The Dirty Dozen...

You are probably asking yourself, what, now she is doing movie reviews, and on old movies?  Well, only my sister-in-law, Ashley Wiley, would consider The Dirty Dozen starring: Charlie Bronson, Lee Marvin and Ernest Borginine, to be an ancient movie. I can hear her actually responding by saying, "I was not even born yet when that movie was made"! Don't worry Ashley, I will briefly be talking in this blog about The Dirty Dozen of food, namely, produce. We are all on a budget these days, and if not, probably need to be. So, when one mentions that they try to eat organic produce/food a certain percentage of the time, some people may feel their blood pressure rising and thinking to themselves, "how can I afford to eat organic?" I would say they do have a good point as food costs in general are a pretty significant percentage of a family's budget, whether they are eating the "food-in-a-bag" variety, or trying to eat something colorful on a consistent basis. My advice to those desiring to consume more produce would be to familiarize yourself with the term "conventional" produce as well as "organic" produce. One can actually safely eat the following 12 least contaminated produce items in their conventional form:  Asparagus, Kiwi, Avocados, Onions, Brocolli, Mangos, Bananas, Papayas, Cauliflower, Pineapples, Sweet Corn and Sweet Peas. On the other hand, please consume only organic in this category of the most contaminated produce: Apples, Peaches, Bell Peppers, Pears, Celery, Potatoes, Cherries, Red Rasberries, Imported Grapes, Spinach, Nectarines and Strawberries. Please know that, on average, organic produce has about 30-40 percent higher nutrient levels. I would advise that all produce, whether organic or conventional, be soaked in a premade vegetable wash to eliminate dirt and risk of E-Coli contamination. For more indepth information regarding the topic of organic and locally grown produce, please visit:  http://www.organicconsumers.org/.