Summertime eating often involves lots of fresh vegetables and fruit, especially those hot days when the idea of heating up the stove or oven loses traction against a quick tuna or cold chicken salad. In the summer we are more likely to grab a snack than sit down for a meal, especially if there is a ballgame to attend or it is a fine evening for walking the dog.

Watching my son eating a banana made me wonder how safe our fresh veggies and fruits are these days, so it was off to Google to see what I could find out. Here then is a list of the 12 cleanest and dirtiest fruits and vegetables (based on the amount of pesticides etc. used in growing them commercially) as presented by Yoga+ Magazine.  The results were actually a bit surprising.

The 12 Dirtiest Vegetables and Fruits:
1. Peaches
2. Apples
3. Sweet Bell Peppers
4. Celery
5. Nectarines
6. Strawberries
7. Cherries
8. Lettuce
9. Grapes
10. Pears
11. Spinach
12. Potatoes

The 12 Cleanest Vegetables and Fruits:
1. Onions
2. Avocado
3. Sweet Corn (frozen)
4. Pineapples
5. Mango
6. Sweet Peas (frozen)
7. Asparagus
8. Kiwi
9. Bananas
10. Cabbage
11. Broccoli
12. Eggplant

It is good to know that of the 12 dirtiest many can be grown in your own garden where you can control the amount of pesticide used. On the net there are also several good sources for proper cleaning of vegetables and fruit to ensure that they are pesticide free.