Excellent post. I have ME or CFS after an accident 12 years ago when I had to take ill health early retirement. Aches and pains caused by additives and refined flour [to my surprise]. So I started researching organic v. conventional food. Organic won hands down as its how my grand parents farm for vegetables, fruit and did local deliveries between 1900 and 1947 - no chemicals. Chemical farming = conventional farming. Organic farming = biological farming. Have alook at the book we review by our friend 90 years young Dr Walter Yellowlees. http://www.organicassistant.com/literature.php
Sat Feb 02, 10:43:00 AM 2008
Another reason to support a farmer's market: a new study of 19 kids from Mercer Island Elementary schools shows significant levels of pesticide residues in kids who eat conventionally-grown versus organic food. The study, conducted over a one-year period in 2003-2004 showed that the pesticide residue disappears from these kids within a day or two of switching to organic food. Here's the abstract (study by Chensheng Lu, Dana B. Barr, Melanie A. Pearson, and Lance A. Waller) RESULTS: By substituting organic fresh fruits and vegetables for corresponding conventional food items, the median urinary metabolite concentrations were reduced to non-detected or close to non-detected levels for malathion and chlorpyrifos at the end of 5-day organic diet intervention period in both summer and fall seasons. We also observed a seasonal effect on the OP urinary metabolite concentrations, and this seasonality is correspondent to the consumption of fresh produce throughout the year. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study demonstrate that dietary intake of OP pesticides represents the major source of exposure in young children. One interesting finding: pesticide levels are higher in the winter, even though the kids were eating the same amount of fruits and vegetables. One possible explanation is that they're eating non-local food. It's hard to get organic fruits/vegetables out of season, so kids switch to non-local (conventional) stuff. I think one lesson is that parents should try to get their kids to eat seasonally-grown food, rather than the same ole grapes/carrots/apples all year round. I wish our public schools would serve organic too. [read more in the Seattle PI]
posted by Richard Sprague at 7:05 AM on Feb 2, 2008
"Organic vs. Conventional food on Mercer Island"
1 Comment -
Excellent post. I have ME or CFS after an accident 12 years ago when I had to take ill health early retirement. Aches and pains caused by additives and refined flour [to my surprise]. So I started researching organic v. conventional food. Organic won hands down as its how my grand parents farm for vegetables, fruit and did local deliveries between 1900 and 1947 - no chemicals.
Chemical farming = conventional farming.
Organic farming = biological farming.
Have alook at the book we review by our friend 90 years young Dr Walter Yellowlees.
http://www.organicassistant.com/literature.php
Sat Feb 02, 10:43:00 AM 2008