Which Foods Should You Buy Organic?

"Buying organic? It's nothing more than an expensive fad. I can't afford to buy organic fruits and vegetables."

Does this sound like you or someone you know?

The Environmental Working Group, a non-profit organization that ranks fruits and vegetables by their levels of pesticide residue, put together a simple list of the most and least contaminated produce so you can decide which foods are best to purchase organic and which aren't as necessary.

Check it out here: Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce

(if that link does work, try https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/)

To reduce your intake of pesticides, buy the organic varieties of the items on the Dirty Dozen Plus list.

I often hear people protest that buying organic is too expensive, but I'm telling you that if you buy the items on this list from your local farmers market or while they're in season (or when they're on sale!), they won't cost much more than the conventional variety.

To determine whether or not the produce at your grocery store is organic, look at the number on the sticker (this is called the price look-up code, or "PLU code").

A number starting with "9" indicates that the food is organic. A number starting with anything else means that it's not organic.