To Buy or Not to Buy Organic: That is the Question!

I was taking a walk around our neighborhood a few days ago when something caught my eye.  I thought, "I NEED a picture of that for my blog!"  So I walked back home after walking for an hour already (with my son in the stroller asking every 30 seconds, "Are we going home yet?"), got my camera and walked back to take the picture.  I am pretty sure the neighbor who saw me doing this thinks I'm a tad bit strange, but it was for a good cause!  :)  

So why was I so excited about getting this picture?  Well, I feel like it raises an important question that you need to ask yourself when deciding whether or not to buy organic produce:

If it's dangerous for humans and animals to just walk through areas that have been treated with pesticides, then isn't it dangerous for them to ingest produce that has been treated also?

I honestly never thought about it until I was pregnant with my son back in 2009.  I was walking to my car with my large belly in tow and was told to avoid the man a few feet away from me spraying his vegetable garden with pesticides.  I thought, "Well that's kind of rude to spray that so close to where people walk."  I was angry that someone else could be putting me and my child in danger with their poisons.  But then after thinking about it for a minute, I realized that I was voluntarily ingesting that poison every day - in my salad with a crisp bed of greens, sweet red peppers and juicy, ripe tomatoes...in my garlic mashed potatoes with a side of steamed broccoli...and especially in the crazy amount of watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, and strawberries that I craved while pregnant!  So, why did I think it wasn't okay to be near someone spraying pesticides, but that it was okay to eat the produce that had been sprayed with it?

I needed to find out about the safety of pesticides.  So of course, the math and science lover in me began to do some research and here are some things that I found:

1.  All pesticides must be registered/approved through the EPA and your state, which can have different regulations depending on where you live. 1  Seems a little comforting to know that someone is doing something to look out for us, right?

2.  To be registered, the EPA must confirm that the pesticide "can be used with a reasonable certainty of no harm to human health and without posing unreasonable risks to the environment." 1  Well, that sounds pretty good too, although I'd like to ask them what "reasonable certainty" and "unreasonable risks" actually mean.

3.  The EPA can grant "conditional registration" to allow a company to begin using the pesticide before it is completely tested. 2  Wait a second...the only reason I was kind of comforted by #1 and #2 is because the pesticides had to be approved to say they won't cause unreasonable harm to us.  But now testing can be done AFTER the poison is already in use?

That last one reeeeally bother me.  At first glace, it seemed like the EPA was trying to do what they could to protect us, but then they had to add loopholes like conditional registration.  How is that protecting us?  I looked into it a little bit more and what I found was shocking.  About 65% of more than 16,000 pesticides were first approved through this conditional registration. 4  That's more than 10,000 different pesticides being used without first having their safety completely tested!  So I looked for some specific instances where it bit the EPA in the rear for having this loophole for the use of pesticides.  Two popular ones are nanosilver and clothianidin.  Here are their stories:

Nanosilver

Because it is related to silver, which is considered "safe" by the EPA standards, nanosilver was conditionally approved for use as an antimicrobial agent. Turns out, nanosilver isn't "safe" like silver - it is very easily absorbed by the body because of its size (similar to the size of viruses). It is known to be used in things like food packaging, supplements, textiles, electronics, appliances, cosmetics, medical devices, and room sprays, and it doesn't have to be labeled as "nano" on the ingredients list. 3

What are some of the issues that nanosilver can cause? It can cause issues with reproduction and in vitro is known to effect brain development and sometimes cause death. 4 If inhaled, it can cause pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases 5 It can cause blood-brain barrier destruction and kill nerve cells. 6 In addition to that, the amount of nanosilver that would been needed to make it an effective antimicrobial agent is also toxic to the cells that make keratin (keratin gives strength to hair, skin, and nails) and collagen (collagen helps your skin stay elastic and is part of connective tissues in your body like muscles and tendons). 7 But yet, it was conditionally approved and had been used for decades before any significant research was done to test it's safety. 7

Clothianidin 

Right from the EPA's website, clothianidin was first approved in 2003 because it was safer to humans and wildlife than two other alternative pesticides that were in use at the time and were extremely toxic to bees.  They also state that clothianidin "generally poses less risk to agricultural workers and fish and wildlife" than the alternative pesticides.  (What do they mean by generally???)  Clothianidin is also toxic to bees, like most pesticides, and actually has on its label that it cannot be used when the plant is flowering or there are bees "in the area". 7  (That is their fix for the bee toxicity issue?  Who has the authority to say that the bees aren't "in the area" so it's okay to spray?)  So it's killing bees, the insects that keep our fruits and veggies from going extinct, and it's still toxic to agricultural workers and fish and wildlife...but it's still in use.  I suppose we should be comforted that clothianidin is safer than the alternatives???

