Archive for the 'local food' Category
A pesticide is, according to the EPA, “Any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest.” A “Pest” is defined as: insects, mice & other animals, plants, fungi, microorganisms, (bacteria & viruses).
You might think that ‘pesticides’ are only found in yard & garden applications or farm uses. Guess again. Some very common household products contain pesticides: mosquito & tick repellents for outdoor human use, pet flea collars, soaps, powders & sprays, antibacterial hand soap, kitchen, laundry and bathroom sanitizers, mice & rat poisons, disinfectant sprays, mold & mildew killers, cockroach and ‘household’ insect killers. If you use any of these products you are coming into direct contact with pesticides.
The “inert’ ingredient listed on the back of the containers are not safe either. They can be emulsifiers which are chemical mixtures that bind together the pesticide. They could be blended in to increase its effectiveness, or an ingredient which make the product able to be sprayed. Inert ingredients do not function like the pesticide. However, they are far from being benign.
382 inert ingredients on the EPA’s list are or at one time were registered as active (pesticide) ingredients. 75 compounds are potentially toxic while 8 are considered to be of “toxicological concern.”
American consumers have become spoiled brats. They demand a wide variety of foods available 12 months of the year, most of which are either never grown in their region or not in season. So, to get them what they want the grocery industry sources fruits & vegetables from all over the world, not just the United States. Some of these countries are using chemicals that were banned in the U.S years ago, which are highly carcinogenic and toxic even in small doses. Many are labeled “Not For Use On Food”.
Unless you eat strictly an organic diet, your food is filled with pesticides. The best way to get food with less pesticide residue is to establish a rapport with a local farmer who does not use pesticides. Also, for a farmer to be CERTIFIED ORGANIC there is a tremendous cost and time consuming record-keeping. Some farmers use methods that go ‘beyond organic’ and this has proved to be just as good – if not better – than the ‘certified’ crops.
What’s on your food? Below is a list of the highest pesticide contaminated fruits and vegetables published by the Environmental Working Group.
This list allows you to make better choices when buying food. Obviously, for the most tainted products, organic produce is best. If you can’t get organic, check at your local farmer’s market to see if local farmers use chemicals. Many farmers are opting not to because of consumer concerns. Although local food providers are not ‘certified organic’ (which is a very expensive and paperwork-intensive process) some farmers call themselves ‘beyond organic.’ This means that they go far beyond what the current USDA specifications for organic are.
Notice, too, that imported grapes (from Chile, for example) are higher in pesticides that their U.S. counterparts.
This makes it even more important that you adopt a detox regimen, drink pure water and rid your life of as many chemicals as you can. This is why herbal detox remedies are important, as well as detox baths. Add to this the benefits of massage and you’re on your way to a healthier life!
FoodNews: Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides
The Full List: 47 Fruits & Veggies
| RANK | FRUIT OR VEGGIE | SCORE |
| 1 (worst) | Peach | 100 (highest pesticide load) |
| 2 | Apple | 93 |
| 3 | Sweet Bell Pepper | 83 |
| 4 | Celery | 82 |
| 5 | Nectarine | 81 |
| 6 | Strawberries | 80 |
| 7 | Cherries | 73 |
| 8 | Kale | 69 |
| 9 | Lettuce | 67 |
| 10 | Grapes - Imported | 66 |
| 11 | Carrot | 63 |
| 12 | Pear | 63 |
| 13 | Collard Greens | 60 |
| 14 | Spinach | 58 |
| 15 | Potato | 56 |
| 16 | Green Beans | 53 |
| 17 | Summer Squash | 53 |
| 18 | Pepper | 51 |
| 19 | Cucumber | 50 |
| 20 | Raspberries | 46 |
| 21 | Grapes - Domestic | 44 |
| 22 | Plum | 44 |
| 23 | Orange | 44 |
| 24 | Cauliflower | 39 |
| 25 | Tangerine | 37 |
| 26 | Mushrooms | 36 |
| 27 | Banana | 34 |
| 28 | Winter Squash | 34 |
| 29 | Cantaloupe | 33 |
| 30 | Cranberries | 33 |
| 31 | Honeydew Melon | 30 |
| 32 | Grapefruit | 29 |
| 33 | Sweet Potato | 29 |
| 34 | Tomato | 29 |
| 35 | Broccoli | 28 |
| 36 | Watermelon | 26 |
| 37 | Papaya | 20 |
| 38 | Eggplant | 20 |
| 39 | Cabbage | 17 |
| 40 | Kiwi | 13 |
| 41 | Sweet Peas - Frozen | 10 |
| 42 | Asparagus | 10 |
| 43 | Mango | 9 |
| 44 | Pineapple | 7 |
| 45 | Sweet Corn - Frozen | 2 |
| 46 | Avocado | 1 |
| 47 (best) | Onion | 1 (lowest pesticide load) |
Note: We ranked a total of 47 different fruits and vegetables but grapes are listed twice because we looked at both domestic and imported samples.
