As much as possible, I like to buy organically grown fruits and vegetables. In the summer we grow a large garden with mostly vegetables and herbs and we also grow strawberries. We like to grow greens like kale, spinach, arugula and lettuce in our winter garden.
I like to know that the food our family is eating is the best we know how to get. So besides growing our garden, I try to buy organically grown produce whenever I can. I have heard that there are fruits and vegetables that are especially important to buy organic, so they are the ones I try to avoid buying conventionally grown.
There are several fruits and vegetables that are known to have high levels of pesticides in them – they are called “The Dirty Dozen Plus”. To avoid these high levels of pesticides, the best thing to do is to buy them organically grown or grow them yourself. Here is a list that I wanted to share with you of the ones it would be best to buy organic:
- Apples
- Strawberries
- Grapes
- Celery
- Peaches
- Spinach
- Sweet Bell Peppers
- Nectarines
- Cucumbers
- Potatoes
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Hot Peppers
- Kale/Collard Greens
- Summer Squash
(from Andrew Weil, MD)
I found this list very helpful for making good decisions for my family and wanted to pass it on. I’m sure that we all want to be healthy and lead our families to be that way too – so every little bit helps. If we can avoid unnecessary pesticides in our food – that’s one step in the right direction.
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