Shop the Dirty Dozen & Clean Fifteen!

Talking about switching to a healthier lifestyle can be overwhelming. There is so much discussion about you should and shouldn't eat. Natural vs processed and of course the big debate (and one of the biggest price tags) organic vs conventional produce. It can seem daunting and expensive to buy healthy foods, but one group has made it just a little easier on our sanity and our pocket books.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) releases a list each year of what they call the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen. These are lists to help guide us to understand what crops are currently utilizing the most or least amounts of harmful pesticides in their production.

The Dirty Dozen are crops that are have been found to use larger amounts of pesticides. So, when possible, it would be advised to buy organic versions of these foods. On the other hand, the Clean Fifteen have been identified as crops that use the least amount of pesticides in their production, so it would be safer to buy conventional for these foods than those on the Dirty Dozen list. The list is subject to change each year, so keep checking back to see if there is an update!

Dirty Dozen:

Strawberries

Spinach

Kale

Nectarines

Apples

Grapes

Peaches

Cherries

Pears

Tomatoes

Celery

Potatoes

Clean Fifteen:

Avocados

Sweet Corn*

Pineapples

Frozen Sweet Peas

Onions

Papayas*

Eggplant

Asparagus

Kiwi

Cabbage

Cauliflower

Cantaloupe

Broccoli

Mushrooms

Honeydew

Learn more at: www.ewg.org