LIVE LONGER! EAT LESS PESTICIDE!
September 29, 2006 3:05 PM   Subscribe

Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce. Minimize your chemical exposure in the produce aisle. PDFs : download a pocket version for your purse or wallet; en Español tambien.
posted by crunchland (10 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Or "maximize your chemical exposure in the produce aisle" for those of us with diets weak in Vitamin Temik.
posted by Mayor Curley at 3:37 PM on September 29, 2006


Interesting link, though I'm surprised to read here (and in a couple other places recently) that the specific, conclusive evidence for the harmfulness of pesticides is so scant.

I'm also a little confused as to how they derived the scores here. The difference between peaches and onions is obvious. In other cases, not so much. For example, pesticides were present in 81.5% of Sweet Bell Peppers at a concentration of 0.138 ppm, which results in a score of 86. Pesticides were present in 81.0% of Potatoes at a concentration of 1.655 ppm, yet the danger score is only 58. The difference in scores seems to derive from the fact that a greater number of different pesticides were found on peppers, but surely amount and potency are potentially more important variables than variety. It seems that some of the most critical information - which specific pesticides are involved and how harmful they actually are - is not explicitly presented here. We can only hope/assume it has been accounted for in determining the rankings.

Finally, some Mefites might also be interested in a more general Guide to Less Toxic Products.
posted by Urban Hermit at 3:49 PM on September 29, 2006


What we need is a shopper's guide to avoiding Crystal Gripping Hippie bullshit products that, while lite on the pesticides, are chock full of E-Coli.

There was another story in the paper this morning about dumb fucking hippy parents giving their children unpasturized milk from some organic dairy and nearly killing them.
posted by Riemann at 4:22 PM on September 29, 2006


Just in case anyone is curious (and this has happened before around here): http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/287005_milk29.html
posted by Riemann at 4:25 PM on September 29, 2006


What about the dumb fucking square* parents giving their children pasturized milk from some factory dairy and
almost killing them
with antibiotic-resistant salmonella? (I links to just one case of many.)

* What's the opposite of hippy?
posted by ewagoner at 4:57 PM on September 29, 2006


What we need is a shopper's guide to avoiding Crystal Gripping Hippie bullshit products that, while lite on the pesticides, are chock full of E-Coli.

Like Jack-in-the-Box burgers?

And what about parents who take their kids to swimming pools or school?

1000 people in New York got e.coli from drinking water.Most cases of e.coli in the U.S. have very little to do with "Crystal Gripping Hippie bullshit". The milk I drink is pasteurized and pesticide free, so your comment doesn't even make any sense. You'd be more effective railing against parents that don't teach their children proper hygiene if you're trying to prevent e. coli outbreaks.
posted by oneirodynia at 5:05 PM on September 29, 2006


I found that site a few months ago and made myself a little card to carry around in my wallet. I am, admittedly, paranoid on this topic, but at least avoiding the top ten most-pesticided fruits/veggies makes me feel better.
posted by Sprout the Vulgarian at 8:21 PM on September 29, 2006


What about the dumb fucking square parents giving their children pasturized milk from some factory dairy and
almost killing them with antibiotic-resistant salmonella?


The difference is that in the first case the parents were negligent; in the second case the owners of the bottling plant were negligent.

"Organic" != safe.

Anywise, beware of lobbyists.
posted by teppic at 9:09 PM on September 29, 2006


No offense, ya'll, good links and all but I'm freaking depressed.
posted by DenOfSizer at 12:28 PM on September 30, 2006


"Organic" != safe.

seriously. but still, if you can, just buy all organic from local producers. you'll have a much better time. the big catch, there, of course, is most (supposedly) can't afford it, but really, it's a decent way to spend your money.
posted by mrgrimm at 1:46 PM on September 30, 2006


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