When a new study came out a few days ago linking ADHD to pesticide exposure from eating fruits and vegetables, my first thought was, “well, duh”.
This study did hit a little closer to home because my autistic son was also diagnosed as having ADHD- and if you ever come hang out at home with him for more than 5 minutes you will see why I am so gosh darn tired all the time!
My boy puts just about everything in his mouth, including dandelions and grass. Which is why we don’t use chemical fertilizer on our lawn or weed killer-which is also probably why my lawn is not too great looking and hosts a million dandelions (we are currently testing various organic products and one day I may have some to recommend).
I digress.
There has been a lot of negative press lately in regards to organic food being a gimmick. Okay, so does it really matter if your Cheetos are organic? I mean, they are still Cheetos! (Although, I have to admit, we do buy the All Natural Cheetos-for twice as much money- when we get those cheesy cravings because frankly, they taste better and get a slightly better rating in the “appearance of evil” in my shopping cart).
But spraying chemicals on your fruits and vegetables? That to me just seems like a no brainer. If I have the choice between feeding my kids an organic apple and one sprayed with chemicals, I am going to buy organic. And if I don’t have a choice, I am going to peel it or at the very least, wash it.
I know why food producers have felt the need to use chemicals-I get it. But my husband is better at it explaining it, ” These chemicals have allowed the agricultural producers in this country to produce an abundance of cheap food which has been a tremendous boon to the poor in third world backward countries. But let us not forget that the reason they are poor in these backward countries is because their governments are oppressive and they don’t have free markets. Yea for the free market in our country! We have the resources, knowledge and time to grow food without chemicals and if that is important to you then you will pay a little extra for them. So in the spirit of the genius Frederick Bastiats’ essay, That Which is Seen and That Which is Not Seen, bigger and cheaper crops are what have been seen. What has not been seen, in my humble opinion, is that we have been poisoning ourselves. ” Thanks honey. I, obviously, could not have said it better.
In our tiny little town it is not always possible to buy organic produce. So I sometimes drive to the big city to buy organic. But what would be even better, is if I could just grow it myself.
That was a segue.
A head’s up-at this very moment I have a garage full of organic compost, soil activator, and peat moss. And if the weather and my husband ever cooperate, we will actually make an attempt at growing an organic garden this year. And yes, it will all be documented here for your reading pleasure/amusement.
3 Comments
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Jessica Barker
I don’t buy organic and I don’t really have any intention of doing so in the future. But I clean my fruits and vegetables, of course. This doesn’t worry me in the least. Maybe I am being an ostrich, but these are the kinds of things I don’t have time to worry about and don’t have the money to pay for.
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Tessie
How do you keep the worms out?? Finding them while eating an apple is highly traumatic and the apples didn’t taste as good as the “pesty” (hehe, punny) apples in my opinion. I think it makes sense to think about but doesn’t washing solve that problem and keep the buggies out?
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Rachel
I’m anxious to hear about your new garden.
