unbox my dinner: Organic!?

Our underwhelming winter has come to an end and spring has officially sprung. Unlike our trees and flowers that we only see growing and thriving in spring and summer, our vegetables are being grown year round. Growing fruits and veggies during every season can get expensive and growing them to keep up with the large population eating them can be challenging. Introduce pesticides and chemicals to keep up with demand and all of the sudden people started thinking twice before eating their apple a day. A lot of research has been done over the years, much media attention has been given, and as a result we see the hot food fad 'ORGANIC' hit our supermarkets.

What is organic? Here's the definition given by the USDA: Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation.

What's a person to splurge on at the store when it comes to organic? The list I use is from the Environmental Working Group (an organization of scientists, researchers and policymakers). They lay out their 'Dirty Dozen' and 'Clean 15'. According to the EWG the dirty dozen, when grown conventionally, tested positive from 47 to 67 different chemicals. In my opinion, here's where to spend your organic money:

celery
peaches
strawberries
apples
domestic blueberries
nectarines
sweet bell peppers
spinach, kale and collard greens
cherries
potatoes
imported grapes
lettuce

All fruits and vegetables aren't created equally. Because of this the EWG deem these 15 as being "clean" (testing for zero to limited chemicals when conventionally grown).