I'm amazed grapes have that much. The only pest I have with the fruit is birds and squirrels.
Same with pears around here. Squirrels are really the only pest.

And then for eggplant to be clean. I have to spray those or flea beetle will mow them over before they get a chance.

One thing I love about growing blueberries - insects and bacterial rots are non-issues for me.

Catbirds - the catbirds are an issue but they don't seem to discover the blueberries until the season is well-advanced.

So why do they make the dirty dozen for commercially grown fruit?

Why are peas good and beans are bad?

Cabbage is good and kale is bad?

"So why do they make the dirty dozen for commercially grown fruit?"

One can only guess at their motivation. I've read the EWG Website generates 6 mil. in revenue annually. Dr. Weil, who is a kook in my opinion, is partnered with EWG and has a multimillion dollar business of his own pushing alternative medicine.

I'm all for the little guy (that's me) or the home grower producing his/her own fruit/vegetables or selling his/her stuff locally. However, I think the whole approach of EWG is disingenuous. That's the part that bothers me. They take statistics from the USDA and twist them around by clever wording to make American produce seem unsafe.

Every year the USDA tests thousands of samples of food (including meat,eggs, fruit, vegetables, baby food) and water (ground water - treated and untreated) for pesticide residues. EWG puts their own spin on this info. for their own ends.

For example, EWG states 98% of apples have detectable levels of pesticide residues. What they don't tell you is that detection equipment is now so sophisticated and technologically advanced it can detect parts per billion and sometimes parts per trillion. What that means is that if a fruit has ever been sprayed, it will have some "detectable" residue at harvest. The question is, "is the residue significant" the answer is generally "no". Organic samples also have "detectable" levels of pesticides which EWG doesn't mention.

EWG statements like "Domestic blueberries tested positive for 42 different pesticide residues." lead the average casual reader unfamiliar with the USDA tests to conclude that his breakfast blueberries contain 42 different pesticides, which isn't the case.

What the EWG doesn't mention is also telling. They don't tell you that of the almost 13,000 samples tested by the USDA, only 0.25% of the samples tested above any pesticide tolerance limit set by the EPA (and most of the samples in violation are barely above the limit.)

Neither the EPA or the USDA share the view of EWG.

I'm all for growing fruits and vegetables organically for those who can, but as one person said, "It's irresponsible for anyone to misuse the USDA report to scare consumers away from affordable fruits and vegetables that they enjoy, making the work of improving the diets of Americans more difficult."

The problem isn't that grocery store produce is dangerous or unhealthy (although it is sprayed more than home grown produce) it's that many times it doesn't taste at all comparable to home grown. But that's a completely separate issue.