As I sit here catching up on my shows I DVRed over the weekend, I decided next was one of my new favorites, a locally produced show called "b. organic" with Michele Beschen. This show is shown nationwide on local Public Television stations all around the country.
Michele is going over what "being organic" means, and there are a few things that I wanted to touch upon here, because there are things that people who are trying really hard to make good decisions for themselves and their families may not truly understand.
First of all, how do you know what is conventional, organic or genetically modified produce?
- Conventional produce will have a tag with a number starting with a "4"
- Organic produce will have a tag with a number that starts with a "9"
- And genetically modified produce will have a tag that number starts with an "8"
The Dirty Dozen
1. Celery
2. Peaches
3. Strawberries
4. Apples
5. Domestic blueberries
6. Nectarines
7. Sweet bell peppers
8. Spinach, kale and collard greens
9. Cherries
10. Potatoes
11. Imported grapes
12. Lettuce
Basically, as you can see here, a good rule of thumb is to buy organic when you are going to eat the outside. Foods that you have to peel, like a banana or an orange, for example, you can techinally buy conventional if you must. Checkout this list of the "Clean 15", foods that have lower levels of pesticides:
The Clean 15
1. Onions
2. Avocados
3. Sweet corn
4. Pineapples
5. Mango
6. Sweet peas
7. Asparagus
8. Kiwi fruit
9. Cabbage
10. Eggplant
11. Cantaloupe
12. Watermelon
13. Grapefruit
14. Sweet potatoes
15. Sweet onions
Learning how to make the best possible choices really is important, and we need to continually educate ourselves, because the manufacturers and producers of less than ideal foods will always do what they can to confuse us.
Let me know if you have any questions about how to make good, healthy food choices!
Rebecca
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