Foods that are pesticides free – Accessibility? While many health-conscious shoppers choose to buy organic produce, the reality is that this option isn’t always accessible to everyone. With organic food often costing significantly more than non-organic food due to production, marketing and distribution costs as well as the limits of supply and demand (according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), many people struggle to buy organic, even if they want to make healthier, ethically sourced food a part of their daily diet. So where’s the best place to buy organic foods that are pesticides free?
Enter the Environmental Working Group, an organization which produces an annual report on the state of organic food in North America; their “dirty dozen” and “clean fifteen” lists of foods that are affected most and least by pesticides, respectively, have become a sort of bible for consumers trying to make the healthiest, most sustainable choices when it comes to produce, without breaking the bank.
This year, as in previous years, spinach, kale and collard greens made the Dirty Dozen list, meaning that if you’re going to splurge on organic produce, you should probably focus on organic versions of these popular veggies. Other foods featured on the Dirty Dozen list were apples, cucumbers, bell peppers, and grapes – all foods with relatively thin skins that don’t provide much protection from the harmful effects of pesticides.
Foods That Are Almost Completely Pesticide-Free
By contrast, foods on the “Clean Fifteen” list such as avocados, cantaloupe, eggplant, and grapefruit had relatively low rates of pesticide contamination – so even if you can’t afford to buy organic all the time, you can rest assured knowing that even non-organic versions of these foods are relatively safe to consume. Though they are not completely foods that are pesticides free, they are accessible.
How clean you ask? According to the EWG of all avocados tested, only 1 percent showed any detectable pesticides at all, while a grand total of 89 percent of all pineapples tested had zero residues according to the study.
