Poisonous Assault Pt 2: It’s in the food that we eat.

A few years ago, I was walking our furriest family member on a glorious day in our neighbourhood. I just felt blessed, a brilliant, bright, sunny day, and a lovely place to be. I rounded a corner to find a man in a white plastic suit, head to toe, mask and rubber boots, wielding a long metal wand. This was his protection from the chemicals he had been paid to spray over this garden.

What about poor, unsuspecting me, and our beloved animal?

What about other people who would wander past?

What about the neighbours, and importantly, what about the family who lived there?

Pesticides are ubiquitous. When you see/smell sprays it’s pretty obvious.

But consider the foods, clothing, furniture and consumer products that you consume without seeing or smelling the toxin.

It’s through knowledge that we are empowered.

Ask before you buy. Chances are someone has already asked before you – and if they haven’t, then someone should! By sending a clear message to our manufacturers and producers about what we want, they will listen – it is their livelihood too.

Organics in season are the same price as conventional fresh foods (we should all be sticking to the seasons – the philosophy of ancient wisdom Ayurveda), wild grown and direct shopping with farmers who are committed to chemical free practices are the way to go. The explosion in popularity of farmer’s markets is great for all (farmers love it, shoppers love it). Farmers are only too happy to share their story – how they grow and prepare their produce; – and you can feel satisfied that the produce you are selecting is coming from a reputable and reasonably local source.

There are many farmers using integrated pest management practices – without chemicals and pesticides, which is well worth exploring. Some years back there was an impressive response to products released to the market that scrubbed or sprayed our fruits and vegetables to remove any pesticide/wax. This is not effective. Pesticides are pervasive, and they are sprayed at various points in the growing process of conventional fruits and vegetables, including at seed stage, so the whole food is contaminated with chemicals. It’s killing some of us quicker than others – but all of us are exposed.

 

There has been significant research into the toxicity of pesticide exposure, and Dr. Stephanie Seneff’s work in this area is clearly illuminating the link between glyphosate and the explosion of both childhood and adult disease like autism, ADHD, allergies, Crohn’s, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and IBS to name a few.

EWG’s annual list of the ‘Dirty Dozen’ – the top 12 most pesticide laden conventional fruits and vegetables, is a great guide to avoiding the more chemically laden foods. Similarly, their ‘Clean Thirteen’ steers you towards the foods grown with less chemical intervention.