I get a kick watching educational shows with my grandkids. One favorite is "The Cat in the Hat," who is always up for an adventure. But not before the children ask their mother for permission.
"We can go! We can go!" say the kids after getting the OK from mom.
"I know! I know!" says the Cat. "Off to the ... thing-a-ma-jigger!"
My grandkiddos are happy and healthy and I want to keep them that way. So I was a bit taken aback by the recent "Dirty Dozen" list put out by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) that targets strawberries (they love!) and spinach as having "the highest loads of pesticide residues."
Also on this list are cherries and tomatoes _ favorites around our house. This group recommends we eat organically produced forms of these particular foods.
Yikes. I love my grandkids and I want them to be safe. I also want to encourage them to appreciate high-quality food. Should I be concerned that I freely choose conventionally grown as well as organic produce for them?
No, say food toxicologists. Research from the USDA Pesticide Data Program (interestingly the same data used by the Dirty Dozen group) determines actual risks from pesticide residues on food. And these scientists place a strong focus on foods consumed by infants and children. Their conclusion? "The detectible residues of pesticides on our food pose no concern for infants and children."
It has to do with what we can now detect. Modern technology makes it possible to find one residue in a billion parts, says PhD food toxicologist Tamika Sims. That's like one drop of water in an Olympic-size swimming pool or 3 seconds out of 100 years.
So the issue is the dose. And the detectible residues found in our food are minuscule ... or they are not allowed to enter our food supply. For example, says Sims, if in one day my grandkids could eat 1508 strawberries with the highest pesticide residue ever recorded by the USDA, they would still not reach a level that would have any negative impact on them.
It's important to remember too, say farmers who utilize both organic and conventional farming methods, that pesticides are used on both types of crops. And both are tightly regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration and the US Department of Agriculture.
For this reason, the Dirty Dozen report has largely been discredited by the scientific community _ the folks who actually conduct these analyses.
There is some common ground, however. The EWG confirms that "the health benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables outweigh the risks of pesticide exposure." And they "definitely recommend eating produce from the Dirty Dozen list rather than foods or snacks that are not as healthful."
So we can agree on this: My grandkids and I benefit from eating fruits and vegetables, organically or conventionally grown.
"We can go, we can go!"
I know! I know!
