Eager to Feed Your COVID-19 Diet? Eat Fresh

My wife was shopping in the grocery store toward the end of March, about a week after the “shelter in place” orders came out. She texted me from the store, saying she would have to make some adjustments to the grocery list. She reported she could find no toilet paper, nor really any paper goods, and no soap of any kind, as well as no meat nor eggs. Exasperated, I called her and asked what they did have, and she said the fresh fruit aisle looked like it had hardly been touched. We both sighed, and agreed that was going to be our diet theme for the rest of this crazy time: Eat Fresh.

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It’s too bad more Americans don’t share our love of fresh fruit. I don’t have to repeat all the statistics you know all too well, that Americans’ consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables are way below recommended levels, helping lead to higher rates of obesity and all the attendant health problems.

I know more Americans would love fresh fruit if they tried it. My own limited experience with giving my kids’ friends fruit, and having them excitedly ask for more, is vivid. I’m convinced if we could just get more Americans to try fresh fruit, they would be apt to eat more of it.

But would you eat any food, much less one that comes straight from the earth, that’s been described as “dirty?” Me neither. That’s why I found the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) recent annual release of its “Dirty Dozen,” a rundown of fruits and vegetables reported to contain the highest amount of pesticide residues, to be particularly bad timing. Right when most Americans are more concerned about their health than ever, and could really use more fresh produce, the EWG drops its dirty bomb. What’s even worse, they even thought about it.

Along with the lists came a special note from the EWG about the importance of fruit and vegetable consumption, especially during the COVID-19 crisis. A portion of the message reads as follows: “As all Americans struggle to adapt to the reality of daily life during the coronavirus pandemic, it is important to know that there is no evidence people can be exposed through food. The spread pattern for coronavirus is quite different from those of foodborne pathogens like salmonella and E.coli. That is why, even though the risks of COVID-19 are serious, consumers should continue eating plenty of healthy fruits and vegetables, whether they are conventional or organic.”

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One nasty feature of this year’s “Dirty Dozen” is that the group reports the “dirtiest” produce commodity is not actually a fresh fruit or vegetable but a dried one — raisins. That’s often one of the few fruits a parent can get the littlest consumers to eat.

A lot of these delicious and nutritious tiny fruits do have measurable levels of pesticides. But while measurable, they fall well within government safety guidelines. Now many will go unsold in favor, no doubt, of a “clean” snack, like a box of cookies. And the vicious cycle of obesity starts going ‘round again.

Scan the photo gallery above to review EWG’s 2020 “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean Fifteen” lists in order.

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Avatar for Steve Miller Steve Miller says:

EWG is funded by organic grower organizations. Their agenda is quite clear.

Avatar for Catherine Folio Catherine Folio says:

Where did you get that baloney from? I’m an organic blackberry grower in PA. and none of the organic grower organizations I belong to support EWG. Don’t make false statements about organic growers without checking your facts. That’s slander, you know!!

Avatar for Steve Smith Steve Smith says:

Mr. Eddy,

Your most recent editorial in the American Fruit Grower magazine contains both good and surprisingly bad thought processes. It is certainly a fact that we need to up our consumption of fruits and vegetables for the health of the population. However, your insistence and repeated focus on “fresh” is both puzzling and concerning. In fact, you used the term “fresh” ten times (including the emphasis in the title) with one of them being the total substance of an entire sentence, “Eat fresh”. Ironically, even though the focus of the article was to criticize the EWG, who undoubtedly deserves criticism for a lot of valid reasons, they were the only ones to encourage the consumption of healthy fruits and vegetables, not just “fresh”. The title of your magazine, American Fruit Grower, would denote that you are concerned about ALL fruit and vegetable growers and not just “Fresh”. Your description of the grocery store didn’t even explore the middle aisles to see what was available, because in all likelihood, it too would have revealed empty shelves. The goal should be the expansion in consumption of ALL fruits and vegetables and not only “fresh”. Shelf stable fruits and vegetables supply an economic, healthy, and safe source of nutrition that meet all the requirements and benefits of a good diet. In many cases, the nutritional value of canned and frozen fruits and vegetables actually exceed that of their fresh counterparts.

As an industry, we need to include and promote all forms of fruits and vegetables and let consumers have the choice of what works best for them. It is a shame to allow the EWG to be our voice of reason.

Steve Smith
Senior Director of Agriculture
Red Gold, Inc.

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