Optimal Finance Daily · Sunday, September 13, 2026
Tanya Brown suggests buying organic for fruits and vegetables on the Environmental Working Group's 'dirty dozen' list, which are high in pesticides. For the 'clean fifteen' list, she finds it acceptable to buy conventionally grown produce, recommending prioritizing based on skin thickness and personal consumption habits.
“As for fruits, I only buy what they call the dirty dozen organically and the rest conventionally.”
“The Environmental Working Group E W G dot org lists the dirty dozen foods that they consider to be high in pesticides, as well as the clean 15, which are foods they consider low in pesticides and which some would consider okay to buy conventionally.”
“A rule of thumb is that you can buy any fruit with a thick skin conventionally, like bananas, pineapples, avocados, and mango.”