I had mentioned that I took part in a healthy foods tour and information session at Whole Foods with a nutritionist and chef. One aspect of healthy eating she talked about was fruits and vegetables and eating locally and what's in season. Her reasoning was more of an environmental one and less of a health one. Locally grown, in-season produce means less gas and less carbon footprint.
Honestly, there is too much else for me to think about, I don't really consider the environmental impact when eating produce. I figure we're eating good food, so that's good enough for me! But, if that is something that interests you, check out this calendar from the Indiana state government. It shows what produce is in season in Indiana during any given month.
http://www.in.gov/isda/files/Harvest_Calander.pdf
Because my blog is all about saving money while still eating clean, I wanted to share with you a great chart I was given. Experts say that you should by all produce organic if you can afford it, but if organic is not in your budget for everything, there are a dozen different types of produce that you should spend to get organic and a list of 15 that are fine to buy conventionally.
The list comes from the Environmental Work Group, which bases the list on how much pesticide is used on each type of produce, how we eat it (whether we eat the skins, peel outside layer, blanch, eat raw, etc) and where most types come from. Produce like apples, grapes and celery tend to have higher levels of pesticides used on them and we also typically eat the skins of each of those, exposing ourselves to more harmful substances. The foods on the conventional list tend to have lower amounts of pesticides used and are foods where we don't eat the skin or cook before eating.
Here's the two lists:
Dirty Dozen Plus
Apples
Celery
Cherry tomatoes
Cucumbers
Grapes
Hot peppers
Nectarines
Peaches
Potatoes
Spinach
Strawberries
Sweet bell peppers
Kale / collard greens
Summer squash Clean Fifteen
Asparagus
Avocados
Cabbage
Cantaloupe
Sweet Corn
Eggplant
Grapefruit
Kiwi
Mangos
Mushrooms
Onions
Papayas
Pineapples
Sweet peas - frozen
Sweet potatoes
