Call It Whatever You Want

I have been on this earth for almost 34 years now.

And I have never, ever, ever seen crop dusting before.

Some jazz up the name and call it "aerial application."

Whatever it is ...

GOOD LORD.

I call it "how would you like a bunch of chemicals all over your food?"

While driving through Eastern Washington yesterday, my eyes nearly fell out of my head when I saw images just like this ...



That's right people.

Those are the fields of fruit and vegetables that we eat all year.

Being sprayed by chemicals.

That we put in our bodies.

Now I know all about the organic food craze.

I've read the books, seen the movies, done the research.

But something about seeing it first hand that really rocks your world.

I'm rocked.

I can't turn back.

Can't pretend it's not there.

Can't pretend I didn't see it.

To make wiser consumer choices here is a list of produce with the highest level of pesticide contamination from gourmetfood.com

Top 12 fruits and vegetables that we should be buying organically:
1. Nectarines – 97.3% of nectarines sampled were found to contain pesticides.
2. Celery – 94.5% of celery sampled were found to contain pesticides.
3. Pears – 94.4% of pears sampled were found to contain pesticides.
4. Peaches – 93.7% of peaches sampled were found to contain pesticides.
5. Apples – 91% of apples sampled were found to contain pesticides.
6. Cherries – 91% of cherries sampled were found to contain pesticides.
7. Strawberries – 90% of strawberries sampled were found to contain pesticides.
8. Imported Grapes – 86% of imported grapes (i.e. Chile) sampled were found to contain pesticides.
9. Spinach – 83.4% of spinach sampled were found to contain pesticides.
10. Potatoes – 79.3% of potatoes sampled were found to contain pesticides.
11. Bell Peppers – 68% of bell peppers sampled were found to contain pesticides.
12. Red Raspberries – 59% of red raspberries sampled were found to contain pesticides.

And because buying organically is more expensive, here is a list of fruits and vegetables found to contain the least amount of pesticides (also from gourmetfood.com).
* Asparagus
* Avocados
* Bananas
* Broccoli
* Cauliflower
* Corn (However, almost all corn is genetically modified)
* Kiwi
* Mangoes
* Onions
* Papaya
* Pineapples
* Sweet Peas

Happy, healthy eating friends!