Sometimes, after a big night or an evening spent gorging on unhealthy food, I’ll throw some spinach and kale into a blender and consider the scales evened out.

I know it’s not true, but it gives me a false sense of peace.

Over the past few years, kale has become a healthy obsession for millions around the world, especially over on the other side of the lentil curtain (Noordhoek and beyond).

That’s fine if you’re growing it in your own backyard, but for the rest, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has some bad news.

Each year, the EWG publishes its Dirty Dozen group, “which ranks the 12 pieces of produce that contain the highest amounts of pesticide residues”, and this year kale is in the mix.

TIME reports:

This year, one of the dirtiest fruits and vegetables turns out to be kale, occupying the third spot on the EWG’s list of most contaminated. Strawberries top the list, followed by spinach.

The full 2019 Dirty Dozen list, ranked from most contaminated to least, include strawberries, spinach, kale, nectarines, apples, grapes, peaches, cherries, pears, tomatoes, celery and potatoes.

Kale and spinach? There goes the smoothie.

In the latest round of tests, conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 92% of kale was found to contain at least two pesticide residues, and one sample had as many as 18:

Kale and spinach contained 10% to 80% more pesticide residues by weight than any other fruit or vegetable. Alexis Temkin, a toxicologist at EWG, says these crops may be heavily contaminated because they grow close to the ground, where they are more likely to be exposed to bugs — and therefore to be targets for pesticides.

Strawberries, another highly contaminated fruit, also grow low to the ground. The delicate leaves of kale and spinach also make them good candidates for spraying, since any infestation can damage the leaves and decrease the chances of being sold.

They have a point, because I can’t remember the last time I saw wilted and damaged kale, or spinach, in the aisles of my local supermarket.

Just another reason to buy local from people you can trust, or grow your own if you’re lucky enough to have the space.

[source:time]