The Daily Texan: Some organic foods may be worth the extra money
Posted: March 4, 2013
Categories: Food in the News / News from Sustain Ontario / Nouvelles
Illustration by Stephanie Vanicek. Image from The Daily Texan.
A recent article in the Daily Texan argues that based on exposure to pesticides, organic foods might be worth the extra cost.
Every year, the Environmental Working Group releases its Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce. The project compiles two lists aimed at informing consumers which foods are most and least likely to contain pesticide residue. The “Dirty Dozen” list is comprised of foods with the most pesticide residue, while the “Clean 15” list is made up of the fifteen foods with the least residue.
In the Daily Texan’s report on the EWG list, Chelsea Cappelle, Vice President of the Texas Nutrition Organization, argues that buying organic can be especially important when buying foods placed on the “Dirty Dozen” list, such as grapes, strawberries, and potatoes.
Capelle also argues for the external benefits of purchasing organic foods. From the article:
“It helps support farmers, the environment and animals by reducing the level of chemicals and pesticides that are used,” Cappelle said. “And you won’t be consuming as many chemicals and additives that non-organic foods have.”
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the ingestion of pesticides can cause health problems like birth defects, nerve damage and cancer. These problems are dependent upon how toxic the pesticides being ingested are, and how many of them are consumed.
Read the full article here.