Pesticides Are Not Our Friends
We’ve recently gone gluten-free in our house leading to a very great improvement in our health. I’ve read anecdotal reports that gluten-allergy is becoming increasingly common, and being the conspiracy-minded individual I am, I started thinking about all of the factors that could lead to increased wheat-sensitivity in the general public. Which, of course, made me wonder what kinds of pesticides are used on crops, not to mention anti-fungal and pesticide treatments for grain held in storage or during transport. And I found out LOTS of nasty chemicals are used to keep grain bug-free, mold-free, and ready for processing into the myriad wheat products we consume. Click here for the Top 50 Pesticides Used on Wheat in California in 2007. What a yummy list.
In fact, after my brief foray into unpronounceable pesticide studies, I have concluded that if you’re not eating organic, it’s no freakin wonder you’re suffering from all kinds of unpleasant effects including cancer, early puberty(not just overseas, but here in the US, too), reactive airways syndrome, asthma, migraines, and chronic sinus problems. One article I found in PubMed (which I cannot read in full since they charge about $600 per article) from the Laboratory of Toxicology, Department of Pharmacological Sciences, University of Milan, stated:
Epidemiological evidence from Western countries indicates that the prevalence of diseases associated with alterations in the immune response, such as asthma, certain autoimmune diseases and cancer, are increasing to such an extent that it cannot be attributed to improved diagnostics alone. There is some concern that this trend could be, at least, partially attributable to new or modified patterns of exposures to chemicals, including pesticides.
In other words, industrialized food production and its accompanying increase in widespread pesticide and chemical use is probably causing all kinds of human maladies that we are not yet aware of. Celiac disease, aka gluten-allergy, is one such autoimmune response that may be caused or exacerbated by these chemicals.
What to do? Buy organic when you can, and make yourself aware of what you’re exposed to when you can’t. Cook your own food, not from a box. Read the ingredient labels. Are there additives in there that you can’t pronounce? Whip out that Blackberry or iPhone and look it up before you eat it. To get educated in general, here are four cool resources:
- First, a book called In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, which you’ve probably heard of. (Also worth reading, the Omnivore’s Dilemma.) Not so much about pesticides per se, and more about the contortion of original food into industrialized, marketable, processed uh, crap. That we eat.
- Second, a new website called What’s On My Food? gives consumers some idea of commonly found pesticide residues found on non-organic produce. This site is published by the very good-looking and awesome Pesticide Action Network, which I don’t know much about, but will soon.
- Third, another website called the Ethicurian educates on industrial food politics and practices, encouraging consumers to “chew the right thing.”
- And yet a fourth website, Hungry for Change, comes from the film Food Inc. and also seeks to educate the public about food production issues.
It’s taken an investment in time and energy to figure out what’s good food, and to really know what we’re eating. So completely worth it. Health is too important to let marketing decide for you.
Possibly Related Posts:
- Food Additives and Hyperactivity
- The Invisible Hand Just Slapped Us All. Are We Awake Yet?
- Scott McClellan Can’t Hold a Candle to Some of My Bosses
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