CLEAN VS. DIRTY

In every busy life, we must shop. The professional marketers are out there in droves finding ways to emphasize the good and obscure the bad.  Labels that are misleading, listing  sugars 3 or 4 different ways, etc.  Fresh fruits and vegetables are natural right?  Well, we know  that isn’t true and we are uncomfortable when some one reminds us that  we are eating poisons, pesticides, chemicals that give us beautiful fruit with unhealthy “additives.”  There is nothing natural about them.  Here is a list of the dirtiest things we buy:
Potatoes, apples, celery, strawberries,peaches, spinach, nectarines, grapes, sweet bell peppers, domestic blueberries, lettuce, kale, and collard greens.  I use every one of those items, most on a regular basis.   I buy organic spinach, celery, lettuce and carrots, whenever I can get them. But, the others are quite expensive or old and not very fresh sometimes. And, of course, you have to pay a premium price for them as well.
So, here is a list of the cleanest produce you can buy:
Onions, sweet corn, pineapples, avocados, asparagras, sweet peas, mangos, eggplant, cantaloupe, kiwi fruits, cabbage, watermelon, sweet potatoes, grapefruit and mushrooms.  I use every one of those items at times, as well.
What angers me is that I have to pay extra to have healthy food.  So, it makes me protest the Food and Drug administration for allowing the super, saturated, over whelming number of chemicals they allow us to ingest.
Just as an example of how unnecessary some of these pesticide are from a personal experience. My oldest daughter is sensitive to chemicals, bug bites, you name it.  Our families “new” house had a 1/4 acre lot with huge expanses of grass. Little biting insects made her miserable and we contacted a spray service. This was in 1971. The guy came out, sprayed, the biters were gone…but, he informed us, it was necessary to spray three times a year to keep the insects at bay. This would catch them in all of their cycles, breeding, egg laying and hatching, etc.  We declined and never had another problem for the 12 years we lived there.  But, I saw that truck with the spray rig doing the job three times a year down the street at other houses. After all, it was this guy’s job to sell chemicals, needed or not.
There are 98 organizations trying to protect organics that are  threatened by chemicals on the ground because our government sides with agricultural chemicals over human health most of the time.  Make it a point to support at least one of these organizations. The Bush administration allowed testing some of these chemicals on children.  We need get involved.  Here is the list:
98 organizations who signed on to the letter to the Senate:
Alaska Community Action on Toxics (AK)
AllergyKids (CO)
American Raw Milk Producers Pricing Association (WI)
Beyond Pesticides (DC)
Breast Cancer Action (CA)
California Food and Justice Coalition (CA)
Californians for GE-Free Agriculture (CA)
Californians for Pesticide Reform (CA)
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (CA)
Center for Environmental Health (CA)
Center for Food Safety (DC)
Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment (CA)
Central Florida Jobs with Justice Project (FL)
Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach (NE)
Community Farm Alliance (KY)
Concerned Citizens for Clean Air (OR)
Cornucopia Institute (WI)
Earth Justice (CA)
Equal Exchange (MA)
Fair Trade Coalition (MN)
Family Farm Defenders (WI)
Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance (TX)
Farm Worker Pesticide Project (WA)
Farmworker Association of Florida (FL)
Farmworker Justice (DC)
Farmworkers Self-Help (FL)
Food & Water Watch (DC)
Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy (CA)
Food for Maine’s Future (ME)
Florida Immigrant Coalition (FL)
Food Democracy Now! (IA)
Food Systems Integrity (MA)
Florida Organic Growers (FL)
Fresno Metro Ministry (CA)
Friends of the Earth (DC, CA)
Greenpeace US (DC, CA)
Grassroots International (MA)
Growing Power Inc. (WI)
Indigenous Environmental Network (MN) Indiana Toxics Action (IN) Innovative Farmers of Ohio (OH) Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy (MN)
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (IA)
Kids for Saving Earth (MN)
Kentucky Environmental Foundation (KY)
Land Stewardship Project (MN)
Lideres Campesinas (CA)
Maine Fair Trade Campaign (ME)
Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners (ME)
Maryland Pesticide Network (MD)
Mississippi Association of Cooperatives (MS)
Missouri Rural Crisis Center (MO)
Mvskoke Food Sovereignty Initiative (OK)
National Family Farm Coalition (DC)
National Farm Worker Ministry (MO)
National Latino Farmers & Ranchers Trade Association (DC)
New York Environmental Law & Justice (NY)
Northeast Organic Farming Association Interstate Council (CT)
Northern Plains Resource Council (MT)
Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance (ME)
Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (OR)
Oakland Institute (CA)
Ohio Conference on Fair Trade (OH)
Oklahoma Black Historical Research Project (OK)
Oregon Fair Trade Campaign (OR)
Oregon Toxics Alliance (OR)
Organic Consumers Association (MN)
Partners for the Land & Agricultural Needs of Traditional Peoples (WV)
Pesticide Action Network North America (CA)
Pesticide Free Zone (CA)
Pesticide Watch (CA)
Physicians for Social Responsibility/Los Angeles (CA)
Public Citizen (DC)
Rochesterians Against the Misuse of Pesticides (NY)
Rural Advancement Foundation International USA (NC)
Rural Coalition/ Coalición Rural
Safe Alternatives for our Forest Environment (CA)
Science and Environmental Health Network (IA)
Sciencecorps (MA)
Search for the Cause (CA)
Sierra Club (CA, DC)
Small Holders Alliance of Massachusetts (MA)
Student Action with Farmworkers (NC)
The Endocrine Disruption Exchange (CO)
The Safe Lawns Foundation (ME)
The Second Chance Foundation Washington (WA)
Washington Fair Trade Coalition (WA)
Western Organization of Resource Councils (MT)
World Hunger Year (NY)
My favorite is Earth Justice.
A good link to learn how various families of pesticides work can be found at this link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide