2024 Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen!
2024 Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen! 100% organic eating can be tricky, sometimes it’s just way too expensive, especially for a family of four, or sometimes items are just impossible to find! I can’t tell you how many times it’s been difficult to find organic asparagus! Luckily, since 2004, EWG’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce update their Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen list every single year. What that means is a list of 12 Dirty items that are loaded with pesticides, for me that means look for organic or skip it. And 15 Clean items, these are crops that have the lowest levels of pesticide residue and considered “relatively safe” in their non organic form. The guide comes from test results of 45,000 samples of produce tested by the Department of Agriculture. The list is released in April every year and changes a tiny bit, luckily asparagus is usually on the clean side. This year’s Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen was just released days ago, so here it is!
The 2022 Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen List
The 2022 Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen List 100% organic eating can be tricky, sometimes it’s just way too expensive especially for a family of four or sometimes items are impossible to find! I can’t you how many times it’s been difficult to find organic asparagus! Luckily, since 2004, EWG’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce update their Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen list every single year. What that means is a list of 12 Dirty items that are loaded with pesticides, for me that means look for organic or skip it. And 15 Clean items, these are crops that have the lowest levels of pesticide residue and considered “relatively safe” in their non organic form. The guide comes from test results of 45,000 samples of produce tested by the Department of Agriculture. The list is released in April every year and changes a tiny bit, luckily asparagus is usually on the clean side. Here is 2022 list:
Tips for a Healthy Organic Diet on a Budget
Tips for a Healthy Organic Diet on a Budget Written By Emily Edmonds, L.Ac. Anyone looking at the news these days is worried about the economy and how inflation has impacted it. In particular, we have seen an impact upon food prices. This has made it understandably difficult to shop for healthy food, as most of us are aware – organic food costs quite a bit more already. I always advocate for patients to eat local, organic if possible but how to do this in a cost effective way is challenging for those on a budget. Here are some tips below to get you started on eating a healthier diet on a budget: Clean Fifteen – Optional The list of foods below are known as the “clean fifteen” and these are foods which if grown using non-organic methods are considered to be safer than the “dirty dozen” below as they are less likely to be contaminated by pesticides and herbicides. These foods include: Avocados Sweet Corn Sweet Peas (Frozen Asparagus Mushrooms Cantaloupe Pineapple Honeydew Melon Mangoes Onion Kiwi Watermelon Papaya Cabbage Sweet Potatoes So if you are on a budget, cabbage with chicken and mushrooms is a really good dish and very easy to prepare. Please always make sure you always wash your produce, especially mushrooms! I also recommend for the above foods that if they have a skin to peel them before preparing and do not consume the peel. Dirty Dozen – Always Organic! The list of foods below are known as the “dirty dozen”, which are foods that are known to be the most harmful if they contain pesticides are herbicides since they cannot be washed off. Always go organic for these. The list of these foods include: Strawberries Grapes Spinach Peppers including Bell peppers and hot peppers Kale, Collard, Mustard Greens Cherries Nectarines Peaches Apples Pears Tomatoes Celery Most of these foods are in season in the summer, and you can find these relatively inexpensively at local farmers markets. Eat Seasonally and Locally! Foods that are grown locally and that are in season are usually less expensive than out of season food grown abroad. Most often you will also find locally grown, seasonal produce at farmers markets for less than you would find at conventional grocery stores. The food will also be fresher as well and often tastes better. Buy in Bulk If you are shopping for a large family, buying in bulk can help offset the grocery bill. Costco has an excellent selection of organic produce. As demand for organic has grown, their selection has grown as well. Every time I go to Costco I am always pleasantly surprised by what they have to offer. At conventional grocery stores, buying in bulk can be helpful, especially beans, lentils, and nuts. It is a great option b/c you can just buy whatever amount you need for that week. Prepping Always buy your vegetables whole and intact. If you buy them precut or pre-peeled, they will invariable cost more. Farmers Markets As I mentioned before, farmers markets can be a great way to save. You can also just buy what you need, which cuts down on waste. It’s also a great activity for the family to go out together and go for a walk, while shopping for food for the week! That being said, as Farmers Markets have increased in popularity over the years, so has their prices. This is more often true of things like seafood and meats, which can be purchased for less when part of a subscription package online. It’s also more expensive for the “value added” items such as prepared foods, jams, pastas, and baked products. But for fruits and vegetables, it can still be a good deal. Also, there are some farmers market producers who haven’t yet been able to qualify for the organic “stamp” yet but their methods are organic. Talk to the producers, get to know them and find out what their growing methods are. I once bought some sunflower sprouts from a farmer who hadn’t yet qualified for the organic label, but was using organic methods and not using pesticides or herbicides at all. They were much, much cheaper than I could buy at Whole Foods and the taste was much fresher and better. Avoid “Value Added” and “Pre-Prepped” Items at the Store Although many of us use these (me = being sheepish) to save time, the truth is that buying vegetables pre-cut or foods that have been pre-assembled is much more costly than purchasing food in it’s whole form and preparing it. In other words, those delicious chicken kebab skewers at the deli in the grocery store are several times more expensive than making your own using the same exact ingredients. Also, pre-cut vegetables will go bad faster. Grocery stores often pick the vegetables that weren’t picked up the previous day to be pre-cut. Then, they put it on the shelf and more than double the cost. Ever purchased pre-cut butternut squash? You’d better use it that same day, b/c it goes bad quickly after that. If you don’t know how to chop vegetables, watch videos online, take cooking courses, or do like I did and buy a cheap food processor on eBay and let your vegetables chop themselves. Also, while that bottle of organic truffle hot sauce might be really tasty, ask yourself if you really need that? Grocery stores put up a lot of “value added” products in the front of the store to get you to buy more and also mark up the price. If you buy enough of these, it can more than double your grocery bill. Stock Up on Deals and Promotions Save coupons and stock up on foods that can be frozen when they go on sale. Shop around to different grocery stores and find out what deals they have or promotions. Meal Planning I probably should have put this closer to the top of the
2017 Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen list released!
2017 Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen list released! If you never read any of our posts all year, read this one! The yearly release of the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen report is a list of which foods have the most and the least pesticide residue and will save you money all year. Who doesn’t love that? Since I’m in New York so often, I’m constantly assaulted by organic food prices here. And when I say assaulted, I really mean assaulted! $8.99 for organic blackberries? $4 for one organic avocado? $5 for one head of organic cauliflower? And even if I did spend $4 for that sad looking bunch of kale– four wilted leaves won’t get me far. “The Environmental Working Group released the 2017 edition of the Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce, also known as the “Dirty Dozen.” The guide is based on analysis of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Pesticide Data Program report. “Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables is essential no matter how they’re grown, but for the items with the heaviest pesticide loads, we urge shoppers to buy organic,” Sonya Lunder, EWG senior analyst, said in a news release. The group identified the following items on its “Dirty Dozen” list of produce with the most pesticide residue: Strawberries Spinach Nectarines Apples Peaches Celery Grapes Pears Cherries Tomatoes Sweet bell peppers Potatoes The group also identifies the “Clean 15” or items in the report with the least likelihood to contain pesticide residue: Sweet corn Avocados Pineapples Cabbage Onions Frozen sweet peas Papayas Asparagus Mangoes Eggplant Honeydew Kiwifruit Cantaloupe Cauliflower Grapefruit” Of course, if you can buy organic all the time it’s ideal, but sometimes it’s just too much money, like I always say pick and choose your battles. Here’s to the day New York City produce looks, tastes and costs just like the produce at Berkeley Bowl! In Health, Christina Martin Tao to Wellness 809 Hearst Ave Berkeley, California 510.883.0383
