Organic Produce

The last few times I've gotten together with my parents and grandparents, we start to fight about the idea of organic produce with my dad and grandpa against it (a government conspiracy to make us spend more money) vs. my mom and I.

According to my dad and grandpa, no one uses pesticides to grow vegetables. Sigh. These 2 men come from Italy where they were really fortunate to eat the freshest fruits and vegetables grown locally and free of chemicals. Unfortunately they don't realize that modern US agriculture and 1950's Italian agriculture aren't the same.

Anyway, one of the arguments was that if you had to choose which items to buy organic, what would they be. Well, the most recent consumer reports magazine has a nice little list of the TOP 16 items that when grown conventionally will have the most pesticides. So if you buy organic, make sure these are:

Fruits:

• Cranberries
• Nectarines
• Peaches
• Strawberries
• Pears
• Apples
• Cherries
• Cantaloupe

Vegetables:

• Green beans
• Sweet bell peppers
• Celery
• Cucumbers
• Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Peas
• Lettuce