SmarterFitter

Go organic! Reduce the toxic load! Build healthy soil! Avoid pesticides!

Yeah, there are plenty of reasons to go organic. But for most of us, those reasons don't hold a candle to practicality when we're making a decision at the grocery store. Let's face it: organic food is almost always expensive, sometimes hard to get, and often just plain ugly! The good news is we can make educated choices about when to buy organic, and when to stick with the cheap stuff.

The Environmental Working Group has an excellent guide which ranks non-organic foods by pesticide loads. The following are their "Dirty Dozen", the 12 most frequently contaminated foods, as well as the "Cleanest 12":

"Dirty Dozen"

• Peaches


• Apples


• Sweet Bell peppers


• Celery


• Nectarines


• Strawberries


• Cherries


• Lettuce


• Grapes (Imported)


• Pears


• Spinach


• Potatoes

"Cleanest 12"

• Onions


• Avocado


• Sweet Corn (Frozen)


• Pineapples


• Mango


• Sweet Peas (Frozen)


• Asparagus


• Kiwi


• Bananas


• Cabbage


• Broccoli

A full list is available on their website, as well as a printable wallet guide.

In addition to fruit and veg, the NY Times has a list of five easy ways to go organic that won't break the bank. The list includes my favorite, peanut butter, as well as milk and ketchup.

Ketchup?

About 75 percent of tomato consumption is in the form of processed tomatoes, including juice, tomato paste and ketchup. Notably, recent research has shown organic ketchup has about double the antioxidants of conventional ketchup.

Well, now I want a veggie burger. Made with organic soy. Topped with non-organic onion. But hold the lettuce (I can't afford it).