That organic food in your freezer or refrigerator is probably owned by Kraft, Cargill, Kellogg, Pepsi, Hershey, M&M, Coca Cola and others. Click here fora link to research done by Phil Howard, Assistant Professor at Michigan University.
It’s obvious that ‘big food’ wants to cash in on the recent rise in demand for organics. Private labels go from Wal-Mart, Costco, Sam’s Club, Kroger, Target and down to more ‘organic’ companies like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.
Ah, but things get dicey when the so-called ‘organics’ get caught with their pants down like Aurora Dairy did in 2007. Co-mingling non-organic milk with organic, stepping outside the organic standards for feed and bedding, moving cows from organic facilities to non-organic and continuing to claim milk was organic, and failure to process milk according to the National Organic Program (NOP), and along with a host of other violations. These ‘greenwashed’ products often contain pesticides, antibiotics, growth hormones from cross contamination.
Wal-Mart too, has been involved in investigations which allege ‘greenwashing‘ of its products.
What IS Organic? Watch this short video and see if you are making a difference with your purchases.
Organic certification is under attack.Go to these sites to read more about….
Beauty and Cosmetics: http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/index.cfm
Food: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/oca/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=4756
To HELP PRESERVE ORGANICS, visit the Organic Consumer’s page and use their links to fight back FOR ORGANICS!
NAIS, for the meantime, has been shelved by the USDA. This sounds good, but…. and I say this with a capital “B”… that we should not reduce our vigilance where any sort of government intrusion into our food system is concerned.
Says USDA Secretary Vilsack, “We are committed to working in partnership with States, Tribal Nations and industry in the coming months to address many of the details of this framework, and giving ample opportunity for farmers and ranchers and the public to provide us with continued input through this process.” Let’s make sure this happens; that we who are committed to local food & preserving our small farms stay on the ball and not get complacent. We are not to let our guard down, not even for a minute.
I am bothered by this: These steps will include accelerating actions to lessen the risk from diseases–such as tuberculosis–posed by imported animals, and WHY do we have to IMPORT animals for our food? … improving response capabilities, and focusing on greater collaboration and analyses with States and industry on potential disease risk overall. Keeping in mind, here, that small farmers’ livestock has never contributed to the beef industry food recalls.
One of USDA’s first steps will be to convene a forum with animal health leaders for the States and Tribal Nations to initiate a dialogue about the possible ways of achieving the flexible, coordinated approach to animal disease traceability Flexible should take into consideration the small farmers and consumers who own livestock. They should not be lumped in with the massive feed lots, (CAFOS) and withor compared to facilities which breed disease.
ALL of us need to be more aware of where our food comes from and what’s in it. Read this Organic Consumer’s article for a quick briefing. It’s written by a farmer.
