I’m interested in buying organic, but it’s expensive, so I’d like to focus my efforts on those products that require the most pesticides to grow conventionally. The info I’ve seen on this issue usually refers only to pesticide residue, which I’m not concerned about — I’m looking to minimize the overall impact on the environment. Basically, I’d like to keep buying less-expensive conventional products for foods that aren’t heavily treated, and pay the organic premium only for those foods that account for substantial pesticide use (or other environmental damage) when grown conventionally.
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Although these aren’t food items, cotton and alfalfa are huge pesticide crops… 
Where do you live? In California, there is a Department of Pesticide Regulation, and they tell you in pounds, what top five sites per county, have the top usage. Highest usage is often times just along the roadside which is a bit frightening. Wine grapes have a lot of per pound pesticide use, but they use stuff like sulphur which is fairly non-toxic compared to something like bifenthrin or fipronil or anything with a -thrin ending…
Rice uses a lot of water and pesticides, almonds, peaches, prunes, walnuts, tomatoes, apples… A lot of the farmers use per pound A LOT, but it’s of relatively non-toxic stuff. Some people use less poundage of more toxic stuff. Anywho, I think my point is, it depends on where you live, what the individual farmer does… California produce is more heavily regulated than some other produce, so that’s probably a good bet.
If I was going to buy something organic and I was on a limited budget, I would probably buy organic meat (unless you are a vegetarian), eggs and dairy products. The higher up in the food chain, the more concentrated the chemicals get (biomagnification), and you get to us, and it’s super concentrated.
Anywho, that’s my two cents worth…
