Healthy Produce

I’m still doing that research on healthy eating; here are my latest finds:

Those little stickers on produce at the grocery store have meaning to your average human being! Who knew? Unfortunately, I haven’t found how this transfers to labeling in packaged foods. If the five digit sticker code on a fruit or vegetable begins with a “9”, it was organically grown. If it begins with an “8”, it is genetically modified. Genetically modified foods are linked with increased risk of food allergy and various cancers and are developed by Monsanto, (which in my opinion is pretty much the devil come to earth in business form.) A four digit code simply means the food was grown at a normal farm.

Organic food is expensive! If you aren’t sure what to buy organically, here is a list of the ''Clean 15'' fruits and vegetables that are least likely to contain pesticide residue (i.e. you don’t need to buy the organic versions of these):

• Onion
• Avocado
• Sweet Corn
• Pineapple
• Mango
• Asparagus
• Sweet Peas
• Kiwi
• Cabbage
• Eggplant
• Papaya
• Watermelon
• Broccoli
• Tomato
• Sweet Potato

So, which ones should we be avoiding or buying organically? Peaches top the "dirty dozen" list because they require a lot of pesticides to grow. The rest of the dirty dozen include:

• Apples
• Bell peppers
• Celery
• Cherries
• Nectarines
• Strawberries
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Imported grapes
• Carrots
• Pears

(Source: ABC News via The Environmental Working Group)