Three apps for picking the right produce

If you’re finding yourself confused on which produce to purchase while at the grocery store or market, just like everything else in life, there’s an app for that. In fact, there are a whole bunch.

Here are our top three picks for apps that can give you a little guidance on which produce to pick up… and what ones to put back.

Farmanac

Farmanac is a detailed produce guide that allows users to browse through over 1,400 fruits and vegetables and, if applicable, search for them by PLU code. It will help you make the best purchasing decisions, giving you all of the details on the name and variety, its organic, conventional or GMO status, how to select and store it, when it is in season locally, and has a photograph, too. The app is designed to help users get the most of their food budget, along with minimizing exposure to toxic pesticides, learn how to select ripe produce and store it properly, and search for exotic items that you might not be familiar with.

Get Farmanac here at the app store for $1.99

Dirty Dozen/Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides

Environmental Working Group has created an app to help us figure out how we can maintain a diet rich in fruits and vegetables without excessive pesticide exposure. The Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides helps users determine which fruits and vegetables have the most pesticide residue and should be, if possible, purchased organically. By avoiding the twelve most contaminated fruits and vegetables, you can greatly lower your pesticide intake. The app includes a Plus category, highlighting two main crops: green beans and kale/collard greens. Though they didn’t meet the traditional Dirty Dozen ™criteria, they have been commonly contaminated with highly toxic organophosphate insecticides, which are toxic to the nervous system and have been largely removed from agriculture over the past decade. In addition, GMO sweet corn is not labeled as GMO in US stores, so the EWG advises those who have concerns about GMOs to buy organic sweet corn.

Get Dirty Dozen here at the app store for FREE

What’s On My Food? helps users figure out what pesticides are on their food. Using  science, data from unbiased sources, and and experience, the app, brought to you by Pesticide Action Network, links pesticide residue data with the toxicology for each chemical. Users can search through the database of 93 foods to discover the facts needed for all of their health concerns. The toxicology data is cross-referenced from multiple authoritative and unbiased, government listings. PAN’s PesticideInfo.org database, which compiles toxicity, chemical composition and regulatory information on thousands of pesticides, features the details on carcinogenicity/cancer risk, neurotoxicity, developmental or reproductive toxicity, endocrine disruption, and honeybee toxicity. It also has details on convetional versus organic foods and provides links with more info.

Get What’s On My Food here at the app store for FREE