EWG Dirty Dozen and Clean 15

Jeff,

Since this lesson I started reading up more about organic foods to see if I should spend more on organic produce. I've seen some criticisms of the EWG's scoring system for their dirty dozen and clean fifteen list, where all pesticides are considered equal regardless of toxic level. What is your thought on this?

http://vitals.lifehacker.com/why-you-shouldnt-buy-organic-based-on-the-dirty-dozen-1689190822

Dietary Exposure to Pesticide Residues from Commodities Alleged to Contain the Highest Contamination Levels

Thanks!

Interesting question. I'm curious too. 

Good question. I use EWG because I like what they stand for and what they do. They were also the first to research this. Could there methods be improved, yes. But they are pretty good. 

Here is the very unscientific Jeff Serven shoot from the hip guid to organic: 2 things to consider- country of origin and thickness of skin. 

1) The more unregulated the country the more unregulated what they can put on your food. In some South America countries its common practice to use gas for pesticide. 

2) The thicker the skin of the fruit(or whatever) the less of a need there is for organic. Thinner the skin the more important it is. So bananas are a low priority while strawberries are very high priority to buy organic. As a matter of fact I won't eat berries that are not organic.

So if we took to to a XY chart....we would go to the store like this..hmm apple, thin(ish) skin so there is a high need for organic. Grown in South America....No. Buy double of something else. 

Thanks Jeff! That's a good protocol.