Nowhere more do I hear “but buying organic is so expensive!” – than living here in Vancouver (a pricey city!). So I’ll take my approach first of educating you on the benefits of going organic vs. conventional, briefly:
1. Obtain higher antioxidant content
2. Reduce consumption of pesticides/herbicides/toxic chemicals
3. Boost immune system
4. Lower antibiotic consumption as conventional meat + dairy is loaded with antibiotics
5. Environmentally friendly (reduce toxic chemicals into environment from conventional farms)
6. Reduces toxic load
7. Tastes good!
But, if this does not seem a fit and you still feel you cannot switch over entirely – it is important to know the below tricks and the importance of spending the extra buck when it comes to certain fruits and veg.
Some fruits and vegetables have more pesticide residue than others and are the most important to buy organic. You can lower your pesticide intake substantially by avoiding the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating the least contaminated produce. Print this out – punch it into your phone – or if you have a photographic memory like Mike Ross from Suits, well you know, bravo!
DIRTY DOZEN (Buy these organic)
Apples Grapes
Celery Sweet bell peppers
Strawberries Potatoes
Peaches Blueberries
Spinach Lettuce
Nectarines Kale/Collard greens
CLEAN 15 (Lowest in pesticide)
Onions Sweet Corn Pineapples
Avocado Eggplant Watermelon
Asparagus Cantaloupe Sweet potatoes
Sweet peas Kiwi Grapefruit
Mangoes Cabbage Mushrooms
Blog by Breathe in Life guide and holistic nutritionist, Meghan Trompetter
