We don’t mess around at The GEM about the importance of organic. It’s the best thing you can do for your overall health. But real life is busy, and organic may not be convenient or available! Believe us, we know. We have gone to seriously GREAT LENGTHS to stay organic, and when you’ve got a full schedule, job, and/or family, driving all over Texas (or even to another Whole Foods) for organic cucumbers isn’t always possible.

Get your #HonestlyOrganic juices and smoothies, on our app!

Of course, if you’d like to eat organic GEM goodies all the time, we won’t stop you! But if you have to brave the conventional produce aisle under real world circumstances, here’s some info to light the way.

Most of the world’s food supply is riddled with pesticides that are not only ON our food, but actually scientifically engineered inside (YIKES!). Luckily for us healthy-loving GEMs, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) puts out a Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce every year. It tells you which organic fruits and veggies aren’t optional, and which ones are safe even when traditionally grown.

Updated annually, EWG’s guide ranks pesticide contamination on 48 popular fruits and vegetables. It also offers shorter The Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists. Super handy and helpful. Need an even shorter list? We’ve got you.

Dirty DON’Ts
These fruits and veggies are badass ingredients in your daily juice and smoothies—and a hard NO when not organic:

• SPINACH & KALE. In your salads, in your juices, these leafy greens made it to the top 12 after a decade of being clean.
• CELERY. Your daily celery juice has amazing benefits, but make sure it is organic!
• STRAWBERRIES. Number 1 on the list for four straight years!
• APPLES. Not only do organic apples actually TASTE better, but they are relatively inexpensive compared to their conventionally grown counterparts. Apples often stay in storage longer than a year. Shoot for organic apples in season that don’t sport a waxy surface to really get the most out of their delicious nutrients. SCORE!

MEAN AND CLEAN
When it comes to eating clean for you and your family, you can skip the organic-only aisle for:

• Avocados. Only 1% of conventional ones showed any detectable pesticides. Save!
• Pineapples. Sweet and ready to eat!
• Broccoli. It’s better to eat broccoli that may have been exposed to pesticides than to not eat broccoli at all. Fun fact!
• Mushrooms. Did you know that even one mushroom a day can have a significant reduction in cancer occurrences?

Let these lists be your guide to eating organically on a budget. Print them out and remember them. Don’t worry about every morsel you eat at a restaurant or at a friend’s home. Just make sure that IF you can, you are buying organic where it matters most. And most importantly, rest easy knowing that your food inside The GEM is healthy, safe, and, honestly organic. Always. Because we dance to the disco beat of organic, green goodness every day.