We CANNOT RELAX on this issue! Special interest groups like Monsanto, Cargill, ADM and Tyson and major food retailers like Wal-Mart are NOT out to protect consumers! Wal-Mart is aggressively raising the level of food imports as reported in Supermarket News. U.S. food imports are staggering. WHY should we allow the government to use us as Guinea pigs so that retailers can save money? Imports are on the rise, even since this 2004 article.
Across this land people are starting to wake up regarding our food: what’s in it, where it comes from and how its produced. Everyone who is concerned needs to voice their opinion. The thousands of letters, e-mails and phone calls made obviously reached someone in the government. The 100 organizations who opposed NAIS and millions of consumers who called, faxed or signed online petitions – accomplished something.
Now is NOT the time to quit!
Oprah’s show featuring Michael Pollan and “Food, Inc” has many of us ‘foodies’ CHEERING !
This is JUST what’s needed, the well known ‘Oprah Effect’, to kick the plight of small farmers vs pesticide-laden, genetically modified, antibiotic filled food — right into the limelight! THANK YOU, OPRAH!
People like me know too much. A trip through the grocery store for us, isn’t what it used to be. Where I never gave a thought about what I was buying, now I venture through the grocery store like I’m walking through a mine field! Certain aisles I avoid like the plague: snack food, soda, meat and dairy and the entire frozen food section. Forget about cereals, bread, lunch meats and anything processed. Ugh….
I use it as a people watching experience, or rather I should say, a grocery watching experience. I look at what people have in their carts. Most of it is crap: processed, frozen, sugary and full of chemicals.
Thank you, Oprah…. thank you a bazillion times. What you have done for the local food movement is momentous. When people see “Food, Inc” and hopefully, “Fresh, The Movie” then perhaps the food movement will get into high gear. Consumers - the REAL heavy hitters behind everything, will find out about Monsanto’s bag of tricks.
The lid will be blown off Pandora’s box containing the secrets of Tyson, Perdue, and their ‘chicken secrets’, Cargill, ADM, Swift, and many others. The veil over the food industry is s-l-o-w-l-y being exposed. Everything from the pesticides on your food, mysterious additives in processed food and stuff like soda. Our bodies were not designed to eat this way! The truth is coming out about artificial ingredients and what they are doing to us!
If every person who reads this (or something else on food) passes it on to another person, in time the chain will be so big; imagine the voice that people will have when they are educated!
Write to Oprah, foodies…. and get her to do more shows on this! There are lots of other visionaries such as Sally Fallon from the Weston A. Price Foundation, and farmers advocating grassfed animals.
Because I feel very strongly about supporting local food endeavors and educating people on environmental issues, I recently made an announcement of an upcoming showing of “Fresh, The Movie” and “Food, Inc.”
In my e-mail I stated: “Please keep this in the back of your minds to come to because these are two VERY IMPORTANT films that anyone concerned about our food supply really needs to see.”
I received an reply from a editor in the Charlottesville area:
“I question the validity of your statement that either or both of these films are important for everyone to see.”
Excuse me????
If you are truly concerned about our food system I would think that you’d want people to see these films.
If you feel that the public has been purposely kept in the dark by the FDA, USDA, the food industry, large corporations like Wal-Mart, chemical giants such as Monsanto, fast food companies and large agribusiness concerns, how can you ‘question the validity’ of my attempt to educate consumers?
Current health statistics cite rising rates of cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, food allergies, birth defects and a host of diseases from our modern diet. Consumption of food laced with pesticides, additives, hormones, antibiotics, artificial colorings and flavorings are making people sick. Society’s dependence on cheap processed foods, proffered by our ‘friends’ in the food industry and fast food chains, have led to a frightening rate of obesity, illness & premature death. With this in mind, can you honestly say that either or both of these films are NOT important?
Pending legislation threatens the very existence of small farms and farmer’s markets across this country. Passage, without amendments, will sound a death knell for small farmers and severely damage organic food concerns. If you support our farmers and local food initiatives, then I would hope you would be for the dissemination of this information.