And those are just two examples.  Moving on...

So even if I overlook the part about the EPA allowing use of pesticides based on a theory that they won't cause "unreasonable risks" to humans or the environment, I still must ask this:

What does "unreasonable risks" to humans or the environment mean to the EPA that these pesticides are being approved?

The EPA has a article on their website that flat out tells you that pesticides can cause "health problems, such as birth defects, nerve damage, cancer, and other effects that might occur over a long period of time." 3  The severity of the effects all depends on how much is consumed and for how long, of course, but the EPA sets a standard for this "safe" dose.  So what is "safe" or an "unreasonable risk" to the EPA?  A pesticide that causes birth defects that only effect 1% of the population?  One that causes cancer in only 5% of the population?  Once again, "side-effects" come into play.  The question is not whether or not you're being poisoned or affected by these pesticides, it is when will you end up seeing the effects through something like cancer?

So if the EPA isn't going to actually regulate and test pesticides properly before exposing us to them, then there are only two options to avoid feeding yourself and your family pesticides:  grow your own food without the use of pesticides or buy organic. 

 

I know that growing your own food is not always possible and that organic = expensive in most cases, but it's absolutely possible to clean up your grocery list without breaking the bank.  Here's how I did it without busting out my overalls and shovel...

I started out small, of course!  It was way too overwhelming and wasteful to start over by going through my cupboards and fridge and throwing everything out that wasn't organic.  I also couldn't see myself going to the grocery store the next day and only placing organic items in my cart.  (Where would I get the extra money?)  So I was picky at first.

1. I prioritized which fruits or vegetables I should buy organic, ones that were found to have the most pesticide residue.  The "Clean Fifteen" and "Dirty Dozen" lists from the Environmental Working Group were a great help!  So if I couldn't afford to buy all organic or it wasn't available, I felt comforted knowing that I was at least picking non-organic produce that was low in residuals.
2. I replaced a couple of my usual produce items with organic ones slowly over time while I worked on finding some more ways to save money.  (See next paragraph)
   
3. I shopped and planned meals by item availability.  I went to the store to see what organic items were available and based my menu off of that.

Love local farm stores for savings on spices!

How did I make up for the extra cost? 

1. I bought in bulk when items where on sale, especially ones that I could freeze or were good at room temperature for longer periods.  This included meats, breads, dried beans, pastas, etc.
2. I worked my weekly menu around the items that were on sale.
3. I started taking advantage of local farmers' markets for discounted items.  You may be surprised at how many are in your community offering amazing deals on produce, bulk items and more!
4. I gave up a few convenience items.  For example, I didn't buy that box of cookies that I had been eyeing up since I walked into the store.  Did I still eat junk food?  Uh, is the Pope Catholic??  But I made it from scratch at a fraction of the cost!  From-scratch or DIY savings for many things (even laundry detergent!) added up and allowed me to buy even more organic items every time I shopped!

After about 4 years of these small switches to organic, I still buy some non-organic items (avocados, bananas, and dried spices for instance).  Even though I haven't transitioned completely and it has taken a while, it hasn't been overwhelming and hasn't made my family broke!  I'm doing what I can and feel good about my progress.  So next time you go to the store, I encourage you to switch just one item on your grocery list for organic so that you too can start taking steps in the right direction to one day be released from your dependence on pesticide laden foods.

 

P.S.  If you're concerned about GMOs, "USDA organic" also means "non-GMO", according to their labeling requirements.  If you're not familiar with GMOs, I'm working on a post that covers them for another time!  :)