Most people are aware of the benefits of organic meat and produce (i.e., free of pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, growth hormones, higher nutrient content, etc.), but few are willing to pay the premiums for it since these effects are cumulative rather than acute.
However, the wonderful folks at Environmental Working Group (EWG) have come out once again with a "dirty dozen" list to help out the frugal shopper in determining what one can buy conventional and save a few bucks and what one would do best to avoid due to the high levels of toxic chemical residues (even after feeling and/or washing).
The New Dirty Dozen: 12 Foods to Eat Organic
This list is updated yearly for the amounts and types of pesticides and herbicides varies seasonally depending on what the farmers are applying to the crops. For instance, tomatoes used to be on the avoid list for years but surprisingly this year is considered "clean" due to relatively reduced levels of pesticide residues.
It would be prudent to avoid conventionally-grown: celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries, nectarines, bell peppers, spinach, kale, cherries, potatoes, and imported grapes.
[Of course, it should go without saying that one should always avoid non-organic meat and dairy products due to the even higher incidence of pesticides, fecal matter, E. coli, Salmonella, growth hormones, antibiotics, inhuman practices, unsustainable and environmentally-unsound practices (lack of sewage treatment facilities of factory swine farms), and even forced cannibalism (feeding the other chickens ground up diseased corpses of sick chickens; the same goes for cows).]
These foods are considered relatively safe to eat non-organic: onions, avocados, sweet corn, pineapple, mangoes, asparagus, sweet peas, kiwis, cabbage (bok choy, etc.), eggplants, papayas, watermelons, broccoli, tomato, and sweet potatoes.
Many of the "clean" foods are there because they have a thick rind that prevents pesticides from seeping into its flesh or they have a natural resistance to pests, such as sulfur-containing onions.
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