Apple Picking....non-organic Worries

I really, really wouldn't worry about it. No, peeling them won't make them free of pesticides. But the pesticides aren't going to be harmful in the quantities of a bushel or two of apples you'd be picking. Just wash them and prepare them as you normally would.

Even organic fruits and veggies still have toxins in them that are found in the environment. Nothing, absolutely nothing is toxin free, not even breastmilk. Worrying about something like PYO is just pointless. Enjoy the day, enjoy the fresh fruit and the reduced cost, and just double check with the farmers to ease your fears. If there are multiple orchards in your area, one or two are bound to be organic.

I have gone apple picking with my kids every year since my oldest was born, he is 23. I can assure you that I have not grown any new limbs nor have my children. Really a apple here or there is not going to hurt you.

Just wash them up and let him eat them. It will be fine.
When we used to go apple picking, I would just shine the apples up on my pants leg and let them chow down. Eventually, they shined their own apples on their own pants leg. Neither one has an extra appendage nor do they glow in the dark.
LBC

You can try washing the apples as thoroughly as possible but removing the skin in the hope of reducing pesticide exposure is also going to remove the most nutritious, high-fiber part of the apple. I agree that a few apples that MAY have a microscopic trace of pesticide on them is not a cause for alarm. I'd rather my child enjoy the experience of being out in the fresh air and sunshine, enjoying nature, picking apples and seeing where some of their food comes from. I've been eating non-organic apples all my life and I'm still fine.

We try to eat organic as much as possible too but I let mine enjoy the apple picking (and blueberry picking and strawberry picking etc). It's just too much fun and I figure on balance it won't make a difference. SHe eats them with the peel sometimes and sometimes we peel them.