Oh man! In the spirit of being healthy I went to the farmers market in Atwater Village Sunday and bought $5 in organic and locally grown peaches. I ate one on Monday that was tasty and put the other three ripened ones in the fridge.

Today, five days later, I cut open one and it was bruised and mealy. I chalked it up to the bad piece we get here and there, but the second one was rotten all around the pit and the third was also mealy and rotten.

What did I do wrong?! Are we too far past peach season?

One of the caveats of organic produce is that it goes bad faster because it doesn’t have preservatives or waxes. But one of the benefits is that its lower in toxins from pesticides. Peaches are on the Environmental Working Group’s dirty dozen+ list as particularly high in residues from pesticides. That dirty dozen includes: cucumbers, strawberries, celery, apples, cherry tomatoes, grapes, hot peppers, nectarines, spinach, potatoes, sweet bell peppers, kale, squash. Peaches are an important one to buy organic, so I’m game to do it even if I’ve gotta deal with earlier spoilage.

Update 10/8/13 – I went back to the peach vendor and asked what happened. He said that it is the end of the season so a lot of the fruit will not be so amazing. He kindly gave me some replacement peaches to make up for it. Thanks peach man!