Why Organic?
Know What's On Your Food
Every Rootful recipe is organic-only. This page is the receipts: a searchable guide to pesticide residues on the produce we cook with, built from public government and nonprofit data — in the spirit of a beloved tool the internet lost.
In the spirit of What's On My Food (2009–2024)
From 2009 to 2024, whatsonmyfood.org — a project of the Pesticide Action Network North America — let anyone search a food and see exactly which pesticide residues USDA testing had found on it, chemical by chemical, linked to toxicology data. PAN retired the project in 2024 to focus on advocacy, pointing users to the underlying datasets instead. This page is our small, produce-focused successor: the same public data, curated for the ingredients on our menu. It is not affiliated with PAN — just indebted to them.
The 2026 numbers
203
distinct pesticides found across the 2026 Dirty Dozen
96%
of Dirty Dozen samples carried pesticide residues
over 60%
of Dirty Dozen samples carried PFAS 'forever chemical' pesticides
nearly 60%
of Clean Fifteen samples had no detectable residues
42.3%
of all USDA PDP 2024 samples had no detectable residues
more than 99%
of PDP samples were below EPA legal tolerance levels
Both sides of this debate cite real numbers: regulators note that almost everything tested falls below legal tolerances, while EWG and PAN argue those tolerances understate combined, chronic, and endocrine effects — especially now that PFAS-class pesticides like fludioxonil (the single most-detected pesticide in 2026 testing) are in the mix. Our position is simpler than the argument: certified-organic sourcing makes most of the question moot, so that's what every recipe on this site assumes.
Search the produce guide
43 commodities — the 12 Dirty Dozen, the 15 Clean Fifteen, and the in-between produce our recipes use most. Rankings follow EWG's 2026 guide.
🥬Spinach
#1 Dirty DozenTops the 2026 Dirty Dozen. Conventional spinach consistently carries more pesticide residue by weight than any other crop EWG analyzes.
Used in 9 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🥬Kale, collard & mustard greens
#2 Dirty DozenSecond on the 2026 list. Multiple residues are the norm on conventional samples of these greens — a big deal for a site whose recipes lean on them.
Used in 6 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🍓Strawberries
#3 Dirty DozenA Dirty Dozen fixture for a decade, third in 2026. Thin skins and no peel mean residues ride along into the bowl.
Used in 2 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🍇Grapes
#4 Dirty DozenFourth on the 2026 list — and raisins are concentrated grapes, so dried-fruit shoppers inherit the same profile.
Used in 1 Rootful dish — organic, always.
🍑Nectarines
#5 Dirty DozenFifth on the 2026 Dirty Dozen; stone fruit with edible skin regularly shows multiple residues in USDA testing.
🍑Peaches
#6 Dirty DozenSixth in 2026. Like its stone-fruit siblings, the fuzz doesn't stop residues — conventional samples typically carry several.
Used in 1 Rootful dish — organic, always.
🍒Cherries
#7 Dirty DozenSeventh on the 2026 list. We use dark and tart cherries in breakfast dishes — organic is the house rule.
Used in 7 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🍎Apples
#8 Dirty DozenEighth in 2026 and a mainstay of the list since it began. Apples appear all over our juice bar — always organic.
Used in 10 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🫐Blackberries
#9 Dirty DozenNew to the Dirty Dozen in recent years, ninth in 2026 — another no-peel fruit where washing only goes so far.
🍐Pears
#10 Dirty DozenTenth on the 2026 list; conventional pears frequently show multiple residues in PDP sampling.
🥔Potatoes
#11 Dirty DozenEleventh in 2026. Post-harvest sprout inhibitors are a particular flag on conventional potatoes — a staple in our comfort dishes.
Used in 10 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🫐Blueberries
#12 Dirty DozenTwelfth on the 2026 list. In our smoothie bowls and pancakes, they're organic without exception.
Used in 2 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🍍Pineapple
#1 Clean FifteenCleanest of the clean in 2026 — the armor-plated rind keeps residues out of the fruit.
Used in 2 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🌽Sweet corn
#2 Clean FifteenSecond-cleanest in 2026; the husk does the protective work. (We still buy organic for the farming practices — see below.)
Used in 10 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🥑Avocados
#3 Clean FifteenThird on the 2026 Clean Fifteen; the thick peel you discard carries what little residue there is.
Used in 11 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🧡Papaya
#4 Clean FifteenFourth-cleanest in 2026 testing.
🧅Onions
#5 Clean FifteenFifth on the 2026 Clean Fifteen — among the least-treated crops in the store, and in nearly every savory dish we publish.
Used in 42 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🟢Sweet peas (frozen)
#6 Clean FifteenSixth-cleanest in 2026; the pod shields the peas you actually eat.
Used in 5 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🌱Asparagus
#7 Clean FifteenSeventh on the 2026 Clean Fifteen — asparagus rarely shows detectable residues.
🥬Cabbage
#8 Clean FifteenEighth-cleanest in 2026; its tight outer leaves — which you strip anyway — take the exposure.
Used in 6 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🥦Cauliflower
#9 Clean FifteenNinth on the 2026 Clean Fifteen — good news for our shawarma wraps and cauliflower steaks.
Used in 3 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🍉Watermelon
#10 Clean FifteenTenth-cleanest in 2026; the rind is the barrier.
🥭Mangoes
#11 Clean FifteenEleventh on the 2026 Clean Fifteen — peel protection again.
