The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has released its annual Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce this past June. The EWG Analysts examined data collected by the U.S. Deparment of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration from 2000 to 2009. Produce is scored based on how many pesticides are found on each type of produce and at what levels. Samples are washed and peeled, then tested, to represent how items would be eaten. Chosing organic is always a good choice, but when organic isn't an option, this list should help in making lower pesticide choices for produce. Keep in mind that when you chose organic you are supporting organic agriculture, which doesn't destroy the land and the health of farm workers.
To see the entire article CLICK HERE and search for the 2011 Shopper's Guide to pesticides.
ALL ITEMS LISTED ARE CONVENTIONAL
The "Dirty Dozen" (Foods Highest in Pesticide Residues)
Apples
Celery
Strawberries
Peaches
Spinach
Imported Nectarines
Imported Grapes
Sweet Bell Peppers
Potatoes
Domestic Blueberries
Lettuce
Kale/Collard Greens
For the past few years, the Produce Department here at the Keweenaw Co-op has been buying most of its organic fruit and vegetables from Co-op Partner's Warehouse in St. Paul, Minn. Partners is a project of the Wedge Cooperative in Minneapolis and here are some of the reasons they are cool:
1. They are the little guy
2. Even better, they are a cooperative (the Sixth Cooperative Principle)
3. Their prices are consistently better than those from other warehouses
4. They look for ways to help make a better food system
That last one – Reason Number 4 why Co-op Partners is cool – includes things like carrying Equal Exchange Bananas (www.beyondthepeal.com), which are Fair Trade certified and grown by cooperative farmers fighting the good fight against Dole and Chiquita; offering produce from small California growers like T & D Willey Farms (www.tdwilleyfarms.com); and carrying locally grown produce.
Since Partners is located in St. Paul, Minn., what's local to them isn't necessarily local to us. In the Co-op's Produce Department, the yellow “local” sign goes on produce grown in the Western Upper Peninsula: Houghton, Ontonagon, Baraga, Marquette and Keweenaw counties. But it's worth recognizing the work of other farmers in the Upper Great Lakes Basin by highlighting the less-well-traveled organic fruits and vegetables they sell through Co-op Partners.
So when you're in the Produce Department in the coming days and weeks, look for purple tags next to the green organic produce signs. They'll say “Regional” and they'll draw your attention to produce grown in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and parts of Michigan outside the Western U.P.
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