If you are committed to preserving the right of citizens to get their food directly from small farmers, instead of corporate giants who put profits ahead of the health of their customers, why then do you not support this venue?
Are you at all concerned about Monsanto and their tactics of bullying, spying on and putting small farmers out of business through litigation?
Do you question Monsanto’s worldwide monopoly for Round-Up Ready crops? What about the environmental effect of farmer’s increasing use of pesticides on all GMOs? Are you unfazed about the environmental impact of pesticides on the health of this planet & ALL of its inhabitants?
“Fresh” captured many accolades in 2009. Among them were official selections from: Environmental Film Festival, Sustainable Living Film Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival, Maine International Film Festival and the Kerry Film Festival. It was reviewed far and wide, garnering praise for insightful views into the food world.
“Food, Inc” also was applauded in many circles last year. In addition to the Gotham Award, it also was on the list for Academy Award for Best Documentary, the 25th Anniversary Spirit Award, and is on the list for an Oscar Award.
Everyone that I’ve talked to who has seen either (or both) agrees that these two films are important.
Methinks, dear scribe, that you are outnumbered!
A recent study in the International Journal of Biological Sciences, has linked organ damage in mammals (rats) to consumption of Monsanto’s GMO corn, NK603, MON 810 & MON 863. Closely monitoring each animal within set parameters for 90 days, effects were noticed in the kidney, liver, heart, adrenal glands, spleen and haematopoietic system (formation of blood). The study goes on to say that there is a potential toxicity relating to the pesticides specific to each species of corn. It was noted by the scientists in the IJBS:
“Effects were mostly concentrated in kidney and liver function, the two major diet detoxification organs, but in detail differed with each GM type. In addition, some effects on heart, adrenal, spleen and blood cells were also frequently noted. As there normally exists sex differences in liver and kidney metabolism, the highly statistically significant disturbances in the function of these organs, seen between male and female rats, cannot be dismissed as biologically insignificant as has been proposed by others. We therefore conclude that our data strongly suggests that these GM maize varieties induce a state of hepatorenal toxicity….These substances have never before been an integral part of the human or animal diet and therefore their health consequences for those who consume them, especially over long time periods are currently unknown.”
In another GMO report, Greenpeace reiterated that Monsanto’s methods were not intrusive enough to detect inconsistancies in the parameters used in its testing. In other words, the whole testing process is flawed.
Monsanto obviously complicates the test data by testing with unrelated groups, therefore there can be no clear conclusion.
GMOs have been linked to bee colony collapse and butterfly deaths. Why wouldn’t this be so? After all, the plants on which the bees and butterflies feed will kill them. Between GMO crops and the use of pesticides on them, it is a death knell for pollinators.
GMO corn is in all of our food, be it from the U.S. or imported in food from China or other nations.
Forbes has even bought into the lie that Monsanto is ‘The Company of The Year”. Read on and get sick!
We need to push for more organic food. Consumers have a voice against GMO products.
I am so inspired by Will Allen and his non-profit organization, “Growing Power.”
THIS is what we need to be doing for ourselves, people. We must break the chains of hunger that grips this nation. So many families are starving in our country. Millions are starving around the world! Mr. Allen’s vision and strategy could help alleviate hunger throughout the planet!
Just gaze at the map of the Milwaukee farm, a 2 acre plot that is the LAST remaining farm in the ‘city.’ It is an absolute inspiration. As you read about the other endeavors in the area, you’ll see that this is a thriving, workable and amazing effort! These are not only ‘farms’ but teaching centers… I’d like to call them instead, “inspiration centers,” because one can NOT be uninspired by this!
Governments are strugging to oversee their environmentally damaging, unsanitary, inhumane factory farms. Innovators like Mr. Allen and Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm, are trying to educate and reintroduce humane, environmentally conscious and Earth-healing farming.
Our farmer’s markets are only the starting place. We need our small farmers because they are our last link to good, clean, safe food. Farmers like Will Allen and Joel Salatin are few and far between. We need to have good food for all, everyone, everywhere!
