These days it seems everyone is eating organic fruits and vegetables and it’s the only way to truly eat healthily. If you’re keen to eat more organic produce, but you’re on a budget, this list can help you avoid the foods most at risk of pesticides.

The Environmental Working Group puts together a list every year, providing information on the produce with the highest pesticide use and the fruits and vegetables with the least.

The dirty dozen offers a great way to try to limit pesticides in your food and gives you the knowledge of what you’re eating and where it comes from.

So if you want to eat more organic food but you’re on a budget, a great place to start is looking at the dirty dozen list or products that you eat the most of on a regular basis.

Don’t let nonorganic produce put you off. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables (even if they’re not organic) is better than processed and other unhealthy foods.

What are the clean 15?

The clean fifteen are fruits and vegetables that contain the lowest concentration of pesticides. So for me personally, if I’m shopping on a budget, these are the foods that I don’t worry so much about buying organic.

What are the 12 dirty dozen foods?

Listed below is the current EWG dirty dozen list 2021.

• Strawberries
• Spinach
• Kale
• Nectarines
• Apples
• Grapes
• Cherries
• Peaches
• Pears
• Bell and hot peppers
• Celery
• Tomatoes

What foods are on the clean 15 list?

• Avocados
• Sweet corn*
• Pineapple
• Onions
• Papaya*
• Sweet peas (frozen)
• Eggplant / Aubergine
• Asparagus
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Kiwi
• Cauliflower
• Mushrooms
• Honeydew Melon
• Cantaloupe

*If you’re looking to avoid genetically modified food, and you’re based in the US, buying organic sweet corn, papaya, and summer squash is recommended as according to EWG a small amount of these are produced from genetically modified seeds.

Every year I print off an updated version and stick it on my fridge, to remind me, and I’ve included a printable list for you here.