How to Prioritize Organic Produce Purchases

Organic produce is always more costly or unavailable locally where I live so I can't always buy organic.

The EWG (Environmental Working Group) creates a Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 list every year based on USDA data regarding the 12 most pesticide-ridden fruits and vegetables and 15 containing the least pesticide residues.

To save yourself some money, use this list to choose/prioritize your organic produce purchases.

The Dirty Dozen (in order) are:

• strawberries
• spinach
• nectarines
• apples
• peaches
• celery
• grapes
• pears
• cherries
• tomatoes
• sweet bell peppers
• potatoes

The Clean 15 are:

• sweet corn
• avocados
• pineapples
• cabbage
• onions
• frozen sweet peas
• papayas
• asparagus
• mangoes
• eggplant
• honeydew melon
• kiwifruit
• cantaloupe
• cauliflower
• grapefruit