21st Century Farmwife: April 2016

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

My first time calling into a radio station...

My first for today - I called a radio station (K-LOVE). They did a news bit about the annual "dirty dozen" list that is published every year, listing the produce with the most pesticide residues.

This is a prime example of fear-based marketing. The list should preface in big bold letters: None of these foods (not even the #1) pose risk to your health.

Here's just one fact to help you sleep better at night: If a CHILD ate 1,500 strawberries in ONE day (strawberries were #1 on the list), they wouldn't have any impact from residue.

Another flaw: "the list will always have twelve items on it. If farmers increased their pesticide use by a million times overnight, or if they abandoned pesticides in droves, next year's list wouldn't reflect the change in your ACTUAL risk. It would still be a dozen items long."

And a third (because I just can't stop myself): Organic farmers use pesticides too - there's a whole list approved for them to use. The difference is that they're derived from natural sources, but still toxic, nonetheless (otherwise they wouldn't kill the pests). This list does NOT account for organic pesticide residue because the USDA does not test for them. So there's no way to know at this point whether organic produce has more or less pesticide residue.

The three facts above were derived from the following two links - I encourage you to read even more:

My 40-minute drive this morning was statistically much riskier to my well being than any produce could be.

While I didn't get on the air, I hope maybe the djs will think twice before continuing to give such false information a national platform. After all, the truth will set us free. In this case, free from guilt, worry and fear.