10 Foods You Must Buy Organic and 10 You Don’t Have To: A Shopping List! | Greenopolis

Organic food is usually a better and safer choice when it comes to feeding your family, however it can also be costly and cause heavy damage to your wallet. 



Sometimes locally grown has a lower ‘environmental footprint’ than strictly organic. Here are some suggestions from websites including our own. Follow these guides on what you should and shouldn't buy organic. These lists are based on what might enter your body. However you may want to consider the workers in the fields who often get sprayed while working the crops as well. Think like a forest.



Things You Can Safely Buy Conventional (Non-organic)
But wash them anyway, to be safer.

Fruits

1. Avocados
   Their thick skins protect the fruit from pesticide build-up.
2. Bananas
   The banana peel isn't eaten and that’s where the pesticide stays.
3. Pineapple
   Its spiny skin protects it from pests and pesticide residue.
4. Kiwi
   Its fuzzy skin acts as a barrier to pesticides, but still rinse before use.
5. Mango
   Another fruit that has thick skin that protects it from pesticides. Rinse before use.
6. Papaya
   Pesticide residue stays on papaya skin, but rinse before using.

Vegetables

7. Asparagus
   This vegetable faces fewer threats from pests, therefore less pesticides.
8. Broccoli
   Conventional broccoli crops face fewer pest threats, like asparagus, so they require few pesticides.
9. Cabbage
   Like asparagus and broccoli, it doesn't need a lot of pesticides while it is growing.
10. Onions
    As with many listed here, they don't see as many pest threats, which means less pesticide use.

Things to Buy Organic

Here are some tips we found on My Gloss:

Fruits: 
Fruits and vegetables with thin or edible skins tend to get sprayed more and absorb more pesticide residue. Always buy these ones organic.

1. Apples
   The skin of apples has lots of vitamins, so you don’t want to peel it off. But even if you do, apples are a big pest target, heavily sprayed and often washing and peeling doesn’t get off all of the chemicals.
2. Blueberries
   This anti-oxidant powerhouse berries are among the ‘dirtiest’ of fruits. They’re sprayed with dozens of pesticides so make sure you buy fresh, organic blueberries. Or pick wild.
3. Grapes
   It’s important to buy organic grapes and organic wines. Grapes have thin skin and are sprayed various times during the growing process.
4. Peaches and Nectarines
   Peaches and nectarines are heavily sprayed and their delicate skin absorbs the chemicals easily.

Vegetables

5. Celery
   Celery is sprayed with organophosphates, which have been linked to ADHD. With no protective skin, they absorb harmful chemicals rapidly and don’t wash off.
6. Bell Peppers
   Their soft skin and lack of a protective layer lands bell peppers on the must-buy organic list.
7. Potatoes:
   Spuds are among the most contaminated veggies. If you can’t find organic, opt for Sweet Potatoes instead. Or try the organic rice.
8. Spinach:
   Bugs like spinach more than Popeye. It’s among the most heavily sprayed leafy greens.
9. Meat
   Beef, pork and chicken store chemicals and hormones in their fat, so buy organic meat. At least stay away from the fatty cuts and chicken thighs. Try the organic tofu.
10. Coffee
    Coffee beans grown in other countries aren’t regulated, so look for the USDA Organic label to ensure your coffee doesn’t come with a shot of harmful chemicals.

You can get a list of fruits and vegetables ranks in order of most or least pesticide load to inform your shopping. When in doubt, buy organic. If it’s organic and local and cheap, you’ve hit the trifecta. Many organics are just as cheap as conventionally grown. But like my wife says when I question the price of organic foods, it’s cheaper than cancer.