You check your labels. You take supplements. You exercise, and you drink plenty of water.Perhaps you already wash your produce with an organic cleaner. But you have a family, and it’s not always easy in our economy – or where we live – to consume only organic food. No matter what size family you have, it can be difficult to keep the cupboards and fridge stocked with all the healthy foods your growing child needs year round. Your child begins to consume vast quantities of food with each growth spurt and you begin to feel like Old Mother Hubbard! Pesticides and Herbicides You’ve heard of the dangers posed by the many chemicals being put into your food. You’re a good parent or caregiver, and you worry not only for yourself, but also the children that you care for. The amount of chemicals and pesticides sprayed onto or injected into our food is staggering. These chemicals often require farmers to use extensive safety precautions when applying them to the produce in the field. Even buying something that says “pre-washed” does nothing to eliminate the oil-based chemicals that cling to and permeate your produce.“Pre-washed” is simply running the produce on a moving belt while a machine sprays water over it. If these chemicals were so easily cleaned, the rain would wash them away. The only way to radically reduce the toxins would be to wash the produce with an organic cleaner. What can I buy to get started? Perhaps you are just beginning to transition to an organic lifestyle and you are intimidated by the cost of changing your lifestyle all at once. This is where we bring in the “Dirty Dozen.” These 12 fruits and vegetables,when grown conventionally, have been identified by the USDA to have dangerously high chemical content. You do NOT want to buy anything from the Dirty Dozen list conventionally. Rather than try and buy all your food organically right away, focus on purchasing the produce from the Dirty Dozen list organically. Other produce like onions, pineapple, and avocados can be purchased conventionally with minimal toxicity. This is not to imply they are toxin-free however, because of the outer layer not being consumed the toxicity is reduced. The following 12 are the worst offenders, should only be bought organically, and still cleaned with an organic cleaner to ensure there is no residual contamination left before consuming:
- Apples
- Peaches
- Celery
- Strawberries
- Bell Peppers
- Grapes
- Potatoes
- Lettuce
- Nectarines
- Cherries
- Spinach
- Kale
- Collard Greens
- Domestic Blueberries
This list was put together after they washed them with a high-pressure industrial water system that you most likely do not have in your kitchen. After washing, these offenders were still dangerously high in pesticide and herbicides that could easily threaten your family’s well-being! Buy these 12 items organic,and use iGozen Simply Clean Fruit/Veg Wash which can be found here to ensure they are free from any residual contaminants. This is a great place to start your family living organic on a budget. Applications and Resources – Go here and you will see a list of foods that are “ok” to buy conventionally if you are watching your budget and cannot eat 100% organic. – Check out iGOZEN Fruit/Veg Wash, iGOZEN is a movement and a philosophy of living. We seek peace in every aspect of our lives and harmonious relations with our environment. We want to share our trials, tribulations and triumphs with other like-minded individuals through our articles. We believe that making the world a better place to live takes just one step at a time. That one step can be implementing an idea from the article you read, or it can be your decision to try chemical-free iGOZEN fruit and vegetable wash or eco-friendly cleaner.
