Pesticides- Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Pesticides are manufactured chemicals that serve the purpose of killing any pests or insects that may lower the crop yield of the foods we eat. They are not included in the labeling of any food on the market and so we are conveniently shielded from the amount we are ingesting and the knowledge of the health effects.

Things you should know

Dose doesn’t make the poison: There is a growing consensus in the scientific community that small doses of pesticides and other chemicals can cause lasting damage to human health, especially during fetal development and early childhood. Minimizing our consumption of pesticides is the best option for reducing the long-term health consequences. The majority of chemicals used in pesticides are known carcinogens, endocrine disrupters, and connected with organ failure.

Washing and Peeling: Pesticides have been manufactured to be weather resistant, and so do not come off with a simple rinse (they have been power washed before market arrival). Peeling helps, but valuable nutrients often go down the drain with the skin.

Canadian pesticide protection: Canada is the international laager in protecting its citizens from harmful pesticide exposure. There are over 60 chemicals that have been banned in the EU, US, and Australia for their serious health effects but not in Canada.

What to Do: The Environmental Working Group has put out a list of foods that are significantly pesticide heavy and a list of those that aren’t. By making organic choices based on this list you are capable of reducing your pesticide intake by 80%.

There is also a website titled the MRL database and you can look up any food product to find out the number of pesticides residues on your food. For example I found that an apple has 65 pesticide residues while there are only 11 on asparagus.

Pesticide MRL Database www.mrldatabase.com/?selectvetdrug=0

Free-Run, Free-Range, Organic… What is the difference?

Eggs are an interesting topic when it comes to the subject of sustainability. We are aware that the majority of chickens available in the market are from factory farms, but what about eggs?

It doesn’t seem as though supermarket eggs carry much of a different tale. In fact, Free-range-, Free-run, and Organic eggs are likely still produced through factory farms (80% of organic eggs are arriving from factory farms). So despite the good intentions behind purchasing free-range and free-run eggs, I don’t necessarily know if they carry the “ethical solution” we had hoped.

Free-Run Eggs: chickens are not in battery cages but are not allowed outside. Free-run eggs are more expensive because the chickens are being contained inside and allowed to run all over each other, causing an increase in disease and bacteria. As well, there are an increase in number of eggs lain on the ground. “Ground eggs” cannot go to market and so this is a profit loss that must be included in the products costs. This is also the reason why 97% of eggs are from chickens housed in battery cages.

Free-Range Eggs in comparison to Free-run means that the chickens have been let outdoors to experience sunlight for a restricted period of time every day. These eggs have been argued to carry a more nutritional content due to the increased variance in Free-range chickens diet. Free-range chickens are able to graze, eggs insects and worms, which produces a healthier yolk.

Free-range eggs are most defiantly a better option than Free-run but even they are produced via factory farming. 85 000 hens in a single building without cages and a tiny porch for outdoor access can and is considered a viable home for free-range and organic egg production. The best option when it comes to eggs is local.

What you can do: THINK about it. Corporations are picking up on the “green” marketing trend and manipulating it for profit. Next time you go grocery shopping and purchase eggs, take a look at where they are coming from, compare the prices and then think about what you are paying for. If the cost of carbon, ethical farming, and healthy eggs are something that you value I assure that the local producer of farm fresh eggs will thank you.

What I will do: My goal is to find the closest place that sells farm fresh eggs and see if I can incorporate that purchase into my regular grocery shopping. I am currently paying $2-3 on Free-range eggs, I know it wouldn’t be more expensive to buy local. If it is convenient then I will attempt to include others in this purchase so that my trip acts to provide farm fresh eggs to more then myself. 

She's Back!

Alright after a hard hit from a semester of five environmental studies classes I am back and ready to start sharing everything I have learned! My apologies for my absence but school took precedence.
This is a 15minute TED talk I watched the other day that I quite enjoyed and wanted to provide access to for anyone who would be interested. It is addressing the fact that for sustainable development to take hold in the future of human society we need to believe our happiness will not be compromised. However, the common misconception is that happiness derives from material things when in fact this is not the case.
Have a watch, its a very positive video hope you enjoy!


http://www.ted.com/talks/nic_marks_the_happy_planet_index.html