Dirty Dozen -WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

What is dirty? What is clean?

Picture this. You are walking through the produce aisle at your favorite grocery store and you see the most gorgeous peaches you have ever seen. They literally look like an advertisement! You immediately start thinking of all of the delicious things you can make with these peaches! You’ve got a parfait in mind and grandma‘s peach cobbler! How exciting will it be to bite into that juicy goodness?!

Before you get to the peaches a woman walks up to the area and starts picking up each peach to inspect it and then setting it back down. She then reaches to her backside and scratches inside of her pants. With the same hand she goes back to those peaches and inspects them to find the perfect one! OMG!!!

One of the most disgusting things a person can do! But unfortunately this is a society we live in! And what can you do but just pretend that this type of stuff doesn’t exist? Well I’m here to ease your mind a little bit on how to care for your produce and when to buy organic. 

So first what does organic mean? Organic is a label that the USDA can certify certain foods because it is processed according to their guidelines. They address many factors from soil, pest and weed control, additives and the way that they treat the animals on the farm. They check for anything artificial or preservative and it will get the label organic if it meets at least 70% of the criteria. This label isn’t just given out to anybody, there is an entire process and the organization has to pay for it to be done. 

Now that we’ve gone over that, I want you to think of all of the fruits or vegetables that you know of that has a peel to it. Generally the peels that we do not eat can protect the inside flesh of the fruit or vegetable. So these ones more often are safer to buy non-organic. But keep in mind that if they were processed on a farm that used pesticides that affects the entire food item.

Now think about the other types of fruits and vegetables like a peach, that you eat the outside. Which ones come from trees, bushes or from in the ground? Do you think that root vegetables are more susceptible to “dirtiness”? 

Let’s circle back to the contaminated peaches. Peaches are in the category of the dirty dozen. Which is a group of fruits and vegetables that are recommended to buy organic. But organic doesn’t save us from filthy hand Fran. What can we do to protect ourselves from any of the fruits and vegetables we buy at the store? Simple answer. Wash everything when you get home from the store. the dirty dozen fruits and vegetables can be rinsed in a diluted white vinegar solution to give a good cleaning. And don’t worry it won’t change the taste.

Should you wash an orange? Maybe! Only because you don’t know who touched that orange before you! What if they did have dirty hands and you just touch the outside of the peel when you were opening it up you’ll need to touch the inside of the peel!

Our bodies are designed to withstand a lot! We have natural fighting cells in our body that are there to fight off a lot of the natural things that come on fruits and vegetables. But the problem with the way that we have processed everything now is that there is just an excess of junk when it comes to mass producing our fruits and vegetables.

So you decide whether or not organic makes sense for you! Can you spend a couple of extra bucks to buy the dirtier fruits and vegetables organic? Or do you just plan to buy everything organic from now on? Totally your choice! Just like it is your choice to wash anything that you bring home from the grocery store!

Here are a list of “dirty” fruits and vegetables:

Strawberries spinach nectarines apples grapes peaches cherries pears tomatoes celery potatoes sweet bell peppers kale collard and mustard greens celery 

As you can tell they’re more than 12!

Here are some of the “clean “fruits and vegetables: 

Avocados sweet corn pineapples cabbages onions sweet peas papayas asparagus mangoes eggplants honeydew kiwi cantaloupe cauliflower broccoli mushrooms watermelon 

Let me know what you think!