Page 29 - How to Be a Conscious Eater - Making Food Choices That Are Good for You

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RADICALLY PRACTICAL TIPS

FOR BUYING PRODUCE

n the spirit of being a conscious eater while making your
meals as satisfying and downright joyful for yourself as pos-
Isible, here are my top tips for buying produce you can feel
good about:

Just eat them. Only once you’ve found a way to afford, access,
and feed yourself and your family sufficient servings of fruits
and vegetables should you worry about anything else. Eating
at least five servings a day is far and away the number one
priority.

Be strategic on organic. It’s unrealistic for most of us to have the
budget to buy organic everything. But if you’d like to choose
some organic produce and want to know where you get the
most bang for your buck, follow the Environmental Working
Group’s Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen. The Dirty Dozen lists
the types of produce with the highest levels of pesticide resi-
due. Strawberries and spinach are at the top of the list, along
with apples, grapes, tomatoes, bell peppers, and more. As a
general rule, if you eat the skin, opt for organic. If not, and it
has a peel instead—bananas, avocados, oranges, and so on—
buying organic is less important. The Clean Fifteen are the
produce categories with the lowest levels of pesticide residue.
The list includes avocados and sweet corn as the cleanest,
along with asparagus, eggplant, cauliflower, pineapples, and
more. Read more at ewg.org.

18 how to be a Conscious Eater