If you'd like to keep pesticides and their residues off of your dinner plate, your best bet is a diet based on organic foods. Of course, that's easier said than done if you live in an area where organic food is hard to find or prohibitively expensive. In that case, what's a concerned consumer to do? Well, you could serve antidotes for dessert... but we think this is better: a list of the 12 least contaminated types of produce published by the Environmental Working Group.
According to the Environmental Working Group, when it comes to conventionally-grown produce, this list should give you a good guideline of "safer" foods to purchase
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We don't recommend basing
your diet solely on this list, but it's a good healthy start towards
meals that won't kill your appetite.
Since the EWG reports that more than half of our total dietary
risk from pesticides comes from just 12 foods, avoiding these
foods for the most part, substituting from the "clean list",
and eating organic and/or homegrown produce whenever possible
can substantially cut down on your exposure to pesticides.
When choosing foods from the above list, however, keep in mind
that corn and sweet potatoes are among those foods most likely
to have been genetically modified. When it comes to these two
types of produce, consumers concerned about GM foods as well will
definitely want to seek out organic alternatives to assure themselves
of further safety.