Agriculture

Manually Spraying Pesticide

I’ve been browsing a few websites for information about pesticides recently - a subject of particular interest as my mother is slowly succumbing to the ravages of Skin Cancer on her legs and arms due to a close encounter with Roundup.

Roundup’s a pesticide commonly used domestically to control weeds, and in stronger doses to keep golf courses, amongst other places, free of weeds. Many people use it on their vegetable gardens, thinking it must be safe if it’s sold for that purpose. Farmers use it extensively to keep crops free of insect life and other miniature predators.

Pesticides like this are certainly not safe. People like my mother are gradually forming support groups to deal with the effects of close contact with Roundup, and similar pesticides.

Monarch Butterly - natural pesticide

To minimise pesticides in your diet, here’s a list of the 13 worst offenders (highest pesticide load) in fruit and vegetables:

Peaches, Apples, Sweet Bell Peppers, Celery, Nectarines, Strawberries, Cherries, Lettuce, Grapes - Imported, Pears, Spinach, Potatoes and Carrots. Buy them organic if at all possible or wash them very thoroughly indeed before using them.

At the other end of the scale are the fruit and vegetables that have low pesticide counts:

Blueberries, Eggplant, Broccoli, Cabbage, Bananas, Kiwi, Asparagus, Sweet Peas - Frozen, Mango, Pineapples, Sweet Corn - Frozen (although perhaps not the GM kind), Avocado, and Onions.

Whilst washing and rinsing fresh produce may reduce levels of (some) pesticides, it does not eliminate them. Take a close look at the shot above of someone preparing for pesticide application. Does that look safe?

This a useful site:
www.soilassociation.org/web/sa/saweb.nsf/home/index.html

I got my wake-up call from this site. Get the whole list by clicking on:
www.foodnews.org/walletguide.php

Careful eating!

Related articles about ‘How to Avoid Toxins in Food’

• Reasons to Start a Vegetable Garden
• 12 Foods You Don’t Have to Buy Organic
• Best Organic Foods for Your Family