alfreda89: (Winter_Mette's Glogg)
Environmental Working Group has released their 2012 Dirty Dozen of most contaminated fruits and vegetables, and their Clean Fifteen list of foods with the least amount of pesticide contamination. Note that this is pesticide, not herbicide. We need other lists for herbicides, alas. This link goes to the summary and charts.

There is now a "Plus" group for foods that are not in the dirty dozen but have special concerns:

This year we have expanded the Dirty Dozen with a Plus category to highlight two crops -- green beans and leafy greens, meaning, kale and collard greens - that did not meet traditional Dirty Dozen criteria but were commonly contaminated with highly toxic organophosphate insecticides. These insecticides are toxic to the nervous system and have been largely removed from agriculture over the past decade. But they are not banned and still show up on some food crops.


Which is why I always, always buy organic! I DON'T BUY if there is no organic available. I was getting a sticky ring from cooking kale that had to be scrubbed off pots by hand with a Brillo pad or my trusty cherry pit scour stuff. Now I know what it was, and pray I'm not damaged by it.

Think organic -- and vote for it.
alfreda89: 3 foot concrete Medieval style gargoyle with author's hand resting on its head. (Warning Sign on a CA entrance to a parki)
No one can say for sure that neonicotinoids alone are causing bees to die off--many more studies have to be done. But the EPA would do well to err on the side of caution for the beekeepers who are rapidly losing their bees. Tom Theobald, for example, saw his smallest honey crop in 35 years of beekeeping, and Hackenberg claims that he has talked to beekeepers across the country who have lost up to 90% of their output this year.

Is it really worth waiting to find out what happens if the EPA doesn't take neonicotinoids off the market? There isn't time to waste. Clothiandin has a half-life of 19 years in heavy soils favored by farmers.


http://www.fastcompany.com/1709815/why-has-the-epa-allowed-a-bee-killing-pesticide-to-stay-on-the-market

http://www.fastcompany.com/1709448/interview-with-a-bee-leaker-beekeeper-tom-theobald-discusses-the-epas-bee-toxic-pesticide-co

http://www.fastcompany.com/1708896/wiki-bee-leaks-epa-document-reveals-agency-knowingly-allowed-use-of-bee-toxic-pesticide

A fast and dirty history about neonicotinoids:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neonicotinoid

Personally, I am very careful about nicotine. It's a dangerous poison, used straight up, and right now my system doesn't like eating nightshade family. Tobacco smoke triggers migraines in me. So -- sympathy with bees, and also concern. Bees pollinate over 1/3 of our fruits and veggies. Without independent beekeepers, we'd be up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

And -- Clothiandin has a half-life of 19 years in heavy soils favored by farmers.

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