Gauging the Return on Investment in Buying Organic Food Instead of the Environmental Working Group’s 2026 Dirty Dozen and Clean 15, Choose an All-Organic Diet — Safer, Nutrient-Dense Food

The US population is a walking science experiment — more than 90 percent of people have detectable pesticide biomarkers in their blood or urine.1 Where have these pesticide residues, or their breakdown metabolites, come from? They are most likely on — or in — the food we eat.

The Environmental Protection Agency reports indicate that more than 1.1 billion pounds of pesticides are applied annually in the United States, 90 percent of which are used for agricultural production. 2 About 30 percent of all crops grown are consumed by humans, with the remainder used for animal feed or biofuel production.

So, what is the best way to avoid ingesting pesticides such as herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and rodenticides when the food we eat is treated with one or more toxins as it is grown?