Pesticide protection – 7 easy steps
- Eat fruits and vegetables on the dirty dozen list organic.
- Buy locally grown produce whenever possible. Since it isn’t shipped long distances, local produce is less likely to have been treated with post-harvest pesticides. Your local farmers’ market is a great source of locally grown food.
- Avoid imported produce. Out-of-season produce is more likely to have been imported, possibly from a country with less stringent pesticide regulations than we have in Canada.
- Wash all produce well. Use a vegetable scrub brush when appropriate. Adding a few drops of a mild dishwashing soap to the water can help remove surface pesticides on conventionally grown produce. Be sure to rinse thoroughly.
- Peel non-organic fruits and vegetables that are obviously waxed, to remove any surface pesticides that may be sealed in with the waxes. Remember the skin of fruit absorbs pesticides, so even though you are removing them from the surface, it is difficult to remove what has been absorbed unless you buy organic.
- Grow some of your own food if you can – without chemicals. Avoid using pesticides in your garden or on your lawn. With the cost of food going up, planting a garden is a great way to ensure you are eating healthy at a low cost.
- Speak out for a safer food production system. Ask your supermarket manager to stock sustainably grown food. Write your MP to urge him/her to pass better pesticide control laws and make sustainable farming our nation’s top agricultural priority. While you are at it, ask your MP for labeling laws on genetically modified foods as well.
