Farmers use 1.5 billion pounds of pesticides every year. It's much tougher to farm without the aid of chemicals requiring more time and more land. But that's what the USDA demands of any company using the organic label.

There is growing consensus in the scientific community that small doses of pesticides and other chemicals can adversely affect people. Because of this, the demand for organic produce is growing but the chemical-free food comes with a steeper price tag.

Environmental Working Group has put together a 'Dirty Dozen' list showing which fruits and vegetables have the highest concentration of pesticides, and which have the lowest pesticide load. The list allows shoppers to buy conventionally-raised produce with low pesticide loads and to save their pennies to buy organically-grown fruits and veggies with high pesticide concentrations.

Fruits and vegetables ranked in the top ten for highest pesticide load:

Peaches
Apples
Sweet Bell Peppers
Celery
Nectarines
Strawberries
Cherries
Pears
Imported Grapes
Spinach

The bottom of the list (fruits and vegetables with the lowest pesticide load) includes cabbage, bananas, kiwi, avocado and onions.

For the full list, check out http://www.foodnews.org/walletguide.php.

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