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More Than 90% of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

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Re: More Than 90% of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

#51
post #14

The article doesn't mention meat and dairy as a source of surprisingly high levels pesticides and their byproducts. [1] https://medium.com/center-for-biological-diversity/does-meat...

What does that matter? If we get it from directly from plants we eat or indirectly through meat, you are still getting pesticides.

Wouldn't it be interesting if we didn't get the same level of pesticides through meat & dairy? I think it's worthwhile information to point out.

Re: More Than 90% of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

#52
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Organic produce uses tons of pesticides some of which are really nasty (but hey it's "natural" copper sulfate), so that's not a solution to anything.

i thought organic by definition meant that it didn't use pesticides.

It depends on the definition of "organic". No sarcasm. There are many. And there is definitely a certain amount of deliberate equivocation whereby the product is labeled as "organic" according to one of the "weaker" standards and they expect you to read the word "organic" as one of the stronger ones, like "no pesticides at all".

Re: More Than 90% of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

#53

Is it possible to grow enough food in your backyard to live off of (plus chickens as a yard waste disposal) if you also work full time? I can't even eat at a restaurant without knowing if they use organic produce.

My wife and I are almost to the point where all of our veggies are from our backyard. Fruit is a WIP as we have a few trees and bushes, but they take a few years to start producing.

We both work full time and spend the weekends out in the yard harvesting/planning. With irrigation to water and a little planning, it becomes a passive hobby.

I will say, I think you'll still need to buy stuff, like beans, broths, spices, etc. You can't have it all in your backyard, but you can have the primaries.

Re: More Than 90% of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

#54
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Organic produce uses tons of pesticides some of which are really nasty (but hey it's "natural" copper sulfate), so that's not a solution to anything.

i thought organic by definition meant that it didn't use pesticides.

[deleted]

Re: More Than 90% of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

#55
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Organic produce uses tons of pesticides some of which are really nasty (but hey it's "natural" copper sulfate), so that's not a solution to anything.

i thought organic by definition meant that it didn't use pesticides.

The term "organic" only means something in Europe, because EU has much stricter rules regarding food quality and safety. In US it basically is just a marketing term meaning "overpriced food for hipsters".

Re: More Than 90% of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

#56
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Organic produce uses tons of pesticides some of which are really nasty (but hey it's "natural" copper sulfate), so that's not a solution to anything.

i thought organic by definition meant that it didn't use pesticides.

[deleted]

Re: More Than 90% of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

#57
post #14

The article doesn't mention meat and dairy as a source of surprisingly high levels pesticides and their byproducts. [1] https://medium.com/center-for-biological-diversity/does-meat...

What does that matter? If we get it from directly from plants we eat or indirectly through meat, you are still getting pesticides.

What if we go to regulate pesticides, and through lobbying and special interest groups, animal feed gets less regulation. It'd be good to know that the pesticides can affect people even if their grains and vegetables don't get sprayed.

Re: More Than 90% of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

#58
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find this comment kind of funny because the incredible byproduct of modern agriculture (including pesticides) is that the vast majority of the human race can now do something besides toiling away at food production.

Has it been proven beyond doubt that we wouldn't be able to produce enough food without the use of pesticides?

We may be able to support our current population without pesticides (I don't know, I'm not really that immersed in the economics of it), but not without backsliding on the advances we've made against global poverty.

Re: More Than 90% of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

#59
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of what I've seen has shown that it is indeed better, although not perfect. E.g. glyphosate is detectable in organic wine, but at much lower levels (5x?) compared to regular wine.

I wonder if wine from the EU is better at having less pesticides?

Lots of small wine producers across Europe differentiate by producing grapes using organic farming. If you are competing on quality, using a lot of pesticides might not be the best idea here.

Competition is pretty strong and super markets tend to have a decent selection on their shelves where I live. Prices are not noticably higher. You can buy some OK organic wines for around 5 euros here in Germany. IMHO having a lot of pesticides in the food chain is probably not a great idea. Even if it is probably fine, why take the chance? Finding out we're wrong might take decades.

Re: More Than 90% of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

#60
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of what I've seen has shown that it is indeed better, although not perfect. E.g. glyphosate is detectable in organic wine, but at much lower levels (5x?) compared to regular wine.

I wonder if wine from the EU is better at having less pesticides?

The EU has a far shorter list of approved pesticides than the US. Whether that translates to "less pesticides" is unclear but hopefully it at least translates to "less harm."
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