ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE ON PESTICIDE RESIDUE AVOIDANCE

 

News You Can Use: The 10 Most Important Foods To Eat Organic (1999)

 

There's no question that the more organic foods you eat, the happier your body will be. The ideal diet would be 100% organic-from the coffee in the morning cup to that midnight slice of pie. Unfortunately, in many parts of the country, it's not always possible to go all organic all the time.

Until our chemically dependent factory farms stop sniffing fumes and seek some sorely needed professional help for their pesticide addiction, many of us will have to supplement those organic foods we can find with conventionally-grown edibles. However, not all conventionally-produced foods are created equal. There are some foods you should try to always eat organic:

 

• Baby Food Babies are extraordinarily susceptible to pesticides. Two organic brands (Earth's Best and Well-Fed Baby) are available. Or better yet, make your own by cooking and pureeing organic produce.
• Strawberries. Do you know what it takes for a fragile, beautiful strawberry to make it through the rigors of factory harvesting and a long truck ride to your table? More chemicals that you can shake a stick at. Strawberries are one of the most chemically-intensive crops in America. Enjoy them in season from local organic farms and forgo them the rest of the year.
• Rice. Domestic rice is grown with heavy doses of pesticides. Since it has a long shelf life, buy organic rice in quantity whenever you find it and store it for use over time.
• Other Grains. As we shift our diets to include more fiber, we're also shifting our diets to include more chemicals (which come free as a special bonus with the conventionally grown grains we use to provide dietary roughage). For that reason, when your diet shifts, shift it to organic grains.
• Got Milk? We hope not. Today's commercial brands today are loaded with bovine antibiotics and, increasingly, growth hormones. Make your moo organic and avoid a milk mustache that could make a real one drop off.
• Corn. Corn is typically not a scale tipper when it comes to pesticide residues. But take into account that the average American eats 11 pounds of the stuff a year, and suddenly organic corn makes more than a little sense. Eat local organic corn in season and freeze some for later.
• Bananas. This tropical favorite has a short window of ripeness and a very long distance to market (quick, how many local banana farms does your town have?). All of which adds up to a lot of heavy chemical monkey business along the way.
• Green Beans. Over 60 different pesticides are used on green beans. Even beans used in baby food have been found to be contaminated. Bet you wish you knew that when you were 7 and Mom was trying to make you finish them...
• Peaches. Nothing beats a peach. Until you realize that they often have the highest rates of illegally-applied pesticides. Isn't that just peachy...
• Apples. A decade after the dangers of Alar were exposed, apples are still soaked in pesticides. Put only organic apples in your pie.

 

Excerpted from: The Green Guide, a newsletter published by Mothers and Others, 40 W. 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, phone: 888-ECO-INFO,  Website:  www.mothers.org