Choosing between eating local and organic is often confusing. For those committed to both supporting the local food production network and making it possible for small family farms to survive and eating food that is grown without chemicals, first choice is always local and organic.
But often the that choice is not available, due to the seasons or unavailability. For example, there are no local strawberries at a market but there are organic ones. What to do? Buy organic because strawberries are on a short list of foods that have a lot of pesticide residue when they are not organically grown. Since I can't get local, I get the organic variety for health reasons rather than for carbon footprint reasons.
If I'd been choosing a food that wasn't on the dirty dozen list below, I would choose local rather than organic because there wouldn't have been the personal health concern. In that case I would go for the lower carbon footprint.
Here is a list of foods that are worth buying organic over local, if you have to choose, because they carry more pesticides than other produce.
1. Peaches
2. Apples
3. Bell peppers
4. Celery
5. Nectarines
6. Strawberries
7. Cherries
8. Kale
9. Lettuce
10. Grapes (imported)
11. Carrots
12. Peas
