- General idea is organic products aren't sprayed with pesticides but the fact is almost all large scale organic farms use "organic approved pesticides" which are natural or slightly synthetic chemicals or mixtures.
- The USDA Organic label, while it does regulate farming practices, in 2010 over 13,000 certified organic farms were inspected and only 10 had their certification revoked. That may be because everyone believes in health and doing the right thing, or it could be because the USDA certifier gets payed per farm and takes a financial loss by revoking certification.
Now that those facts have been discussed, feel that we can go deeper into organic without the confusion.
EWG, Environmental Working Group, came out with the "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean 15"
http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/
Full list can be found here: http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/list.php
It's well known that pesticides are harmful to animal health and is hard to argue that it's not to humans. When eating conventional (which personally I feel should be called industrial) produce this is a solid guideline.
The main line that should be drawn on organic food is when you focus on it so much it makes you neurotic, for somebody that doesn't handle stress well it may literally do more damage to your body stressing over what's organic and going against the grain on the general population than the pesticides would.
In the end the best plan of action, if possible, is to get to known your local farmers which has the added benefits of not needing to be shipped across the country (or world) as well as supporting the local economy. With my case I have a close relationship with my semi (about a 40 minute drive) local farmers They aren't all certified organic, which includes a mass of paper and paying the certifier, but they don't use industrial pesticides and their livestock is grass fed.
So recap, get to know your local farmers. If that isn't an option and you're on a budget, follow the EWGs research and recommendations
http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/
Full list can be found here: http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/list.php
It's well known that pesticides are harmful to animal health and is hard to argue that it's not to humans. When eating conventional (which personally I feel should be called industrial) produce this is a solid guideline.
The main line that should be drawn on organic food is when you focus on it so much it makes you neurotic, for somebody that doesn't handle stress well it may literally do more damage to your body stressing over what's organic and going against the grain on the general population than the pesticides would.
In the end the best plan of action, if possible, is to get to known your local farmers which has the added benefits of not needing to be shipped across the country (or world) as well as supporting the local economy. With my case I have a close relationship with my semi (about a 40 minute drive) local farmers They aren't all certified organic, which includes a mass of paper and paying the certifier, but they don't use industrial pesticides and their livestock is grass fed.
So recap, get to know your local farmers. If that isn't an option and you're on a budget, follow the EWGs research and recommendations
References:
- http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5101234
- See Appendix A on pesticides
