12 Fruits & Vegetables that you should buy organic.

Want to eat organic but can't afford to do so exclusively? Or do you simply want to identify the biggest pesticide offenders in your fruit bowl?

Knowing which fruits and vegetables are most contaminated -- and knowing when they're locally in season -- helps us make healthier choices on a budget.

Luckily for consumers, the nonprofit Environmental Working Group put together a list of the "Dirty Dozen" produce containing the highest levels of pesticides linked to birth defects, cancer and other diseases.

And what better day to take a look at these 12 fruits and vegetables than today -- 12/12/12?

The EWG bases the Dirty Dozen on rigorous testing by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration, and it says consumers can reduce their exposure to pesticides by up to 90 percent if they avoid non-organic versions of the following:

1. Apples.

The No. 1 offender -- 98 percent of apples tested contained pesticides. If you really want to keep the doctor away, buy organic apples.

Here in southcentral Pennsylvania, apple season runs July through October, but apples can be preserved in cold storage through spring. Look for the "local" and "organic" labels when you shop.

2. Celery.

Fruits and veggies are not only tainted by the chemicals that remain on their surfaces, but by the contaminated water they absorb. Celery is 95 percent water and tested positive for 57 different pesticides, which makes it the second "dirtiest" on the EWG list.

Another summer/fall item, celery is locally in-season from August through October.

3. Sweet bell peppers.

A single sample of sweet peppers tested positive for 15 pesticides, so be sure to look for the "organic" sticker when shopping for these colorful, crunchy vegetables.

Sweet peppers taste great year-round, but they're only in season July through October.

4. Peaches.

Peeling your peaches might reduce some of the surface chemicals, but they're still 88 percent water. Keep the skin, ditch the chemicals.

Orchards in York County grow peaches locally during the summer months, as late as September/October. Roadside stands are usually overflowing with the sweet, juicy fruits.

5. Strawberries.

Berries are largely water, plus they're un-peelable, so organic is the way to go.

In this region, strawberries have a short growing season (primarily May and June), but are shipped in from other parts of the country where they thrive for longer. It's important to look for where your fruit is grown, too -- if it's spent weeks on a truck being shipped to York County and is going to rot within a few days of purchase, it doesn't matter if it's organic or not.

6. Nectarines.

Every sample of imported nectarines tested positive for pesticide residue (domestic nectarines came in at No. 17 on the EWG's list). Like peaches and apples, peeling them might limit exposure to pesticides, but buying organic means you won't miss out on the skin's fiber content.

Nectarines are in season late in the summer, so get your fill of them while you know they're local.

7. Grapes.

Grapes are 81 percent water, and not convenient to peel. Imported or domestic, it's best to buy organic grapes.

Grapes have a short growing season in the early fall months in this region, but you'll see them on grocery store shelves year-round, so look for that "organic" sticker.

8. Spinach, kale and collard greens.

Large leaves mean more surface area to be covered by sprayed pesticides. Scrub all you want, organic is still safer.

Dark, leafy greens are hardy and enjoy a longer local growing season. Spinach can be found in abundance from spring through late fall, and kale can thrive well into winter.

9. Lettuce.

Lettuce has the highest water content of any fruit or vegetable at 96 percent, and again, the leaves have a large surface area.

In Pennsylvania, lettuce is in season spring through fall. If you see it at markets during the winter, look for that "organic" sign.

10. Cucumbers.

Tied with lettuce at 96 percent for most water content, cucumbers, at least, can be peeled. If you like that fiber content and crunch, buy organic and leave the skin on.

July through October, you'll find cucumbers fresh and locally grown in this area. Year-round, make sure they have an "organic" sticker.

11. Blueberries.

Like strawberries, blueberries have a fairly high water content (85 percent) and a short growing season, meaning they are often shipped in from elsewhere in the country, or imported. If you don't know where they're from, at least ensure they're organic.

Find blueberries locally during the summer months.

12. Potatoes.

Of all vegetables, potatoes have the least water at 79 percent, and are a vegetable we are most prone to peeling. Still, they made The Dirty Dozen list for a reason -- besides celery and apples, potatoes reported the highest levels of contamination of all produce tested. Like apples, potatoes hold up well in cold storage during the few months that they aren't in season, from mid-winter to spring. And like greens, potatoes are abundant at indoor farmer's markets in this region.

