Top 10 Foods to Buy Organic

If you don’t want to spend a lot on organics, here’s where to invest, according to the Organics Consumers Association:

1. Baby Food. The environmental Working Group (EWG) commissioned lab tests of 8 baby foods made by Gerber, Heinz and Beech-Nut. 16 pesticides were found, including 3 carcinogens, 8 nerotoxins and 5 toxic chemicals.
2. Strawberries. The most heavily contaminated fruit or vegetable in the US according to another EWG study. Enough said. Organic brands include Swanton’s, Cascadian and Golden River to name a few.
3. Rice. Herbicides and insecticides have contaminated ground water near rice fields in Sacramento River Valley. An herbicide 2.4,5-T was commonly used on rice fields until 1984.
4. Oats and other grains. In 1994, the FDA found illegal residues in Cheerios cereal. Don’t risk the unknown toxins in processed foods and try a wide variety of grains, including millet, quinoa, barley, couscous, amaranth and spelt.
5. Milk. Many dairy companies use recombinant bovine growth hormone, a genetically engineered hormone to boost milk production. 79% of rBGH cows get clinical mastitis, a common infection of the udder. Fueled by this controversy, organic milk sales have reached over $60MM annually.
6. Corn. About 50% of all pesticides by weight are applied to corn in the U.S. Since corn is such a staple in the US diet, switching to organic corn simply makes sense.
7. Bananas. Pesticides such as beomyl (linked to birth defects) and chlorpyifos (a netrotoxin( have been found on bananas. In Costa Rica, even though 5% of land is taken up with bananas, 25% of the country’s pesticide imports are used on banana crops.
8. Green Beans. The EPA has registered more than 60 pesticides on green beans. Green beans from Mexico are the worst offenders-94% of the crop is contaminated with illegal pesticides.
9. Peaches. The FDA has cited over 5% of the crop contaminated of illegal pesticide violations, including a sample contaminated at eight parts per million (80 times the official tolerance level) with the pesticide pronamide.
10. Apples. Domestic apples have more than 65% as much pesticide contamination as strawberries. The FDA has found over 48 pesticides in a testing of 2,400 samples between 1984-1991.