I recently wrote about how important it is to eat organic.
My focus was on the usual objection that organic produce is too expensive.
While in my mind the short term cost difference far outweighs the cost of not eating organic foods, I can still sympathize with people who might find the cost difference to be a bit of a shock.
Some people will fore-go moving toward a diet rich in fruits and vegetables all together if they feel the costs of organic produce are too high.
A tragic and avoidable mistake in my mind.
To help some of those people, I also wrote an article called How To Buy Organic Produce On A Budget which had a lot of great tips on how to keep costs in control when making your organic purchases.
Another strategy I want to call attention to is being aware of two groups of food.
They are referred to as "The Dirty Dozen" and "The Clean 15.
" The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has been conducting surveys over the last several years to identify the most toxic conventional produce.
They coined them "The Dirty Dozen.
" These are the foods that are most toxic when grown conventionally and should absolutely be purchased organically.
1.
Apples 2.
Celery 3.
Strawberries 4.
Peaches 5.
Spinach 6.
Nectarines 7.
Grapes 8.
Sweet bell peppers 9.
Potatoes 10.
Blueberries 11.
Lettuce 12.
Kale/collard greens They also have found 15 other plant foods to be among the "cleanest.
" So if you have budget concerns, these are foods that you can get away with purchasing conventionally, and at a lower cost.
They are: 1.
Onions 2.
Corn 3.
Pineapples 4.
Avocado 5.
Asparagus 6.
Sweet peas 7.
Mangoes 8.
Eggplant 9.
Sweet melon 10.
Kiwi 11.
Cabbage 12.
Watermelon 13.
Sweet potatoes 14.
Grapefruit 15.
Mushrooms This isn't to say that "The Clean 15″ have zero pesticides and are as nutrient dense as their organic counterparts.
But they have been found to contain far less toxins when grown conventionally than the foods listed in "The Dirty Dozen.
" So in your efforts to eat more organic fruits and vegetables, you can use the above lists to help you decide which foods to buy organic and which you can get away with the cost savings of conventionally grown.
If you combine this information with my suggestions in How To Buy Organic Produce On A Budget you can make some great changes toward an organic lifestyle while keeping your budget under control.
My focus was on the usual objection that organic produce is too expensive.
While in my mind the short term cost difference far outweighs the cost of not eating organic foods, I can still sympathize with people who might find the cost difference to be a bit of a shock.
Some people will fore-go moving toward a diet rich in fruits and vegetables all together if they feel the costs of organic produce are too high.
A tragic and avoidable mistake in my mind.
To help some of those people, I also wrote an article called How To Buy Organic Produce On A Budget which had a lot of great tips on how to keep costs in control when making your organic purchases.
Another strategy I want to call attention to is being aware of two groups of food.
They are referred to as "The Dirty Dozen" and "The Clean 15.
" The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has been conducting surveys over the last several years to identify the most toxic conventional produce.
They coined them "The Dirty Dozen.
" These are the foods that are most toxic when grown conventionally and should absolutely be purchased organically.
1.
Apples 2.
Celery 3.
Strawberries 4.
Peaches 5.
Spinach 6.
Nectarines 7.
Grapes 8.
Sweet bell peppers 9.
Potatoes 10.
Blueberries 11.
Lettuce 12.
Kale/collard greens They also have found 15 other plant foods to be among the "cleanest.
" So if you have budget concerns, these are foods that you can get away with purchasing conventionally, and at a lower cost.
They are: 1.
Onions 2.
Corn 3.
Pineapples 4.
Avocado 5.
Asparagus 6.
Sweet peas 7.
Mangoes 8.
Eggplant 9.
Sweet melon 10.
Kiwi 11.
Cabbage 12.
Watermelon 13.
Sweet potatoes 14.
Grapefruit 15.
Mushrooms This isn't to say that "The Clean 15″ have zero pesticides and are as nutrient dense as their organic counterparts.
But they have been found to contain far less toxins when grown conventionally than the foods listed in "The Dirty Dozen.
" So in your efforts to eat more organic fruits and vegetables, you can use the above lists to help you decide which foods to buy organic and which you can get away with the cost savings of conventionally grown.
If you combine this information with my suggestions in How To Buy Organic Produce On A Budget you can make some great changes toward an organic lifestyle while keeping your budget under control.
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