How to minimise exposure to systemic pesticides while eating non-organic fruits and vegetables?

How to minimise exposure to systemic pesticides while eating non-organic fruits and vegetables? - Vegetable and Crops Beside Spilled Basket

For those who cannot afford organic produce, what foods would you suggest limiting the consumption of in order to minimise the amount of systemic pesticides being consumed?

I ask this specifically about systemic pesticides, as non-systemic pesticides can be avoided by washing the exteriors of fruits and vegetables.



Best Answer

You reduce your chances of consuming pesticides by looking at the country of origin. For example, EU countries frequently have tighter standards than Asian countries, and even within the EU, there are differences in which pesticides are allowed, and at which levels. You would have to find out whose regulation you trust most, and then follow the relevant magazines about potential contamination/limit excess reveals.

This is usually in direct contradiction to your desire to spend less on produce, since the norms tend to be better in countries with higher labor costs, conformity is better in countries with low corruption, which also have a correlation with labor costs, and in general, it is impossible to keep low produce production costs without generous amounts of strong pesticides, because the farmer then has to absorb the losses from ruined crops. So if you can only afford the cheapest tier of produce, such as Spanish strawberries, there may be nothing you can do but eat it with whatever pesticides it contains.

What can also help is eating seasonal produce. Out-of-season produce is frequently delivered by mass producing, purely profit-oriented corporations who trim their production to efficiency. Smaller, traditional, more idealistic farmers tend to grow in-season, and even if they don't get an organic certification, some of them would reduce their pesticide use based on personal beliefs what farming is about. So on average, you will have a somewhat lower pesticide exposure, even though the actual levels will vary wildly per batch.




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Quick Answer about "How to minimise exposure to systemic pesticides while eating non-organic fruits and vegetables?"

  • Buy organic and locally grown fruit and vegetables. ...
  • Wash fruits and vegetables before eating. ...
  • Know which fruits and vegetables have higher levels of pesticide residue. ...
  • Grow your own produce. ...
  • Use non-toxic methods for controlling insects in the home and garden.


  • How can we reduce pesticides in fruits and vegetables?

    You may reduce the amount of pesticides you consume by:
  • WASHING: Wash and scrub all fresh fruits and vegetables thoroughly under running water. ...
  • PEELING and TRIMMING: Peel fruits and vegetables when possible to reduce dirt, bacteria, and pesticides.


  • How can we reduce the intake of pesticides through the food we consume?

    Eat organic food. Choose fishes or meat products wisely. Developing vegetarian feeding habits (i.e. feed upon plants as plants belong to lower trophic level so, they have less accumulation of insecticides, whereas organisms of higher trophic level have higher , concentration of insecticides and pesticides).

    How can we prevent pesticide exposure?

    Follow these recommendations to reduce pesticide exposure and risks to health and the environment:
  • Prevent pests from entering your home or garden.
  • Consider non-chemical methods for controlling pests.
  • Select the product that best fits your needs.
  • Follow label directions exactly when mixing and applying pesticides.




  • THE BEST WAY TO REMOVE PESTICIDES FROM YOUR FRUITS AND VEGETABLES - Dr Mandell, DC




    More answers regarding how to minimise exposure to systemic pesticides while eating non-organic fruits and vegetables?

    Answer 2

    Devils advocate comment: Certified Organic foods give zero guarantee of being pesticide or herbicide free. Organic certification limits which chemicals can be used, not if any can be, and commercially produced produce marketed as organic will use those materials systematically just as non-organically grown will use theirs. The basic rule is that for organic, the pesticide, herbicide, fungicide or fertilizer has to be from an grown or mined source, not a refined source and some of the approved sources are not that nice or harmless.

    To directly answer your question, well, it really is hard to say. I have never seen a reason to use a chemical on things like squash or pumpkins, and yet I know commercially they do. I for years though citrus was relatively chemical free, but was told recently this is not true, than many have insect issues and use systemic pesticides. I personally would recommend trying for local grown farmers markets or small farmers and freezing/canning but that is also not cheap and still might be iffy unless you get to know and trust the growers because if a small grower does use the chemicals, they may actually not stay down to recommended levels.

    However, this list comes from a Dr. Mercola. I make no claims to his accuracy, but he quotes an "Environmental Working Group" using USDA data to claim the most contaminated 12 are Strawberries, Apples, Nectarines, Peaches, Celery, Grapes, Cherries, Spinach, Tomatoes, Sweet bell peppers, Cherry tomatoes, Cucumbers in that order. The 15 "cleanest" were Avocados, Sweet corn, Pineapples, Cabbage, Sweet peas (frozen), Onions, Asparagus, Mangos, Papayas, Kiwifruit, Eggplant, Honeydew melon, Grapefruit, Cantaloupe, Cauliflower. You can see more here but that was also a limited study with their own criteria.

    Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

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