The Dirty Dozen; Foods to Avoid, Foods to Eat

You might have heard about the "Dirty Dozen" food list that EWG (Environmental Working Group) compiled. The list is to help you make your produce selections easier by listing what produce you should buy organic to avoid toxins/ pesticides. Although this list is helpful, many including myself, feel that your food selections should be all organic to give you the best fuel for good health. I will also share EWG's Dirty Dozen list for 2022 in this article.

As our food is what fuels our body, the quality of our food is essential for our bodies to work in the way they were created to work; to keep us healthy and fight off disease and illnesses. Our immune system is able to do this job when we fuel it with premium-organic foods . It is a fact that organic foods have more nutrients and antioxidants (between 20-40% more) than conventionally grown produce according to many studies including the Diabetic Council's. Let's take a look at both conventional and organic produce.

Conventional produce is grown and processed using pesticides, herbicides, and anhydrous ammonia.

We'll just talk about a well-known herbicide here, but take some time to research conventional growing processes.

"Applying herbicides like Roundup 7-10 days before harvest is viewed as especially helpful for wheat that ripens unevenly, a common occurrence. It is also considered a helpful tool to initiate an earlier harvest when weather conditions threaten plant viability. Other benefits are earlier ripening for earlier replanting and reducing the green material in the field. This puts less strain on farm machinery during harvest." (quote from article: Roundup Sprayed on Dozens of Crops Pre-Harvest ).

Roundup aka Glyphosate. That's right; G-l-y-p-h-o-s-a-t-e, the poison even the notorious World Health Organization deemed a probable human carcinogen in 2015 which several European countries banned yet the United States still allows it's use. Bayer, owner of Monsanto, states that it is not a carcinogen. As to why anyone would believe this statement from Bayer who sold heroin cough medicine for adults and children claiming it was "without side effects", who during the first world war started manufacturing chemical weapons, merging with other German chemical manufacturers forming IG Farben who donated to Hilter's champagne and later used slave labor in their factories and mines including death camp inmates and if they were found too sick or weak they were sent to the gas chambers (there is more dark history in Bayer's past; go to the link above) -is beyond me.

Glyphosate can NOT be washed off; it goes right into the plant. The link between glyphosate and Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is particularly strong. " One study, published in 2008 by Swedish researchers, found that exposure to glyphosate tripled the risk of a subtype of non-Hodgkin called small lymphocytic lymphoma.

Another study published in 2003 showed a suggestive link between glyphosate-based herbicide use and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The more pesticides a subject used, the more non-Hodgkin lymphoma incidences increased. Subjects who used five or more of the nine pesticides were “twice as likely to be NHL cases than controls.

Aside from cancer, glyphosate has been associated with a host of health issues, like kidney disease, reproductive problems, liver damage and birth defects.

Not only is the herbicide dangerous to consumers, but farmers who use glyphosate and their families are at great risk of health issues. According to this study "Glyphosate biomonitoring for farmers and their families: results from the Farm Family Exposure Study they studied urinary glyphosate concentrations for 48 farmers, their spouses, and their 79 children (4-18 years of age) and evaluated 24-hr composite urine samples for each family member the day before, the day of, and for 3 days after a glyphosate application. They found that they had levels of glyphosate in their urine stating that it is advisable to limit exposure to glyphosate.

In July 2021, Monsanto owner Bayer AG said it would remove glyphosate-based herbicides from the U.S. consumer market by 2023 due to litigation. More than 100,000 people are suing Bayer alleging they developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma from exposure to the company’s glyphosate herbicides, such as Roundup. We should keep very close watch on this to see that it happens AND to see what they replace the glyphosate with.

Unfortunately many products including foods certified as organic and non-GMO were found to have high levels of glyphosate residues. Click here to find an extensive, eye opening list. The list includes such items as: all flavors of Cheerio's, Nature Valley products, many Quaker products, Minute Maid orange juice, Pepperidge Farm Gold Fish, Ben & Jerry's ice creams, Coors Light beer, Budweiser beer, etc.

Full List (The Dirty Dozen Plus)

EWG's 2022 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce™

Make sure to buy the organic version of these fruits and vegetables.

1. Strawberries

2. Spinach

3. Kale, collard & mustard greens

4. Nectarines

5. Apples

6. Grapes

7. Bell & hot Peppers

8. Cherries

9. Peaches

10. Pears

11. Celery

12. Tomatoes

13. Potatoes

14. Blueberries

15. Cherry Tomatoes

16. Winter squash

17. Lettuce

18. Cucumbers

19. Tangerines

20. Green Beans

21. Plums

22. Broccoli

23. Eggplant

24. Raspberries

25. Summer squash*

26. Grapefruit

27. Snap Peas

28. Oranges

29. Carrots

30. Bananas

31. Cauliflower

32. Sweet Potatoes

33. Watermelon

34. Mangoes

35. Cantaloupe

36. Mushrooms

37. Cabbage

38. Kiwi

39. Honeydew melon

40. Asparagus

41. Sweet peas (frozen)

42. Papaya*

43. Onions

44. Pineapple

45. Sweet corn*

46. Avocados

* A small amount of sweet corn, papaya and summer squash sold in the United States is produced from genetically modified seeds. Buy organic varieties of these crops if you want to avoid genetically modified produce.

Buy organic.

Organic produce is grown with strict government standards and are produced without the use of toxic and persistent pesticides and synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, antibiotics, synthetic hormones, genetic engineering or other excluded practices, sewage sludge, or irradiation.

No Roundup/glyphosate.

All farmers are hard workers, but the organic farmer works harder at upholding these standards by hand weeding, crop rotation, mulching, etc., giving us nutrient and anti-oxidant dense foods; pure foods naturally made like God intended.

Genesis 1:29

And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food."

Conventional farmers can make the conversion to organic farming; learning new techniques and reorganizing labor-.this can take up to 3 to 5 years. Banks often deny credit to farmers who convert to a system where they might have lower yields. The developing of a special program to convert farms with financial assistance should be implemented in order to make this much needed transition easier and more obtainable.

"Let food by thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food". One of my favorite quotes from Hypocrites. You can look at food being your medicine as well as poison depending on what food you are consuming. Make organic-whole foods your priority and make choices that will help you have a healthy body so that you can enjoy life, family and be there to help others. You can't enjoy life and you can't be there for your family or others if you are sick.

Your body is your temple.