The Dirty Dozen: Top 12 Foods to Eat Organic
Check out the top 12 foods you should buy organic whenever possible
Not all of us can afford to go 100% organic. The solution? Focus on just those foods that come with the heaviest burden of pesticides, chemicals, additives and hormones. Whenever possible, deploy your organic spending power to buy organic versions of the following foods (in no particular order). Can't find organic versions of these foods? In some cases, we've listed safer alternatives that contain similar valuable vitamins and minerals.
1. Meat. Contrary to a widely reported "fact," meat typically contains less pesticide residue than plant-based foods, according to Debra Edwards, the director of EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs.
That said, raising animals with conventional modern methods often means using hormones to speed up growth, antibiotics to resist disease and pesticides to grow the grain fed to the animals. As the EPA puts it in an Ag 101 feature, "Antibiotics, pesticides, and hormones are organic compounds which are used in animal feeding operations and may pose risks if they enter the environment."
Consumers looking to avoid meats raised with these substances can seek out certified organic meat. To meet USDA standards, this meat can come only from animals fed organic feed and given no hormones or antibiotics.
Publications as varied as the Wall Street Journal, in its 2007 When Buying Organic Makes Sense and When It Doesn’t, and Consumers Union, in its 2006 Tips on Buying Organics Without Breaking the Bank, recommend seeking out organic meats when possible.
2. Milk. Pesticides and other man-made chemicals have been found in human breast milk, so it should come as no surprise that they have been found in dairy products. While any residues detected have been rare, and of low concentration, milk is of special concern because it is a staple of children's diets.
Organic dairies cannot feed their cows with grains grown with pesticides, nor can they use antibiotics or growth hormones like rGBH or rbST.
3. Coffee. Many of the beans you buy are grown in countries that don't regulate use of chemicals and pesticides. Look for the Fair Trade Certified Organic label on the coffee package or can; it will give you some assurance that chemicals and pesticides were not used on the plants. It will also mean that fair prices were paid for the end product in support of the farm and that farm workers are treated fairly.
4. Peaches. Multiple pesticides are regularly applied to these delicately skinned fruits in conventional orchards. Can't find organic? Safe alternatives: watermelon, tangerines, oranges and grapefruit.
5. Apples. Scrubbing and peeling doesn't eliminate chemical residue completely so it's best to buy organic when it comes to apples. Peeling a fruit or vegetable also strips away many of their beneficial nutrients. Can't find organic? Safe alternatives: watermelon, bananas and tangerines.
6. Sweet bell peppers. Peppers have thin skins that don't offer much of a barrier to pesticides. They're often heavily sprayed and victim to pesticides commonly used to keep them insect-free. Can't find organic? Safe alternatives: green peas, broccoli and cabbage.
7. Celery. Celery has no protective skin, which makes it almost impossible to wash off the chemicals that are used on conventional crops. Can't find organic? Safe alternatives: broccoli, radishes and onions.
8. Strawberries. If you buy strawberries out of season, they're most likely imported from countries that use less-stringent regulations for pesticide use. Can't find organic? Safe alternatives: blueberries, kiwi and pineapples.
9. Lettuces. Leafy greens are frequently contaminated with what are considered the most potent pesticides used on food. Can't find organic? Safe alternatives: cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts.
10. Grapes. Imported grapes run a much greater risk of contamination than those grown domestically. Vineyards can be sprayed with different pesticides during different growth periods of the grape, and no amount of washing or peeling will eliminate contamination because of the grape's thin skin. Can't find organic? Safe alternatives: blueberries, kiwi and raspberries.
11. Potatoes. America's popular spud ranks high for pesticide residue. It also gets the double whammy of fungicides added to the soil for growing. Can't find organic? Safe alternatives: eggplant, cabbage and earthy mushrooms.
12. Tomatoes. A tomato's easily punctured skin is no match for chemicals that will eventually permeate it. Can't find organic? Safe alternatives: green peas, broccoli and asparagus.
If the cost of buying all organics isn't within your budget, fear not. Check out The Daily Green's top ten list of fruit and vegetables you don't need to buy organic, with tips for buying and how to clean, store and use them in delicious recipes.
The information for this article in regard to pesticides in fruits and vegetables is based on The Environmental Working Group's analysis of federal pesticide testing data for commonly eaten fruits and vegetables.
Call me selfish if you want to, but I choose to put as few chemicals in my body as possible...I understand that at this point in time, some pesticides, etc are a necessary evil, but perhaps if those of us in the US would voluntarily reduce our intake, there would be more food for the rest of the world and there would not be quite as much of a need for that necessary evil...
