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Pesticide residues could negate the health benefits of fruits and vegetables

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41–50 of 196 posts

Re: Pesticide residues could negate the health benefits of fruits and vegetables

#41
post #27
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely nothing about organic production implies less pesticide. Opposite is true actually.

I'm curious, can you link to any details of this?

Pesticide use in conventional system can use synthetic chemistries whereas organic can only use 'natural' formulations. Thus, it is extremely difficult to compare apples to apples and most studies are flawed. Because the 'natural' formulation aren't as effective (usually), this needs to higher nominal rates.

Again, it's very dicey comparison. I'm not advocating convention > organic, but feel the need to pushback on people that think organic > conventional

Re: Pesticide residues could negate the health benefits of fruits and vegetables

#43
post #19
post #3

Doesn't say that they controlled for organic fruit (ie low pesticide) being more likely to be chosen by people who are already heath conscious.

Absolutely nothing about organic production implies less pesticide. Opposite is true actually.

I'm not sure about opposite, but there's this (an undergrad discovered traces of DDE on organic carrots in 2005):

https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/food-for-thought/organic-do...

Re: Pesticide residues could negate the health benefits of fruits and vegetables

#44
post #23

This is part of the reason I really want to move out of the U.S. Other countries are much more strict with what they allow in their food. I understand that I can pay more for organic produce and meat, but for a supposedly first-world country, you'd think decent produce would be a given.

So you'd rather everyone pay more for food based on your personal preferences? Even though there's a lot of evidence that these foods are entirely safe...

He said he wanted to move somewhere else, I don't see where he's trying to force his preferences on others.

Re: Pesticide residues could negate the health benefits of fruits and vegetables

#45
post #17
post #4

Can anyone provide a hopeful development update as to what efforts if any are underway in the farming industry to genuinely move past herbicides and pesticides of this kind?

Organic farming exists. Consumers can move past herbicides and pesticides by paying more (sometimes much more) for their food, and cooking more from scratch. Of course this is easy for wealthy first-world dwellers. Less so for low income families in places with less diverse supply chains. Organic farming has lower yields (those pests otherwise killed off by the pesticides end up eating a lot of the produce) and is mo…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_farming#Nutrient_leach...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_farming#Food_quality_a...

Re: Pesticide residues could negate the health benefits of fruits and vegetables

#46
post #33
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The trend of "we fucked up big time and need to create additional waste to take negate our fuck ups" is really worrying. Installing ultra sonic cleaners, reverse osmosis machines, AC units, &c. in every single of our houses/flats won't be sustainable

It's the same school of thought that says that one should lower taxes and invest less in road fixing and schools. Instead, cars wear out faster/need more repairs and wealthier parent pay for tutors to make up the difference. 40+ years of externalizing costs has taken its toll.

IMO the issue is ideologies vs actuaries/statisticians ... It's shocking how both the "left"/"right" agree on many values, but also so disagree on how to achieve them.

Eg: Both sides care about children, productive economy, value of education

Re: Pesticide residues could negate the health benefits of fruits and vegetables

#47
post #22
post #2

ultrasonic washer are by far the best way to wash fruits & veges of these things, in Korea ultrasonic washer-sinks are picking up in popularity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-JZkiGigDw&t=261s research citation https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4688301/

The trend of "we fucked up big time and need to create additional waste to take negate our fuck ups" is really worrying. Installing ultra sonic cleaners, reverse osmosis machines, AC units, &c. in every single of our houses/flats won't be sustainable

What are people's problems with AC units?

An AC unit is more sustainable than a furnace burning fossil fuels and electric heaters. They are just as sustainable as heat pumps.

Re: Pesticide residues could negate the health benefits of fruits and vegetables

#48
post #29
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely nothing about organic production implies less pesticide. Opposite is true actually.

Except a lot of data, and stricter rules See: https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/cocktails-of-pestici... .

In fairness organic is defined very differently in different countries. Wild fish are not organic in UK but farmed fish can be. Taken literally all food is organic apart from a few mineral supplements like iron tablets.

Re: Pesticide residues could negate the health benefits of fruits and vegetables

#49
post #36
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except a lot of data, and stricter rules See: https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/cocktails-of-pestici... .

Your linked source is specific to Europe which tends to have much stronger regulations on pesticides. While the parent didn't state it explicitly I believe their statement was about the US since - yea, in America the organic label doesn't change the volume of pesticides you can use but rules out some of them. The best tactic you can follow in the US is to try and buy imported produce from countries with stricter pest…

Well this is about soil, it might also just be that organic pesticides break down better.

I don't know much about the US rules. But I also know here it's popular to say "well just because it's organic, doesn't mean it's without pesticides".

But in general the few times I've checked different researches on pesticide residue organic scores consistently better.

Re: Pesticide residues could negate the health benefits of fruits and vegetables

#50
I'm no fan of communism, but one thing I think communism did better is that allotment gardens and and small cottage gardens where much more attainable under communism for poor people. So even poor people could grow their own food. I live in Ontario where the price of real estate is bonkers. If you own land, you can't even build a shed without there being a main building. And you can't build anything under 800 sqft. The high property taxes and real estate prices make it basically unaffordable for most people.

I planted a few fruit trees in my backyard, but so far only squirrels benefit.

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