Should any of this worry you? I think it should. First, lots of vegetables and fruits on your grocer’s shelves can exceed safe levels because there is no rigorous system for checking. Second, the food economy is global; the reason you can buy, say, strawberries, any time of the year is because it’s always summer somewhere—including places that have much more lax pesticide rules than the United States.

NEXT: To avoid fertilizers >>

Buy Green Goes With Everything: Simple Steps to a Healthier Life and a Cleaner Planet by Sloan Barnett. Published by Atria Books.