Are you for the Earth? What about buying & eating locally produced food?
Are you REALLY for these things or do you just have bumper stickers on your vehicle that say so?
Step up to the plate, America. Don’t just SAY you’re ‘for’ the environment:
DO for the environment, BE FOR the environment, get out in the trenches FOR the environment.
What about food? Do you SAY you’re for good food…, do you SAY you’re for the small farmer? Do you DO anything FOR the small farmers?
….. or do you do all your shopping at Wal-Mart because it’s cheaper?
….. or do you come home from work and feed microwaveable crap to your kids because its quicker?
….. or do you pack their lunches full of fruit juices with HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), food laden with chemicals, artificial ingredients and salt?
….. or do you go out to eat at fast food establishments like McDonald’s who serve ‘food’ that really isn’t food but nothing more than artificial ingredients, flavorings? The meat comes from animals who’ve been raised in factory farms and pumped full of hormones, steroids and antibiotics? You’re ‘lovin it’ all the same, right?
It’s lonely out here in the vast food fight arena. Mainstream America is still too brainwashed by commercials that says Mickey D’s really serves good food; that the Healthy Choice meal you’ve nuked is good for you (READ the ingredients - if you can’t identify it, it CAN’T be good for you!)
Visit your local farmer’s market. Ask questions. Ask to come for a farm tour. Fellow VICFA member, Joel Salatin in Swope, Virginia WILL let you tour his farm. Read Michael Pollan’s “Omnivore’s Dilema” for a lot more info on Joel and the food industry.
Bumper stickers make us feel good - like we’re doing something. For far too many of us, though, we’re just not into doing, but are into just being.
We’re not going to get anywhere unless everyone who has read this - and more of you - actually get out there and voice your opposition to the food industry. Monsanto has been getting away with murder (literally) between poisoning the Earth with Round-Up, getting PATENTS on SEEDS - that’s right - which force farmers to use perticides and herbicides. The U.S. government has been bought by the food industry and now wants to pass a sweeping food ’safety’ bill and NAIS that will just about be the end of many, many small farmers, organic farms and farmer’s markets all across the country!
VICFA’s Kathryn Russell tragically died in a car accident on Thursday, October 22nd and this means that the local food movement has lost one of its greatest fighters. She was VICFA’s (Virginia Independent Consumers & Farmers) founder and advocate for local food, raw milk. A political activist, she was leading the fight to enable us to choose our food sources. She was a courageous woman, wife, mother, grandmother and wonderful person.
If first met Kathryn last year following the horrific mauling of another VICFA member, Deb Naylor of Dillwyn. Deb had been attacked and nearly killed by sows at her farm in May. I’d started a fund raising bank account and planned other events for Deb. Kathryn, in her usual take action way, was right there to help with getting the word out. She was so helpful and did so much to make it easier for me - I will never forget her kindness!
At the annual VICFA “Farm Food Voices Day” held outside Charlottesville, we finally met! I fell in love with her genuine kindness, enthusiasm, and was inspired by dedication to local food. She, along with her daughter Laura, had arranged for me to have not only one booth for selling tickets for a quilt raffle for Deb Naylor - but TWO!
Although I didn’t know her well, she impressed me with her total dedication to the local food movement and our right TO HAVE OUR CHOICE of where and who we buy our food from! Realizing, as many of us ‘food activists’ do, that the government isn’t always on our side, more often having been bought by the food industry for it’s own interests - she led her crusade tirelessly. From blogs to radio to TV and in the local press she was a wealth of information and inspiration.
I vow to carry on with my own work in her stead; to stand up for food rights and not back down - just like she did. I’ve launched a new site to continue to spread the word: Good Food For All.
Kathryn - we all will miss you. We thank you for being the voice and inspiring many to join the fight for better food, and a healthier planet for us all. We love you! My most sincere condolences to her family, friends, community in North Garden, VA and to all who knew her far better than I.