Do you ever find yourself staring down a set of bell peppers in the grocery store, comparing the organic price to the conventional? At times, if I’m feeling ‘healthy AF’ I’ll just go all out and buy mostly organic. And, when I’m feeling broke, I am more likely to just pick up the conventional or discounted fruit and vegetables.
Emotional decision making aside, when does it matter to buy organic?
Well, that depends.
First and foremost it depends on your budget and it depends on your access. If you only have access to fruit and veggies that are conventional, frozen or canned, then that’s what you have. If your budget allows you to purchase conventional only, then you should get conventional fruit and vegetables. It’s super important to have whole fruits and vegetables in your diet, full stop.
In California, where I am based, we are very fortunate to have a myriad of options. There are a lot of farmer’s markets, in addition to grocery stores, CSA boxes (which stands for Community Supported Agriculture) and other online subscription services that offer reduced price options for produce that’s cosmetically not accepted by grocery chains. The CSA option is where you have a subscription for a box of fruit and vegetables directly from a farmer on a weekly or twice per month option. Often there are either community supported or low income options available with many of the CSAs. Since you’re dealing directly with a farmer, the produce changes with the growing season, but it also reduces the overhead the farmer would have if they were having to sell to a larger organization, so this usually is reflected in the pricing. If you do a little googling in your area for CSA, it’s possible you might find something good!
Ok, now for people who are trying to make the decision between organic and not organic. The rationale behind picking organic versus non organic is really in what is put on those fruits and vegetables when they are being grown. Organic farming has very stringent rules as to what pesticides are allowed to be used. However, some produce, organic or not, does not have significant amounts of pesticides due to its lack of pests, growing conditions etc. A good reporting agency that does annual reporting on this is the Environmental Working Group. They release 2 lists each year, the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen. The Dirty Dozen being produce you want to purchase organic, if you’re able. And the Clean Fifteen being produce that has less exposure to pesticides, grown conventional or organic.
So, let’s take a look!
Clean Fifteen for 2021
- Avocados
- Sweet Corn
- Pineapple
- Onions
- Papaya
- Sweet peas (frozen)
- Eggplant
- Asparagus
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Kiwi
- Cauliflower
- Mushrooms
- Honeydew Melon
- Cantaloupe
Dirty Dozen for 2021
- Strawberries
- Spinach
- Kale, collard and mustard greens
- Nectarines
- Apples
- Grapes
- Cherries
- Peaches
- Pears
- Bell and hot peppers
- Celery
- Tomatoes
The guidelines are updated for each year and can be found by googling Environmental Working Group and the above titles for the lists. And as always, this is just a guideline to help you when you’re at the grocery store trying to make a decision. If you have a CSA box, you can ask the farmer directly what pesticides they are using on their food. Often farmers with a smaller farm will grow organic, but don’t have the organic designation, because it takes a lot of permitting (ie money) and work to uphold the organic title. So, if you speak to them you may find you’re getting organic produce, just without the official label!
Hopefully this helps to inform your choices as you shop, but remember, just get the fruits and vegetables, however you can. That’s what’s most important!
Coach Sarah, FNP-BC, MSN