Ranking
Lower-residue vegetables
Underground crops, husked crops, and vegetables with their own chemical defences fill the bottom of the residue table.
| # | Food | Residue evidence | Verdict | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🌽Sweet corn1,206 conventional samples · no organic set | 3/100 | Conventional is reasonable | $0.79org $1.29 |
| 2 | 🎋Asparagus1,328 conventional samples · 33 organic | 7/100 | Conventional is reasonable | $4.49org $6.29 |
| 3 | 🥬Cabbage1,309 conventional samples · 48 organic | 12/100 | Conventional is reasonable | $2.49org $3.49 |
| 4 | 🧅Onions1,503 conventional samples · 71 organic | 13/100 | Conventional is reasonable | $3.79org $5.29 |
| 5 | 🤍Cauliflower1,292 conventional samples · 107 organic | 25/100 | Conventional is reasonable | $3.79org $5.29 |
| 6 | 🍄Mushrooms1,337 conventional samples · 75 organic | 28/100 | Conventional is reasonable | $2.99org $3.99 |
| 7 | 🥦Broccoli2,028 conventional samples · 66 organic | 30/100 | Conventional is reasonable | $2.49org $3.69 |
| 8 | 🍠Sweet potatoes1,343 conventional samples · 67 organic | 35/100 | Conventional is reasonable | $1.49org $2.19 |
| 9 | 🥕Carrots1,219 conventional samples · 165 organic | 41/100 | Consider organic | $2.49org $3.49 |
| 10 | 🥗Romaine lettuce2,110 conventional samples · 97 organic | 47/100 | Consider organic | $3.99org $5.49 |
Why this ranking looks the way it does
Onions and garlic produce sulfur compounds that deter pests without help. Sweet corn spends its life inside a husk. Asparagus grows fast enough to outrun most spray schedules. Cabbage sheds its outer leaves — the ones that took the spray — before it reaches the shelf.
Mushrooms belong here for a different reason: they are grown indoors on composted substrate, so field spraying barely enters the picture.
Broccoli and cauliflower sit slightly higher but still comfortably in "conventional is a reasonable budget choice" territory, and both carry nutrient-density scores in the high seventies and eighties. Per dollar, they are among the strongest items you can put on a grocery list.
Build a grocery list that applies this automatically, or open the organic budget optimizer to price the upgrades.