Your claims that all dairy and cattle are fed only pesticide contaminated grains are not completely true.
I have 10 dairies within a 20 mile radius of where I live. I also have 100 hay and alfalfa farms within a 50 mile radius of where I live.
We'll start with the alfalfa and hay. Most of the farmers do continual work on the ground before planting to keep weeds out of their fields. They turn the ground over several times to prevent the weeds. Many add a preemergent herbicide specifically for dicots to prevent those weed seeds from germinating. They then plant weed-free grain seed, a mixture of wheat, oats, and rye grass in the fall. The grasses grow over the winter from the winter rains. There are few insects in the cooler months, so the grains grow without any insecticide applications. In the spring the fields are mown, dried, baled and sold to dairies for cow feed.
Dairy cows are fed a mixture of this fresh hay, alfalfa, and forage mix which includes grains, corn, ground corn stalks, and culls from local vegetable packing plants which includes cabbage and lettuce leaves. They are rarely fed only grain seeds unless a shipment of fresh hay has been delivered. Becuase of cows' four stomachs, slightly fermented forage mix can be eaten safely without harming the milk or milk production. Cows still chew their cud, that is, food not digested 100%, which means they cough up food to chew over and over again, making them best at digestion of all their food.
Dairy cows are correctly innoculated against diseases which can be found and rapidly spread in milk. Millions of Americans are alive today thanks to dairy cows being innoculated against common dairy diseases. Very few dairy farmers inject their cows with more innoculatins than neccessary. And very few California dairy farmers inject their calves with growth hormones. Growth hormones in dairy calves are unneccessary, as the regular development of a dairy calf is factored into regular dairy management practices.
Millions of Americans are alive today thanks to pasteurization. People regularly died from drinking milk contaminated with microorganisms, particularly those in what used to be, uhm, Organic dairies of the olden days. Milk from California dairies, while not 100% organic, is actually far safer for human consumption than the claims made here. I might add that Americans have a higher rate of children staying alive past the age of 5 compared to other countries thanks to safe food practices, particularly milk production.
As for beef cows, very few California beef cows are grain fed. Almost 85% of California beef cows are free-range cattle, fed primarily forage found in the grasses of the range and fed extra hay or alfalfa in times when graze cannot be found. Very few California Ranchers give their beef cows growth hormones, as they have found the hormones ruin the quality of their beef. Their cows are innoculated against common bovine diseases which regularly decimated herds 50 years ago, but the ranchers rarely apply more injections than necessary.
I don't know where you are getting your information concerning growth hormones and pesticides found in dairy grains, but I am noticing you did not get your information from California Dairy Industries Association (http://www.dairycdia.org/hist California Cattlemen's Association (http://www.calcattlemen.org/a or even UC Davis Agriculture Extension offices, which supplies information to all farmers concerning California agriculture (http://www.ucanr.org/index.cf
Where your numbers are coming from, or who your sources are, I don't know, but these claims that organic is better need to be researched completely before making them.
Organic is great if you can afford it, but the truth is, 100% organic is what is preventing 3rd-World countries from keeping their people alive and healthy right now. People in 3rd-world countries die every day from contaminated foods and bacteria and diseases in contaminated foods. People starve regularly in 3rd-world countries because they have no access to pesticides to prevent their food crops from being destroyed by pests. Hand-weeding takes children away from schools in 3rd-world countries as they work 80% of their time in the fields trying to keep their food growing. Like it or not, pesticides have helped increase food production to the levels we have today. Thanks to developments of vaccinations, herbicides, and insecticides, you are alive and eating food today.
If you really want to go 100% organic, I dare you to grow your own food and live entirely off your own organic food production for 1 entire year, and then report that organic is better.
Are you sure... ask your grandmother how many pesticides were used on her vegetables, ask her if she had to filter her tap water because of all those chemicals used in highly produced "foods" and what wasn't´t needed dumped into rivers and oceans... Organic WAS the way to go in the beginning, but since people tend to binge on more food than ever Obviously UN-natural ways to harvest and expand the life span of a normal vegetable were necessary. What good can a pesticide/hormone glass of milk do for a un-nourished child, or any child?!? It's impossible to have things as they were before, but humanity can at least try.
For more information visit: http://antunes.mykyanilife.com or email me directly at: tharcya18@hotmail.com.
Thanks,
oh and thank you urdivine for that information. Very helpful.
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