Organic produce: is it all or nothing?

Where are you in the organic movement?  I know some people who buy only organic food and personal care products, others who opt for organic meats and dairy, others who might buy the organic apples if they’re on sale, and even some who actively avoid organic as a way to take a stand for conventional agriculture and/or against foodie elitists.  It’s always fun to talk about!

If you buy all organic all the time, you can stop reading now.  I’ll tell you nothing new (in this post anyway, hopefully I can be helpful in the next!).  But if you fall anywhere else on the spectrum, let’s discuss the merits of organic.  And for this post, I'll stick to fruit and vegetable produce. 

To cut to the chase, I think it’s important to eat as much organic as you can (especially the stuff you eat every day), but I don’t think it’s the end of the world to go conventional for some items, some of the time.  I mean, if you just can’t go another day without rutabaga and your local grocer isn’t carrying organic that day, by all means, grab the conventionally grown tuber and go home happy and guilt-free.

For less urgent decisions than the must-have rutabaga, I use the Environmental Working Group's Dirty Dozen and Clean Fiftteen list to guide my shopping trips.  The dirty dozen are known to contain high levels of pesticides (sometimes upwards of 50 different pesticides!), so you should go organic.  The clean fifteen have the lowest pesticide content (after typical washing), so you can buy the conventional if you must.  Do remember that conventional produce is often genetically modified, even if it’s not slathered in chemical pesticides.  More on GMOs in a later post.

Dirty Dozen (dirtiest listed first)

1. Apples
2. Celery
3. Strawberries
4. Peaches
5. Spinach
6. Nectarines
7. Grapes
8. Bell peppers
9. Potatoes
10. Blueberries
11. Lettuce
12. Kale/collard greens

Clean Fifteen (cleanest listed first)

1. Onions
2. Corn
3. Pineapples
4. Avocado
5. Asparagus
6. Sweet peas
7. Mangoes
8. Eggplant
9. Cantaloupe
10. Kiwi
11. Cabbage
12. Watermelon
13. Sweet potatoes
14. Grapefruit
15. Mushrooms

I took this at the Farmers Market in San Francisco: organic bell peppers in every color!