives that deliver to your door. For instance, Riverford, Abel&Cole and Farmdrop to name but a few.
Farmers’ markets are also great to visit as produce is locally produced. They enable farmers to sell their products direct to the consumer so that they get a fair price for their work. There are a number of London Farmers’ Markets too, so take a look.
