My meal last night was tacos. The two ingredients I
looked up on the 'What’s on my food' website was beef and avocado. Avocado had just
one pesticide residue found and beef had six pesticide residues. It is scary to
think of our constant exposure to pesticides that are known to be carcinogens,
hormone disruptors, neurotoxins, and contain developmental or reproductive
toxins as well as environmentally disrupting and honeybees with toxins. Going
through all of the other fruits and vegetables on the list was shocking,
especially the many pesticides in baby food. This is why it is important to buy
organic produce and meats and be aware and educated about which foods to avoid
that likely have more pesticides.. In terms of public health we need to be
proactive in addressing the health outcomes of exposure to pesticides and
recognize the need for stricter regulations and improved guidelines. There also
needs to be increased research as to how we can reduce and eventually eliminate
the use of pesticides with a safer alternative that industrial agriculture
sites can use.
Hi Marisa,
ReplyDeleteIt is not very surprising that beef would have so many pesticides because there are so many things given to animals such as corn feed and antibiotics - but it is scary that we eat these pesticides in our food. I think your suggestion to eat organically is reasonable given that there are less toxic pesticides in the foods. I am moving towards buying more organic meat even with the price difference being a bit more - but investing in my health now will result in less exposure and potentially longer lifetime.
Hi Marisa,
ReplyDeleteI LOVE TACOS. Seeing your findings is shocking, but I can also see that beef would have pesticides (since cows are usually in agricultural communities). I see that Avocados have 1 pesticide, I wonder if it is because you peal the skin off of it, further reducing your exposure to the pesticides. Thank you for sharing!
Kera