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Pesticides, Can we avoid them? |
by:
anna maria volpi |
Why, unfortunately, just washing vegetables is not enough to ensure produce clean enough for consumption
We all ingest lots of chemicals, one way or another. We breathe them, we drink them, and we eat them. The most troublesome are pesticides in produce. It makes me uncomfortable to think that while we are eating fruits and vegetables in reality we are also ingesting poisons that can accumulate in our bodies and make us very sick. This is food that supposes to be healthy and good for us!
Even ifmost toxic chemicals have already been banned for use in agriculture, pesticides in general are poisons designed to kill insects, weed, small rodents and other pests. The long time effects of these poisons on people are not completely known. Evenminimal risk with these pollutants is too much, when we think we may expose children. We should try to do every effort to minimize our intake of these adverse chemicals.
Education iskey. Knowing which produce contain more pollutants can help us makeright choices, avoidingmost contaminated fruits and vegetables and eatingleast polluted, or buy organic instead. In simulation of consumers eating habits has been demonstrated that changinglittle biteating practices can lower considerablyingestion of pesticides.
The results ofinvestigation on pesticides in produce byUSDA Pesticide Data Program, show that fruits toppedlist ofconsistently most contaminated produce, with eight ofonetwo most polluted foods. The dirty dozen are: Apples, Bell Peppers, Celery, Cherries, Imported Grapes, Nectarines, Peaches, Pears, Potatoes, Red Raspberries, Spinach, and Strawberries.
You don’t like broccoli? Too bad because they are among those least contaminated. In factonetwo least polluted produce are: Asparagus, Avocados, Bananas, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Sweet Corn, Kiwi, Mangos, Onions, Papaya, Pineapples, and Sweet Peas.
Can washing of produce help get rid of pesticides? Not really. The fruits and vegetables tested byUSDA PDP are “prepared emulatingpractices ofaverage consumer” before testing for pesticides. That is: “(one) apples are washed with stems and cores removed; (two) asparagus and spinach have inedible portions removed and are washed; (three) cantaloupes are cut in half and seed and rinds are removed; […] and (nine) tomatoes are washed and stems removed”.
Washing before consuming is highly recommended because helps decreasepesticide residues present onsurface ofvegetables, butmajorities of pollutants are absorbed intoplant and can’t be just washed away. Some pesticides are specifically created to stick tosurface ofcrops and they don’t come out by washing. Peeling can help eliminating some ofchemicals but not all, andlot of important substances will be discarded withskin.
So, on one hand we have to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables forhealthy diet, and onother hand we have to reduce as muchpossibleintake of pesticides. What to do if you are unconvinced byclaims ofchemical companies that certain levels of pesticides are not dangerous?
We have very few options to defend ourselves: (one) Wash all vegetables and fruit very well; (two) Change eating habits in order to consume more ofproduce with low pollutants; (three) Consumediet as varied as possible; (four) Buy organic foods.
Anna Maria Volpi
Aboutauthor:
© twozerozerofive www.annamariavolpi.com
Anna Maria Volpi iscooking instructor and personal chef in Los Angeles. Visit Anna Maria’s website http://www.annamariavolpi.com/for step-by-step illustrated traditional Italian recipes for tiramisu, pasta, pizza, lasagna, risotto, gnocchi and much more, articles and food newsletter. Permission is granted for this article to reprint, distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website, as long as no changes are made andcopyright, resource box, and active link to her website are included. Please inform Anna Maria if you use of this article: anna@annamariavolpi.com
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