M8.3 Blog Pesticides

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What's on my food?

For dinner, I had a salad with a piece of salmon. The salad was a mix of kale, red cabbage, cabbage, and carrots. According to www.whatsonmyfood.org, the following pesticide residues are found on these produce items:

Carrots - 26 pesticide residues
6 known/probable carcinogens, 14 suspected hormone disruptors, 3 neurotoxins, 7 developmental or reproductive toxins, and 5 honeybee toxins
Cabbage - 11 pesticide residues
2 known/probable carcinogens, 3 suspected hormone disruptors, 5 neurotoxins, 1 developmental or reproductive toxin, and 5 honeybee toxins
Kale - 55 pesticide residues
6 known/probable carcinogens, 22 suspected hormone disruptors, 10 neurotoxins, 10 developmental or reproductive toxins, 17 honeybee toxins

Red cabbage and salmon were not found on the database.

Looking at these results made me quite sad to know that the healthy food I eat is laden with pesticides. The kale results especially shocked me. Kale has been so big in the "health food" world in recent years, so it makes sense that growers may turn to pesticides to try and keep up with the demand for it. However, it's not the best choice, for us or the environment.
It's clear that pesticides are harmful substances. They affect humans, animals, and the environment. We need to figure out a better way to grow our crops. Knowing what we put in our bodies is key for our health. That being said, people should be educated about the pesticides and our overuse of them. What is difficult from a public health standpoint is giving people an alternative. While we can educate them about the chemicals and/or pesticides and the benefits of buying local, organic, and sustainable food, what about the price? The benefits of organic food will be helpful in the long run, yes. However, it is unfortunate that most people can't afford organic produce. The organic cheat sheet provided by Consumer Reports is helpful, but may be unrealistic for many. While I am fortunate enough to make those changes to organic purchases, many can not. This is another reason why we should keep fighting to reduce pesticide use or eliminate it altogether.

Comments

  1. Ashley SubramaniMarch 19, 2018 at 1:43 PM

    Hey Loren,

    You would think with such a healthy meal that you really wouldn't be exposed to so many pesticides. I was pretty shocked to see kale with some many pesticides. Like you said, kale is that "it" food right now and we would assume only benefits from consuming it would come. It's unfortunate that we have all this knowledge about pesticides on food and how organic is the better choice but most are still forced to consume the non organic option as it is more affordable. It's this endless cycle of the one's who can afford to eat healthier having better lives and the one's who need to improve the quality of their lives are stuck not able to make changes.

    -Ashley

    ReplyDelete

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