On Wednesday, the Environmental Working Group released Opens a New Window. its annual Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce, which analyzes Department of Agriculture test data to identify which supermarket produce have the most --and least-- contamination. Researchers said they were shocked that kale made the list this year.

Here are the group's results.

EWG's 2019 Dirty Dozen list
1. STRAWBERRIES

2. SPINACH

3. KALE

4. NECTARINES

5. APPLES

6. GRAPES

7. PEACHES

8. CHERRIES

9. PEARS

10. TOMATOES

11. CELERY

12. POTATOES

EWG's CLEAN 15 LIST FOR 2019
1. AVOCADOS

2. SWEET CORN

3. PINEAPPLES

4. FROZEN SWEET PEAS

5. ONIONS

6. PAPAYAS

7. EGGPLANTS

8. ASPARAGUS

9. KIWIS

10. CABBAGES

11. CAULIFLOWER

12. CANTALOUPES

13. BROCCOLI

14. MUSHROOMS

15. HONEYDEW MELONS

The popularity of kale is probably what caused farmers to use more pesticides so more made it to market. Lettuce used to be high on the list.

Avocado! Though if it gets too popular, they will ruin it.

Don't dispair over avocados-- we don't eat the skin! Unless you do.

1. STRAWBERRIES--75 plants ordered

2. SPINACH-- eating now--growing under a shop lite, been eating for a month

3. KALE- lacinato planted; Bok choi under grow lites now. Been eating for about 6 weeks

4. NECTARINES- planted.

5. APPLES- many apple trees planted last year;

6. GRAPES--we dont eat many; and I seem to not have a green thumb for these; pick the wild grapes

7. PEACHES-- 5 peach trees 20 some years old; new ones planted last year

8. CHERRIES-- dwarf cherry bushes grow 5-6 feet high and provide real size cherries; 3 planted last spring: Romeo and Carmine.

9. PEARS--2 trees getting old but doing well; new ones planted

10. TOMATOES--lots of seeds planted; recommend early girl, better boy, and many more

11. CELERY-- plants are 2 inches high already. Grow in a milk jug like a m ini green house outside until transplant time

12. POTATOES--have been trying a few potatoes for 2 years; going for 50# seed potatoes of Yukon Gold ( said to taste better when home grown) and 50# Kennebec; both long storage keepers and all purpose; small bag of Goldrush ( russet), Adirondack Blue, and spuds from l ast year: Puruvian purple or Molly Magic. Kids and dogs love potatoes.

I just found out about the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen from reading Dr. Lisa Mosconi's 2018 book Brain Food: The Surprising Science of Eating for Cognitive Power:

https://i.imgur.com/cHDumXc.jpg?3

2019 dirty dozen

2019 clean 15

Helps me make better choices at the buffet.

Wow Arielle I think you've got a money maker.

I was wondering how you can get the pesticides off the strawberries, their so fragile. If you wash them all at once and take a while to eat so mold prone.

Country of origin also make a difference to pesticide load. There are some fun interactive charts on the link
https://www.consumerreports.org/cro...cides/index.htm

Consumer reports also recommends soaking in baking soda and water to remove pesticide residue.

Lots of people use these lists to help make choices about which organic fruits and veggies to buy, assuming you can't buy organic everything because of the cost or availability.

If it's on the Dirty Dozen list, buy organic. If it's on the Clean list, don't worry so much. Also, fruits and veggies that you remove the peel from are less of a concern, like lemons, limes, oranges, avocados, fresh peas in the pod, etc. (Unless you're going to zest those lemons... )

I looked at the lists on the website and they added hot peppers as an extra 13th to the dirty dozen list.

Thanks, walnut. That's a very useful tool.