Choose These 5 Organic Vegetables for Dinner

As every good mom knows, vegetables make the world go 'round. If you don't trust Mom, just ask the United States Department of Agriculture: You need about five servings of vegetables per day to get the nutrition your body needs. Everyone should make sure they get enough vividly colored, delicious, and vitamin, mineral, and antioxidant packed vegetables' and avoid a variety of pesticides by choosing organic.

Pesticides on Your Plate?

The unfortunate truth is that most commercially grown vegetables can be coated with pesticides when they arrive at the market. To make matters worse, many people don't wash their vegetables and fruits before preparing them for consumption, and even when vegetables and fruits are thoroughly washed, a good many pesticides may be left behind. As for squash and potatoes, the residue cannot be washed off, or peeled off, as many of the pesticides are already inside the vegetable. According to the Environmental Working Group's (EWG) latest shopper's guide to pesticides, which was created with information obtained from the USDA website, the following commercially grown vegetables top the list of most highly pesticided vegetables.

#1 Celery

Celery is low in calories and great for dieters. The delicious celery stalk is one of the raw vegetables children are regularly encourage to eat. But would moms push celery if they knew it was loaded with pesticides? More than 50 pesticides are frequently found, alone or in combination with one another, on celery, even after it has been washed. 11 of the pesticides are known or probable carcinogens (cancer causing agents).

#2 Potatoes

The glorious potato is considered a food staple, which means it is served often on tables across the globe. Yet if most people know what went into the growing and harvesting of a commercial potato, they wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole. Every kind of pesticide you can imagine, from bug deterrents to optimum growth accelerators and sprout inhibitors, finds its way into the lovely potato. 14 of the most commonly used potato pesticides are known or probable carcinogens.

#3 Bell Peppers

Bell peppers or sweet peppers can be found in vivid colors ranging from green to yellow to orange to red. The vegetables grow quickly and are especially good raw. More than 40 conventional pesticides are reportedly used on the sweet and bell pepper. Of those chemicals, nine are reportedly known or probable carcinogens.

#4 Spinach

Spinach is a green leafy vegetable. It's high in vitamins and minerals and great in salads. Some of the chemical pesticide residue remains on the vegetable, even after washing, and none of them are good for human consumption. 25 of the common pesticides found on spinach are suspected hormone disruptors. Another five are known or probable carcinogens, and yet another five are developmental or reproductive toxins.

#5 Kale/Collard Greens

Kale and collard greens: Both leafy green vegetables, both great in salads, both may be covered in more than 50 chemical pesticides. Six are known or probable carcinogens; 10 are neurotoxins; 27 are suspected hormone disruptors, and nine are reproductive and developmental toxins. Should any of these commercially gown vegetables appear on your table? Of course! All of the above mentioned vegetables should appear on your table, but only if they are grown organically.

Organic vs. Synthetic

Vegetables that claim the organic label must be free of chemicals, food ripening additives, genetically modified ingredients, fertilizers and other non-organic matter. In other words, organic pesticides are derived from natural substances. These natural substances are extracted but not chemically altered. Synthetic pesticides used by most commercial growers, on the other hand, are generally petroleum-based with altered molecules.

Sources: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=38

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=dailytip&dbid=372

http://www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/01/02/pesticide-residue.aspx

http://www.foodnews.org/

http://www.pesticide.org/potatoes.pdf

http://www.whatsonmyfood.org/food.jsp?food=PP

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