Pesticide use

As defined by the US Department of Agriculture, “Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides [and] fertilizers”.  It’s strange, given this definition, that the reviewers didn’t consider pesticide residue as worthy of examining.  “We didn’t look at that.  We looked at nutritional elements only.  Pesticides are fine, because they are monitored and we don’t believe they are dangerous to food.”  To be fair, they’ve since recognized that the question of pesticide use is indeed a valid question that would be better addressed in another review entirely.  The problem is that we’re likely to remember the headline “Organic Food No Better” without remembering the specifics about what the study actually evaluated.  Instead we have to wait for additional details to amend the story, and by then it could be too late, because we’ve already come to believe that organic food is not worth the cost.

This recent report, however, shows that pesticide residue isn’t monitored as well as some might assume it to be, resulting in pesticide levels far beyond the allowable limits.  This particular story also uncovers the presence of pesticides that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not approve for use.  As it turns out, the pesticide-monitoring system is not used to prevent farmers from applying excessive levels of pesticides, but to highlight violations after the fact- sort of a post-problem tracking system.

The reviewers evaluating the possible merits of organic food contend that pesticides aren’t dangerous to food.  They don’t believe that there is a connection between applying chemicals to our soil that are designed to kill insects and fungus and the deleterious health effects produced in a person then consuming these same chemicals.  Yet a recent study shows that a toxin we apply to our skin to kill mosquitoes (DEET) could damage our nervous systems, and we’re not even eating it.  And here’s information about a popular weed killer (used on everything from farms to golf courses) that is receiving attention due to recent research showing it is both more prevalent (in drinking water) and more dangerous (possible links to birth defects and menstrual problems) than previously thought.  As the reviewers pointed out, pesticides are monitored, but the agency in charge of doing so, the EPA, is not scheduled to review the new research on this weed killer until next year at the earliest.  Surmising that pesticides aren’t dangerous is not exactly accurate.

Healthy Foods Need Healthy Soil

Nutrient levels in real, whole foods are a reflection of the nutrient levels present in the soil in which those foods were grown.  If the soil is depleted of nutrients, the food will be depleted of nutrients.  But the picture is larger still.  Nutrient levels change according to when those foods were harvested- did you buy a local tomato that ripened on the vine, or was your tomato picked while it was still green (before the nutrient levels were allowed to reach their peak) and ripened due to chemical exposure (a practice used to artificially ripen prematurely-harvested produce)?  Allowing your food to ripen while still on the plant is integral to the optimization of nutrients, and that means buying foods that are locally-grown.

Sometimes these small-scale farmers cannot afford the certification process to be declared “organic”.  Developing a relationship with the person growing your food, however, gives you an opportunity to dialogue with them regarding their farming practices, including pesticide use.

Organic and Local

Releasing a study that ignores the crux of the issue, pesticides, is, at best, short-sighted and, at worst, deliberately misleading.  The tracking and evaluation systems in place to protect us from excessive chemical exposure are sadly lacking.  As a consumer you can choose to limit your exposure to these damaging chemicals by supporting organic products.  You can take it a step further and buy foods that are picked at the peak of nutrient development by purchasing form local farmers.