Used in 2 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🍌Bananas
#12 Clean FifteenTwelfth-cleanest in 2026 — the peel earns its keep in our smoothie bowls and baked oatmeal.
Used in 5 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🥕Carrots
#13 Clean FifteenThirteenth on the 2026 Clean Fifteen — a relief, given our juice bar runs on them by the pound. Organic juicing carrots are also cheap by the bag.
Used in 15 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🍄Mushrooms
#14 Clean FifteenFourteenth-cleanest in 2026 — and one of the most-used ingredients on this entire menu.
Used in 13 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🥝Kiwi
#15 Clean FifteenRounds out the 2026 Clean Fifteen.
Used in 1 Rootful dish — organic, always.
🫑Bell & hot peppers
Middle of the packOff the Dirty Dozen in 2026 but on it as recently as 2024 — EWG has repeatedly flagged insecticide residues on conventional peppers. We treat them as a high-priority organic buy.
Used in 32 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🫛Green beans
Middle of the packA recent Dirty Dozen member (2023–2024) before rotating off in 2026; EWG flagged detections of acephate, an organophosphate insecticide, in that testing.
🍅Tomatoes
Middle of the packPerennially mid-to-upper in EWG's full ranking. Conventional samples commonly carry multiple residues in USDA testing — and tomatoes are in a third of our dinners.
Used in 30 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🥬Celery
Middle of the packA former Dirty Dozen regular in earlier editions of the guide; still ranks in the more-contaminated half of EWG's full list. Our juice bar buys it organic by the bunch.
Used in 5 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🥒Cucumbers
Middle of the packMid-list in EWG's full ranking; the waxed conventional skin is the main flag. Unwaxed organic is what our smashed-cucumber and juice recipes assume.
Used in 9 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🥒Zucchini & summer squash
Middle of the packMid-list. Thin-skinned and eaten unpeeled, so we keep it organic.
Used in 4 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🥬Lettuce & romaine
Middle of the packLeafy greens as a class run high in residue testing — romaine sits well above the Clean Fifteen even when off the Dirty Dozen. The Gerson green juice starts with organic romaine, full stop.
Used in 4 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🥦Broccoli
Middle of the packBetter than most — broccoli ranks toward the cleaner end of the full list without making the Clean Fifteen.
Used in 2 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🍠Sweet potatoes
Middle of the packCleaner than white potatoes in EWG's full ranking, but not Clean Fifteen. A Rootful staple, bought organic.
Used in 6 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
Beets
Middle of the packNot individually ranked by EWG most years. Root crops absorb from soil, and beet greens count as leafy greens — our juice bar treats both as organic-only.
Used in 1 Rootful dish — organic, always.
🍋Citrus (lemons, limes, oranges)
Middle of the packPost-harvest fungicides on conventional citrus peel are well documented in PDP data — and our recipes zest as often as they juice, which makes organic citrus non-negotiable here.
Used in 48 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🫚Ginger & turmeric
Middle of the packNot covered by EWG's ranking. As soil-grown rhizomes used unpeeled in juices and shots, we default to organic.
Used in 17 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🌿Fresh herbs (cilantro, basil, mint, parsley)
Middle of the packHerbs are eaten unpeeled, unwashed-crevice greens; PDP testing of cilantro has historically found a wide range of residues. Organic bunches are pennies more.
Used in 52 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🎃Butternut & winter squash
Middle of the packMid-list; the thick rind helps, though squash readily takes up certain legacy soil contaminants, which keeps it on our organic list.
Used in 4 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🍆Eggplant
Middle of the packToward the cleaner end of the full EWG ranking, without making the Clean Fifteen.
Used in 5 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
🧄Garlic
Middle of the packLike its allium cousin the onion, garlic tests clean — one of the lower-risk conventional buys, though organic remains our default.
Used in 44 Rootful dishes — organic, always.
Why organic even for the Clean Fifteen?
If avocados and onions test clean, why does Rootful still buy them organic? Three honest reasons. First, residues are only half the story — organic certification also governs what goes into the soil and water upstream, which the residue tests on your plate never see. Second, the lists move. Peppers and green beans were Dirty Dozen members two years ago; blackberries and potatoes are new arrivals. A single sourcing rule doesn't need re-litigating every March. Third, honesty about limits: organic doesn't mean zero residue — drift and persistent soil chemicals mean organic samples occasionally show detections too — but organic samples consistently show far fewer and lower residues in USDA testing. It's a lever, not a force field, and it's the strongest one a shopper controls.
Where this data comes from
- USDA Pesticide Data Program — the federal residue-testing dataset (and the data What's On My Food was built on). 2024 results: 9,872 samples, more than 99% below EPA tolerances, 42.3% with no detectable residues.
- EWG Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce (2026) — source of the Dirty Dozen / Clean Fifteen rankings and headline detection stats used above.
- PAN PesticideInfo — Pesticide Action Network's still-active chemical toxicology database; the place to look up any specific pesticide named in testing.
- Hygeia Analytics — Dietary Risk Index — independent tools for weighing residue data by toxicity rather than raw counts.
This page summarizes published findings for education; it is not medical or regulatory advice. Rankings and stats reflect the 2026 EWG guide and the USDA PDP annual summary current as of September 2026; we update this page as new editions publish.
The easy version of all this
Cook from a menu where the organic decision is already made — 103 dishes, nutrition on every card.
Browse the Menu