Top 10 Foods to Eat Organically
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 09.18.06
TreeHugger is a big fan of organic foods, but it can be tough to get all organic, all the time, and sometimes organics aren't the best choice (like when they have to travel from Chile). So, when faced with buying conventional fruits and vegetables, it's important to remember that some are treated with more pesticides than others, and that some carry more pesticides from the field to your market as well. Thanks to a study by the Environmental Working Group's Top Ten Foods to Eat Organically, (who've done lots of worthwhile work in the past, including finding benzene in soda and creating a national tap water quality database), we now know where to look for alternatives to high-pesticide conventional produce when organics aren't available. For example, conventional strawberries are a great source of vitamin C, but also carry high levels of pesticides with them; substituting blueberries or raspberries will retain the high-vitamin content with less leftover pesticide. Peaches can be replaced with nectarines, tangerines or watermelon; green beans' potassium can be found in green peas, broccoli or asparagus. Not only a good source of information to find vitamin replacements, the list is also a good reminder of which foods you should avoid when conventional is all you can find. Check out the full top 10 here. :: Care2 via :: Hugg
This post has been submitted to digg.com -- here's the link
I am surprised that Treehugger is not providing the most current information. The link provided is from a book printed in 2000.
A google search found the Environmental Working Group's more current report Report Card: Pesticides in Produce.
This "dirty dozen" list includes nectarines and raspberries! I also provides a nice list of produce least likely to be contaminated.
No top 10 list of organic foods can be complete without Earthbound Farms Organic baby spinach leaves... mmm mmm e.coli :P
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editor note: Actually, the latest update says it's probably not organic spinach.
http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=5420552&nav=3YeX