When to Buy Organic: A Breakdown of the Dirty Dozen & Clean Fifteen

If you’re anything like me, you care a lot about the products you use and the foods you eat. I recently discovered that I was using a non-organic body wash on my son. It was a very well known all-natural brand, so it was sold in an organic shop. When I realized, I freaked out! Granted, I’m sure he’ll survive and I took immediate steps to fix it and get him a safer option, but I really felt like a mini failure.

Even so, I know that it’s nearly impossible to do the completely right thing 100% of the time. We’re going to fail. We’re going to forget. It’s why I believe in the 77/22 rule. It’s kind of lie the 80/20 rule in which you try hard 80% of the time and let yourself off the hook 20% of the time. My 77/22 rule says to try hard 77% of the time. Enjoy a splurge 22% of the time, and for the last 1%, throw your hands in the area and say “screw it!” We’re only human, No use beating ourselves up over it. 

So when those 22% weeks come along and you can’t go all organic, just pay attention to which produce items have the most to lose when hit with yucky pesticides. Aka, learn the difference between the Clean Fifteen and the Dirty Dozen. 

The Dirty Dozen are the 12 fruits and vegetables that are most affecting by pesticides. These foods either have a porous skin that absorbs most of the chemicals or no skin at all. Whenever possible, buy these foods organic.

The Dirty Dozen:

• Apples
• Strawberries
• Cherries
• Celery
• Peaches
• Nectarines
• Grapes
• Pears
• Spinach
• Tomatoes (Don’t worry! They sell organic pizza sauce!)
• Potatoes
• Kale

The Clean Fifteen are the 15 fruits and vegetables that are the least affected by pesticides. These foods have thick durable skins that protect them from chemicals. If you can’t buy 100% organic, these are the items to shop wholesale.

The Clean 15:

• Avocados
• Pineapples
• Frozen sweet peas
• Onions
• Papayas
• Eggplants
• Asparagus
• Kiwis
• Cabbages
• Cauliflower
• Cantaloupes
• Broccoli
• Mushrooms
• Honeydew Melons
• Sweet corn (Keep in mind, sweet corn often contains  GMOs, so consume at your own risk)

Other Tips for Healthy, Organic Produce

Whenever you buy produce, be sure to wash it in a solution of 3 parts warm filtered water and 1 part vinegar. This combination will break up and remove most of the toxins on your produce. It’s also a good idea to get as much of your produce as possible from your local Farmer’s market. Farmer’s market produce is less likely to have been sprayed with pesticides and other harmful chemicals. It’s also usually cheaper than produce from your grocery stores. And since it’s local, produce from your farmers market is more sustainable and produces fewer carbon emissions to get from farm to table.

As a big bonus for the planet. Bring your own reusable bag and say no thanks to the plastic. You’ll feel better knowing you’re doing as much good as possible - even if you’re only hitting 77% today. 

All those toxins from the dirty dozen show up in your pores, leaving behind uneven skin tone, blemishes and breakouts, redness, and irritation. Making any changes (even just swapping out a few of the dirty dozen for organic varieties) will do wonders for your skin and your overall health.

Which fruit and veg will you be changing up today?