The 12 Most Dangerous Pesticide-Ridden Foods

I dread going to town.

I’m not a fan of the busy streets. I’m not a fan of the stores (mind boggling…). And I’m not really a fan of how it sucks up my time.

Have you ever noticed that? Going to town is almost like letting a vacuum hose into your life. It sucks up your time like nothing else. Before you know it, you’ve spent an hour and hardly got anything done…

Ok, ok… so this wasn’t supposed to be a rant on town.

But I was reminded about the stores as I was sitting here thinking about pesticide contamination in our food. I mean, did you realize that residues of over 70 pesticides have been found in individual boxes of cereal? It’s crazy.

Pesticides. They’re all over the place.

And frankly their terrible. Terrible for you. Terrible for the environment.

Just plain terrible…

In fact they’ve been linked with diseases you probably don’t want to think about (think cancer, autism, Parkinsons, Alzheimers, and others)

So how do you avoid them? How can you make sure you and your family aren’t eating gobs of poisonous chemicals (like the 70 in the breakfast cereal)?

Let’s see… the first step is to choose to eat organic.

If it’s not organic, don’t buy it. That’s the safest route.

And no, it’s not like if you eat a non-organic apple from the store you’re going to walk home with cancer… but your chances of getting it may be just a little higher.

If you’re wondering which fresh foods are the worst (or best) when it comes to pesticides, then you’ll like this (see below).

Those over at Juicing with G have put together a really neat infographic where you can visually see the 12 worst pesticide-ridden fruits and veggies – plus they give you the 15 best ones too.

Check this out – it’s even kinda fun to look at and something to keep in mind next time you’re (ahem…) in town and buying fruit for supper:

(Pssst… when you get to the bottom, I’ll share with you one of the “clean 15” they listed that may be a bit misleading. In fact, a particular kind of this veggie is literally registered with the EPA as a pesticide itself! Yikes! Ok, enough for now, see you at the bottom…)

Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen

So, clean 15 or clean 14? I’ll let you pick.

Here’s the deal. Corn is listed in the clean 15 but if it is genetically modified (which as of 2012 88% of corn planted was GM) then it is literally a pesticide itself.

I know, that’s scary.

And I honestly don’t mean to scare you. But I think it’s only right for you and your family to know what you’re eating. Ignorance isn’t always bliss…

So, real quick – what they do is genetically implant the pesticide BT into the corn so that it becomes part of the corn itself. This way, when an insect eats the corn it dies – because it’s eating a pesticide. And in short, that means you are eating the pesticide too. (If you’re eating GMO corn that is).

The other one to notice is papaya, as many of them are genetically modified as well.

And so, to wrap this up: eat organic!

Or better yet? Grow your own food. That’s the best way to go, and I’d love to help you learn how.

And now, let me know what you think in the comments and please share this around with your friends!

19 Comments

  • Kathryn Meyer

    Reply Reply February 17, 2015

    Thank you, Paul, for this. Others who understand ‘organic’ and ‘GMO-free’ are also publishing the same warnings — we are being poisoned and killed by the corrupt U.S. food industry, the same as cigarette-smokers have been poisoned and killed by the very corporations who enjoy the profits gleaned from their consumer’s purchases.

    • Paul

      Reply Reply February 17, 2015

      You are welcome Kathryn! It’s true… and sad. But the good news is that we don’t have to be a part of this grand experiment. We can choose to make responsible choices for ourselves and our families. And ultimately – we can learn to grow our own food! Thanks for your note!

      • Ellen Mattison Drachenberg

        Reply Reply February 17, 2015

        Good evening Paul,

        You’ll be happy to hear how well my home garden is growing. We have been eating and sharing so many delicious fresh veggies every day.

        The best part of the news is that on February 3, 2015 our Home Owner’s ARB (Architecturqal Review Board) approved my little veggie garden in our back yard. I had not requested this permission, therefore was at variance with the deed restrictions of “gardening and fencing,” but have now been approved.

