Health & Fitness
FOOD for THOUGHT: Do You Remember the Dirty Dozen & Clean 13?
They do change, so take the time to review and to print a copy for your fridge or your wallet.
(Dietary changes should be discussed with a health care provider.)
If we can’t afford to go all in when it comes to organic, where should we put our money? The dirty dozen list is a good place to start. Some of the reasons produce makes the dirty dozen list include: high surface area::low volume ratios resulting in more pesticide in every bite -- such as berries and greens; crops that are sprayed many times with many different pesticides -- such as apples and other thin skinned tree fruit; crops that are sprayed with the most toxic pesticides and crops that, for whatever reason, just hold onto the chemicals more than others.
Find out what's happening in Westfordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Before I list them, let me throw out a reminder that eating non-organic meat and dairy is worse for your health than eating a conventional dirty dozen. Spend your money there first, but remember when you budget your money and your stomach space that you need to consume more vegetables (including fungus, bulbs, fruit, etc.) than all of your other foods (and drinks) combined. Without further ado:
Find out what's happening in Westfordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
DIRTY DOZEN
Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie (<just kidding) Nectarines Celery Sweet Peppers Potatoes Strawberries Blueberries Grapes Cucumbers Lettuce Greens (esp. Spinach, Kale, Collards)
After these we might start looking into coffee, wine & chocolate
The clean 13 crops tend to be bothered by pests less often (maybe onions make the pests cry too) or have thick or tough skins that we would not eat clean or dirty (pineapples). Here they are:
CLEAN THIRTEEN
Onion Eggplant Mushrooms Pineapple Mango Kiwi Avocado Asparagus Cabbage Sweet Peas Sweet Potatoes Watermelon Grapefruit *
* (but when it comes to any citrus zest, organic is best)
While apples and onions seem to have taken up permanent residence on their respective lists you do need to check back every once in a while for things that bounce around (like tomatoes which, over the last few years, went from the dirty list to the clean list to somewhere in between).
CHALLENGE #28 of 50:
Buy only organic versions of the dirty dozen items this month. Unless you are purchasing conventional meat & dairy, then spend up to your normal meat & dairy budget on the their organic versions and pile up extra clean 13 items to fill your plate – asparagus are in season now!
QUOTE of the WEEK:
If we as a society are willing to have a preference for organic food, the farmer can pass on the savings.
Robert Patterson