The Dirty Dozen...

It's not just a movie!  So, I do this thing called the Daily Challenge.  Everyday I get an email asking me to do something good for my well being.  Could be physically or mental but it is usually interesting.  Today they asked us to find out about the Dirty Dozen.  The list of fruits and vegetables at the grocery store that has the highest levels of pesticides.  So I turned to my love, Google, for the answer.  I was a little shocked at what I found so I wanted to share with you all.  Here is a little excerpt taken from HERE:

A new report was just published by a leading consumer watchdog organization — the Environmental Working Group (EWG) — on the foods with the most and the least contamination. You won't find it listed on any label, but every time you buy produce that isn't certified organic — that is, grown without conventional pesticides and fertilizers — you're bringing home potential nasty stuff that can't always be washed off. Some chemicals cling with amazing stubbornness; others leach inside the produce. Thankfully, not all conventionally grown fruits and vegetables are vulnerable. Which ones should you be most careful about in 2011?

Here are the rankings listed in descending order from the highest to the lowest for the "Dirty Dozen." This means that apples, which are ranked number one, are the most-contaminated item; in 2010, they were ranked number four — so they've moved up the list. 

• Apples
• Celery
• Strawberries
• Peaches
• Spinach
• Nectarines (imported)
• Grapes (imported)
• Sweet bell peppers
• Potatoes
• Blueberries (domestic)
• Lettuce
• Kale/collard greens

There is also a list of the "Clean Fifteen" — the fruits and veggies that boast the lowest levels of pesticides. This means that you don't need to purchase them organically grown, if doing so overextends your grocery budget, since organically grown produce often costs more than conventionally grown foods. According to the EWG, if you choose your daily recommended five servings of fruit and veggies from the "Clean Fifteen" list rather than the "Dirty Dozen" list, you would lower the level of pesticides that you ingest by a whopping 92% without needing to spend more bucks buying organic. Here are the fabulous fifteen that you want to make friends with and consume often.

• Onions
• Sweet corn
• Pineapple
• Avocado
• Asparagus
• Sweet peas
• Mangos
• Eggplants
• Cantaloupe (domestic)
• Kiwi
• Cabbage
• Watermelon
• Sweet potatoes
• Grapefruit
• Mushrooms

TIP: Copy these lists of both groups of produce to keep in your wallet, pocket, purse/tote, or car for when you go grocery shopping so that you have it for reference and can make the best choices. Talk about this with your children, too, so that they can choose foods from the "Clean Fifteen" list more than the "Dirty Dozen" list, if you are not buying organic foods.

 I am going to have to watch what I am purchasing and eating.  I'll by an apple, rub it on my shirt and take a bite.  Never mind all the people who have touched it before me and all the bug poop that is probably on it, there is also a lot of pesticides too!  You know, I've known this, in the back of my mind I've thought about it but I never really looked into it.  Maybe because I knew it might scare me a little. lol.