        Blessings on you and yours,

        Ellen

        • Paul

          Reply Reply February 17, 2015

          That’s wonderful Ellen! I’m so excited for you. What happy news. I love to hear about your garden. Keep up the good work! And how wonderful to hear it’s been approved as well.

    • Elsie Reis

      Reply Reply February 17, 2015

      Hi Paul:
      Thank you for your info on the various fruits and vegies. I was under the impression from a very old Reader’s Digest magazine that the 4 numbers starting with 3 were genetically modified. I find fruit with 4 numbers starting with 3, mainly oranges. I have never noticed numbers starting with 8. Now I will look more diligently. Again, thank you for your valuable info.
      Elsie Reis

      • Paul

        Reply Reply February 18, 2015

        You are welcome Elsie! And yes, I think that 8 is the correct number. Good news is that I don’t think there are any GMO oranges on the market yet. So you should be safe there. Thanks for your comment!

  • Kim Reed

    Reply Reply February 18, 2015

    Hi Paul,

    This is terrific information! Thank you so much for “putting it out there” and please continue to “tell it like it is”.
    Organic is definitely best, growing it yourself is awesome….

    God bless you,
    Kim

    • Paul

      Reply Reply February 18, 2015

      Hey Kim! Thanks for the encouragement! Keep up all the great gardening – I love it!

  • Pixie @ Cheerfully Vegan

    Reply Reply February 19, 2015

    Cucumbers?? Yikes! That’s one I did NOT know was on the dirty dozen list. Now I’m really glad I didn’t just assume I already knew the list and keep going. Thanks for the info. I shall pass it along.

    • Paul

      Reply Reply February 19, 2015

      You’re welcome Pixie! Thanks for helping spread the word.

      • Errol

        Reply Reply May 7, 2015

        hey Paul,
        I was looking for a source for a Non_GMO seeds and i was refered to you some of my friend from MeetMinistry.. my family is wanting to do a big change in our life by changing our diets in to fruits and vegetables, nuts and start our own garden but we kind of stuck because we dont want any seeds that are GMO… hope you can help us find some source for the seeds.. thanks!

        • Paul

          Reply Reply May 8, 2015

          Hi Errol! Absolutely – I’ll catch you by email.

          • Errol

            May 10, 2015

            I super excited to know where i can buy Non-GMO seeds… please email me instead on this email 2009mynewcar@gmail.com Thanks Again!

  • Patty

    Reply Reply May 20, 2015

    I am not quite sure how to fit all this together in the big picture. Having lived in Africa for several years, I’m thinking of the poor people around the world and what do we tell them–like this is the majority of people in the world… to eat organic??..I believe in education and learning the facts but I don’t want to live out of a paradigm of fear…in summary, we need to do the best we can with what resources we have and ask God’s blessing on it….

    • Paul

      Reply Reply May 22, 2015

      Hi Patty,

      I absolutely agree in many ways. Even when I share about GMOs it’s not for the intent to scare people. I simply believe it is only right for people to make informed decisions. If I knew something was harmful to you but didn’t tell you it would be tragic. That being said there are places that make things even more difficult than we have it here in America. Like some places overseas. I’d still encourage people overseas to learn how to grow their own food organically. But if they don’t have any other option to do the best they can. Better to eat something not good for you and live… then to not eat at all and die. It is important to do the best we can and then lay our lives in God’s hands as you mentioned. Thanks so much for your comment!

  • Carolyn

    Reply Reply June 3, 2015

    Thank you for sharing; it was quite an eye opener. I was not aware how much pesticides were in the fruit. I am glad I am growing most of my food and will be sure the seeds i purchase are non gmo as well as non-hybrid.

    • Paul

      Reply Reply June 3, 2015

      You are welcome Carolyn!

  • Jan

    Reply Reply November 18, 2015

    Great info. Definitely will share

    • Paul

      Reply Reply November 19, 2015

      Thanks so much for spreading the word Jan!

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