One of the best ways to better our health is to make sure we are eating plenty of fresh, high quality vegetables, ideally locally-grown and organic, with a majority eaten in a raw state. If conventionally farmed sources is the only option available, it is still better for us than eating no fresh vegetables at all. However, conventionally farmed vegetables are not our best choice. Organic vegetables are a much better option. Why? Well according to Dr Joseph Mercola (www.mercola.com), USDA Organic farmers (and many small, local organic farms working without certification), must use different standards when growing vegetables. These standards include never using: Pesticides Synthetic Fertilizers Sewage sludge GMO (genetically modified organisms) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers 60 percent of herbicides, 90 percent of fungicides, and 30 percent of insecticides to be carcinogenic, and most are damaging to your nervous system as well. In fact, these powerful and dangerous chemicals have been linked to numerous health problems such as: Neurotoxicity Disruption of your endocrine system Carcinogenicity Immune system suppression Male infertility and reduced reproductive function Miscarriages Parkinson's disease This is powerful information to have when considering whether to buy local, organic vegetables or not. I encourage everyone to research about organic versus conventional farming conditions. Another area that I wanted to talk about in this article is crop rotating - Every year or so, crops are rotated from one field to another, meaning one year corn is planted and then next year cotton is planted in the same field, then next is wheat and so on. What is scary about this is that cotton has minimal to no regulation as to how much pesticides can be sprayed on the farmland. This means that the wheat crop planted after the cotton will grow in that same soil that was smothered in pesticide! Also, ever been driving down a scenic highway and seen all the beautiful farmland on the sides of the road? Sadly, this land is also being contaminated by the particles from fumes and toxic pollution being given off by our vehicles. These polluted particles have to settle somewhere and end up contaminating the soil. It is really sad to think about how much we are hurting ourselves... Anyhow, I believe that if we just took a moment and did just a little research, we would come to the conclusion that organic vegetables far superior to conventionally farmed vegetables. Here is a list of the top 12 fruits and vegetables that carry a high pesticide load and SHOULD be bought ORGANIC. Peaches Cherries Lettuce Apples Grapes (imported) Sweet Bell Peppers Pears Celery Spinach Nectarines Potatoes Strawberries On the other side, here is a list of top 12 fruits and vegetables that have the lowest residual pesticide load and are the SAFEST among CONVENTIONALLY grown fruits and vegetables. Broccoli Sweet peas (frozen) Mango Eggplant Pineapple Cabbage Sweet Corn Banana Avocado Kiwi Onion Asparagus So I ask everyone to always keep in mind these items the next time you are at a supermarket buying groceries. Remember, sometimes it is the small adjustments we make in our lives that end up producing the greatest rewards. Rockin' Wellness to you, Seth
