Growing Organic Foods - and what produce is sprayed the most?

Growing Organic Foods - and what produce is sprayed the most?

Article by Angela Haldane

Q. I wish to eat a mostly organic diet owing to the harmful effects from the pesticides and other chemicals used on fresh produce. If I can’t afford to buy all my fruit and vegetables organically,which produce are the worst for sprays? And which are sprayed the least so I can make good choices.

A. "The Dirty Dozen" According to the Environmental Working Group www.ewg.org,  The highest ranking produce with sprays include: so grow these yourselves...

• peaches
• apples
• bell peppers
• celery
• nectarines
• strawberries
• cherries
• lettuce
• grapes
• pears
• spinach
• potatoes.

The cleanest dozen, which has the least sprays, include:

• onions
• avocado
• sweet corn
• pineapple
• mango
• sweet peas
• asparagus
• kiwifruit
• bananas
• cabbage
• broccoli
• eggplant.

It’s a great idea to grow a garden, vegetables such as spinach, celery, large bushes of parsley and lettuce are easy to grow all year round. I always buy organic carrots as they seem to really taste like carrots – they have more flavour.

A sprout maker is a great way to get fresh salad ingredients, mung bean or lentil or alfalfa sprouts. Simply change the water daily and in about 3 days time they are ready to eat. You can buy a 3 tiered sprout maker so you can make different types at once or grow them on at different stages. Available from your health store. Sprouts are very nutritious, cheap and spray free, grown on your kitchen bench.

Grow your veges,follow the instagram maunga_kereru for great gardening tips, following the biodynamic process and moon cycles. This site will tell you when to plant what – esp for the Auckland climate. In other regions, it is best to ask local gardeners when they plant what – as it might be a week later etc.

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