I don’t post for almost a month and then I return with the feelgood post of the century – detailing which chemicals are on which foods and the potential damage they can cause. Uplifting!
I came across this site and I just had to share. Whatsonmyfood.org is a project of the Pesticide Action Network. It shows you, in a very easy-to-understand way, the following:
- how many harmful chemicals are on your food
- which ones they are
- how often their found
- their toxicity
- their known human health effects
Did you know that your average non-organic apple juice contains 16 pesticides?! “Hey, sweetie, would you like me to pour you some hormone disruptors and neurotoxins into your princess sippy cup?”
A blueberry can contain up to 48 different pesticides. Where does it fit them all? “And tonight, kids, for dessert, we’re having carcinogens and reproductive toxicants….and cream! Yummy!”
They also say that the real danger is the the additive and synergistic effects. Basically, they mean how much of this stuff is compounded in our systems because of the cumulative effect of eating several foods drenched in nasty pesticides. And, the claim is that lots of the disorders and diseases(like Autism and Parkinson’s Disease) we’ve seen spike in the past several years can be attributed to the chemicals we’ve taken into our bodies…and passed onto our kids.
I’ve increasingly been buying organic when possible, but it’s tough when you can cut your grocery bill pretty much in half if you buy the chemically-laden stuff. There’s definitely an incentive to ingest harmful chemicals. (If you want a list of the foods you should always buy organic vs. those you can get away with buying non-organic, click here).
Well, we can all go lobby Congress in our spare time or we can make informed decisions. I think there are trade-offs and resources like whatsonmyfood.org can help us make the decisions that our right for our families and our pocketbook.
…And with that…I think I’m back to my bloggin’ self.
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July 21st, 2009 at 10:31 pm
I'm glad you're back. I have given zero thought to this. Thanks for the links
July 21st, 2009 at 10:32 pm
Also, do you want to do a guest post for The Mom Blog at The OC Register for this weekend? Email me suzbroughton@yahoo.com and let's talk about it.
July 22nd, 2009 at 7:14 am
Wow, that's crazy stuff! Good to know! I'm thinking about having the fresh from the farm delivered. More so now. Thx!
July 22nd, 2009 at 8:04 pm
It IS really scary. You have to kind of wonder about the increase in certain diseases and allergies and whether that's linked to what's on our food. We've been hitting Laguna Beach Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings for fresh-from-the-farm organic produce. The kids love going and they even think the food tastes better.
July 26th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
I have definitely been buying more organic lately. Now it just makes me want to through everything out. LOL
July 27th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Wow, this is an eye opener. I usually don't buy organic cuz I try to be cheap-cheap-cheap, but now I think I should. Yikes. Thanks for the info.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
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August 7th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Hey, there!
I've been on vacation, but I got to tell you reading this…this subject has been on my mind. With being laid off and having to cut costs, I see the importance for Organic Food…but they make it so darn expensive…seriously, someone like me is in conflict. Do I buy organic, much healtier and make kids go hungry and skip regular snack every 2 hours….or do I go ahead and buy the stuff I can afford and be able to feed them a piece of fruit at 10:00, lunch at noon, another "healthy" snack before dinner etc. My kids are hungry all the time. I simply cannot afford the organic and it's not fair my kid's health suffers. I'm really frustrated over the costs of food right now.
P.S. congratualations on your nomination, I voted for you! by the way, I was nominated on KIDS AND FAMILY…vote for me!
September 1st, 2009 at 6:21 am
Great links. Not only are pestisides obviously bad, but I just read (and confirmed on snopes) that baby carrots are cut and covered in chlorine! (yes, the stuff we put in pools!) You can see the chlorine rise to the outer layer of the carrot after being in the fridge for several days. it’s what makes the carrots turn white-ish. Gross!
September 1st, 2009 at 8:50 am
Tracy – Ick. That is disgusting. I still buy those out of convenience even though I always have peel-on organic carrots in the house at all times. Real carrots taste better too. Okay, so I’ll scratch those of the grocery list…Thanks for the info!
August 27th, 2010 at 6:53 pm
One of the more impressive blogs Ive seen. Thanks so much for keeping the internet classy for a change.
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