Shorter days, cooler nights, a new school year… a shift in seasons has begun. With seasonal changes afoot, now is also a good time to make a shift in your diet, from conventional produce to organic. According to current estimates, nearly 1 billion pounds of pesticides are used each year in the United States, and their residues inevitably end up on our food, and in our bodies. Take apples, for example. A favorite fall food staple, apples rank number two on the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) “Dirty Dozen,” a consumer’s guide that ranks produce with the highest number and concentrations of pesticides, with nearly 100% testing positive for residues. That should make you think twice before heading to your favorite “u-pick” orchard. Kale and other leafy greens were no better. According to the USDA tests that the EWG bases its list on, 51 different pesticides—some of them highly toxic to the human nervous system—were detected on kale samples. Overall, nearly three-quarters of 6,953 produce samples tested by the USDA contained pesticide residues, with some persisting even when the produce was washed and peeled. So what’s a concerned consumer to do? Opt for organic! You are not only avoiding ingesting toxic pesticides, but organic produce has also been shown to have higher levels of nutrients, including health-promoting phytonutrients.