More and more articles about “The Dirty Dozen” appear in the media. If you did not hear about it, yet, it will surprise you that it is about a list with names of fruits and vegetables, that are cultivated with so much pesticides, that they are not healthy but dirty. Maybe you are not even informed about pesticides. Maybe you heard that governments of countries have decided what is safe, and what is not safe. That the levels they agree with are indeed safe. But. Since pesticides are life-killers, the word safe does not fit. Next to this it is also needed to know that the pesticides are so much present in so much, even in the tap-water in your kitchen, that the concentration of pesticides in your own body grows, and it is also in your urine. This growing concentration of pesticides affects your health, your energy, and in the worst case it makes you finally ill.
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Pesticides
Pesticides, used worldwide, are mostly Monsanto products, or Bayer’s. Roundup, a weed-killer, is sold in even ecological garden centres as “safe”. It is NOT safe. It is used everywhere in the society, even there where children play, on the grass, in parks in cities. Roundup contains glyphosates. Other name to remember is neonicotinoids. It is used in agriculture and all places where neonicotinoids are used are very interesting places for bees as well, because of the blossoms.This is the main reason why bees are disappearing, and why insects in general are disappearing, why therefore also birds are disappearing. Some species are already completely exterminated, and lots are endangered. Also the drinking water is endangered: the pesticides will be adapted by the soil, and from there it runs with the rain water into the groundwater, and from there into streams and rivers, and finally in the oceans.
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The Dirty Dozen
The twelve dirty fruits and vegetables vary on several websites, but the list I created fits the best with the most of the publications. I have added one more, the potato. So, here are my dirty thirteen. Maybe there are even more. All depends on which soil they are cultivated, and if pesticides are used. This list here is clear, it is proved that the products are dirty, when you buy them in a supermarket, a greengrocer, unless it is mentioned that they are cultivated guaranteed pesticide-free. It needs a label, a special label. The word ecological or eco is not a guarantee.
- Strawberries
- Apples
- Nectarines
- Peaches
- Celery
- Grapes
- Cherries
- Spinach
- Tomatoes
- Sweet bell peppers
- Cherry tomatoes
- Cucumber
- Potatoes
Also the soil in which vegetables and fruits are cultivated must be safe, guaranteed free from pesticides. The fertilizer that is used must be from a biodynamic farm, where animals live in a pesticide-free environment. Also the grass that animals eat, for instance, must be cultivated pesticides-free, otherwise the dung, used as fertilizer, will contain pesticides, and these will be adapted by the plants and trees.
Be also aware of the compost-corner in your garden. Do not throw rests of vegetables and fruits in it that belong to the dirty thirteen or fourteen, fifteen etc.. The skin of bananas do not belong there either:
In not any list one cannot find the banana. It is not really clear how bad this fruit is, or how healthy, eventually guaranteed safe, or not. It depends obviously on the label. I need more time to research this, and will come back with more info later.
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Additional information
- Henk Tennekes: A disaster in the making
- Henk Tennekes: Tweets about pesticides
- Henk Tennekes: Bird decline, insect decline and neonicotinoids
- Dr. Axe: The Dirty Dozen
- 7 Fruits and Vegetables that are not in the dirty dozen
- Huffington Post: Look out for these 7 toxins you consume every day – though the famous Huffington Post: this article contains mistakes. What they have on the list for the dirty dozen is in paragraph 3 named as healthy…..
- Healthy Living Junkie: Why Eat Organic Food
