Agriculture and Pesticides

Organic

Not very organic

Introduction

The Environmental Working Group has put together a great interactive shopping guide.   Plug in the products you buy and determine your pesticide loading.   Go to the produce scanner and prepare yourself a fruit salad, garden salad, or take a walk through the produce aisle.  

Determine the safety of your cosmetics.

Care to see what the body burden of pollutants is?  

Here is a more formal survey of synthetic chemicals found in people’s bodies. It is known as the Third National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals.   The research was done by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the preeminent laboratory of epidemiology in the United States.

1. What does the report say about the connection between body burden of a chemical and likelihood of disease?
2. You’ll notice that the insecticides known as pyrethroids are the most widespread pesticides found in human tissue.   What is their source?

Crop Life America put out a letter in response to the Third National Report of the CDC.

1. What is the gist of their response?
2. How would you respond if you were representing Crop Life America?

What you can do.

Join the Erie Whole Foods Cooperative.

Buy local breads, cookies, and vegetables at the Meadville Market house.

Practice your cooking with local and organic foods.

            Seeds of Change recipes.

Check out the Organic Consumers Association.

Additional cool websites.

This is obviously a vegetarian’s website, but that doesn’t make the facts, or the photos (don’t worry, they’re on a separate page, not in your face), on Factory Farming.com any less valid.

Prepared by Eric Pallant and Terry Bensel 9/05.