With Pesticides Contaminating Organic Produce, Inaction is No Longer an Option

(Photo credit to Sarah Anne Ward / Consumer Reports)

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For decades, Big Ag has amassed immeasurable power in our country and leveraged it to normalize the use of toxic pesticides, convincing government officials and unwitting consumers that chemicals were essential to grow food.

Historians, however, tell a different story.

Laura J. Martin, associate professor of environmental studies and faculty affiliate in history at Williams College, says that biocides (poisons designed to destroy biodiversity) were not developed to solve human problems, such as hunger and disease.

“Starting in the late 1800s, mining companies realized they could sell farmers and homeowners the vast amounts of toxic waste their work produced. They would profit doubly: from their primary products and then from their poisonous ‘byproducts.’ Biocide supply, in other words, preceded demand,” she wrote in a recent Noema article.

“In the 20th century, metal-based poisons were largely replaced by ‘organic’ biocides: biocides that contain carbon atoms. After World War I — ‘the chemists’ war’ — companies like Dow, BASF, DuPont and Monsanto raced to repurpose waste produced by the vast manufacturing of fuel and weapons. Their goal was to develop new ways to combine coal- and oil-derived carbon with other elements to produce marketable compounds.”

In the 1940s, with an excess supply of chlorine and phenol, a waste product of fossil fuel refining, Dow and other chemical companies went on the offense. They convinced farmers of the need to kill broadleaved plants and used propaganda films such as Death to Weeds to accomplish this goal.

KEY FINDINGS FROM CONSUMER REPORTS

Nearly a century later, the industry playbook has succeeded to a tremendous degree, as far too many people believe that it is perfectly fine to spray poison on the food we eat. Organic consumers feel otherwise.

While organic does allow certain pesticides, they are low-risk and derived from natural mineral or biological sources that have been approved by the USDA’s National Organic Program. Additionally, chemicals that are linked to a whole host of human and environmental health issues, such as glyphosate or neonicotinoids, are prohibited in organic.

Wanting to give shoppers accurate information about what exactly is on their produce, Consumer Reports recently conducted its most comprehensive review on pesticides in food.

It analyzed seven years of data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which annually tests a selection of conventional and organic produce grown in or imported to the U.S. for pesticide residues. Consumer Reports looked at 59 common fruits and vegetables, including, in some cases, not just fresh versions but also canned, dried or frozen ones.

* 41 of the 45 organic foods had low or very low pesticide risk.

* Imported organic green beans had a very high pesticide risk — the exact same rating as imported conventional green beans.

* U.S.-grown organic spinach had a moderate pesticide risk — the exact same rating as both U.S.-grown and imported conventional spinach.

* U.S.-grown organic potatoes had a moderate pesticide risk.

* Imported organic kale had a moderate pesticide risk.

Two immediate questions come to mind:

1) Why does organic produce have anything but a low or very low pesticide risk?

The organic system is not fool-proof, and organic farmers may have persistent pesticides in their soil that have not degraded after the three-year transition period. Or, they may be the victim of pesticide drift from neighboring conventional farms.

That being said, any fruit or vegetable that has a moderate, high or very high pesticide risk is a very serious red flag and should call for an immediate investigation. The fact that Consumer Reports looked at nearly 30,000 fruit and vegetable samples would invalidate an “isolated incident” excuse.

One of the primary reasons that we are paying extra to buy organic is specifically to avoid these chemicals. And yet, not only do imported organic green beans pose a very high pesticide risk, but they, along with U.S.-grown organic spinach, pose the exact same pesticide risk as their conventional counterparts.

2) Where in the world is the USDA and what is it doing?

The data that Consumer Reports analyzed came directly from the USDA, so the agency knew each year when a certain organic fruit or vegetable was contaminated. This is a flagrant violation of the organic rules, organic consumers are clearly being deceived, and in no uncertain terms can the USDA claim ignorance.

But, this seems to be a pattern with the USDA, and all we have to do is look at fraudulent imported organic grains.

Despite having been warned by watchdog groups for years about this issue, the agency sat idle. Only after The Washington Post published its 2017 blockbuster investigation did the USDA finally take action.

SILENCE IS NOT AN OPTION

Waiting for the USDA to fix the situation could take a very long time, if it happens at all.

In the interim, retailers and brands must demand that their suppliers conduct third-party pesticide testing for all organic fruits and vegetables, or at a bare minimum, for all imported organic green beans and organic kale, and U.S.-grown organic spinach and organic potatoes. This will help identify who the bad actors are, so they can be removed from the system.

We have no choice but to be unrelenting when it comes to pesticide contamination of organic fruits and vegetables.

Anything less will be an acknowledgement that we are content with being defrauded.

Happy Holiday, Max Goldberg, Founder