Pesticide Residue, and Genetically Modified Organisms in Non-Organic Foods.

Washing foods before eating has become a force of habit in this day and age; gone are the days where someone often would just buy food from the grocer and take it home and eat it. This in no short part due to the warning of our parents, and the the food package labels themselves to wash before you eat. 

Sometimes this is the sort of thing that we take for granted, but in essence we are no longer washing soil or dirt off of fresh produce; rather we are attempting to further clean the pesticides and chemicals off of our foods. 

In reality, a simple washing doesn't fully rid the food of the residue from the pesticides and other chemicals used to treat them. Add Monsanto and Genetically Modified Organisms into the mix, we have another matter of health concerns entirely. 

Special: read about the 7 foods that health and food safety experts won't eat and why...

And so, this brings us to the recent press releases regarding organic foods and their nutritional values. While it has been well documented that foods as staple as potatoes are no longer as nutritous as they once were (In 2003 News Canada reported that today's mass farmed fruit and vegetables contain far fewer nutrients than they did 50 years ago: potatoes, tomatoes, bananas and apples were notably less nutritious. For example, the study found that potatoes had lost 100 % of their vitamin A content, 57% of their vitamin C and iron, and 28% of their calcium.) recent studies and news articles discuss how organic foods aren't potentially more nutritous for you. 

And in a way, that could be true: the nutrient content between one batch of strawberries to another can't neccisarily be consistent based on so many genetic, soil and growing variations. However, the new scrutiny whitewashes many of the main concerns that cause people to eat organic: Pesticides are bad for you, and many are attempting to link the increase in pesticides with a variety of ailments and health complications - from Autism to Cancer. Also that organic milk contained more omega-3 fatty acids, which are considered beneficial for the heart, and that organic produce also contained more compounds known as phenols, believed to help prevent cancer, than conventional produce.

To read more from this recent news cycle story view: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/science/earth/study-questions-advantages-of-organic-meat-and-produce.html?ref=science

Strawberries as a "Sunscreen" ? Not exactly, but new studies show a UV Light blocking effect.

New study from European research scientists have shown a link between chemical compounds in strawberries and protection from dangerous UV rays in daylight, the same sort of light spectrum linked to sunburns and skin cancer. 

The researchers speculated that the protective powers may lie in strawberries' anthocyanins (previously linked with adecreased diabetes risk), which are what make strawberries red.

"These compounds have important anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-tumour properties and are capable of modulating enzymatic processes," study researcher Sara Tulipani of the University of Barcelona, said in a statement. However, "we have not yet found a direct relationship between their presence and photoprotective properties."

"At the moment the results act as the basis for future studies evaluating the 'bioavailability' and 'bioactivity' of anthocyanins in the dermis and epidermis layers of the human skin, whether by adding them to formulations for external use or by ingesting the fruit itself," Tulipani added.

In the Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry study, researchers added strawberry extract in different doses -- 0.05 milligrams per milliliter, 0.25 milligrams per milliliter and 0.5 milligrams per milliliter -- to skin cell cultures. They also had a control extract added to the skin cell cultures.

Then, the researchers exposed those skin cell cultures to ultraviolet light that is equivalent to 90 minutes of mid-day sun in the summertime.

Organic strawberries have more volume, nutrients, and shelf life than non-organics, new study finds.

Researchers at Washington State University wanted to find out if these consumer beliefs were accurate. They tested both organic and conventional strawberries grown in 13 side-by-side California fields.

Here are a few of their findings:

- The organic strawberries had significantly higher antioxidant activity and concentrations of ascorbic acid and phenolic compounds.

- The organic strawberries had longer shelf life.

- The organic strawberries had more dry matter, or, "more strawberry in the strawberry."

- Anonymous testers, working at times under red light so the fruit color would not bias them, found one variety of organic strawberries was sweeter, had better flavor, and once a white light was turned on, better appearance. The testers judged the other two varieties to be similar.

Excerpt of original article found here:

http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=10173&Section=Nutrition