Sometimes I really hate reading lists about the foods that are the worst for you. I don't mean the foods that we obviously know are bad (anything fried or just eating too much red meat), but the foods that we assume are actually going to be healthy for us: fruits and vegetables.
Every year the Environmental Working Group comes out with a list they call the "Dirty Dozen," which pretty much tells us what produce has the most pesticide in the U.S. To be honest, it's always a really depressing list for me to read, especially since this year, once again, apples are at the very top of the not-safe-to-buy list.
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I love apples. I really, really do. They're typically my mid-morning snack and I really do believe the phrase "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" but, apparently, that's ONLY if that apple is organic. I definitely don't think that a pesticide-ridden apple is going to do much for my health. Though neither will these other fruits veggies from the Dirty Dozen list:
1. Apples
2. Peaches
3. Nectarines
4. Strawberries
5. Grapes
6. Celery
7. Spinach
8. Sweet bell peppers
9. Cucumbers
10. Cherry tomatoes
11. Snap peas–imported
12: Potatoes
Bonus: Hot peppers, Kale/collard greens
Okay, so I guess I should be looking at this list and thinking about it for the future. At least, maybe writing down a few of my favorites so that I know that it's best to buy all of these organic instead of just shopping for them in the regular produce department. On this list, apples, sweet bell peppers, grapes and potatoes are the ones I will watch out for most. I'm kind of happy that, except for imported nectarines, no Latin fruit is on the list. So, hey, at least I can keep eating bananas and pineapple!
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