Sydney Morning Herald, Simon Webster
Published May 7, 2008
With food prices going up faster than Chinese skyscrapers, anyone who can afford to buy organic everything - from tea to tahini - probably has a personal assistant doing their shopping for them. The rest of us face difficult decisions every time we push a trolley.
In certain Sydney supermarkets last month a kilogram of conventionally grown oats was $1.80, and a kilogram of organic oats was $6.10. A litre of milk was $1.28 versus $2.70; a kilogram of carrots $1.67 versus $6.20. What's an eco-warrior with short arms and deep pockets in his hemp overalls to do?
One way of deciding which purchases should be organic is to work out which foods contain the most pesticides. In the US, analysis of government records by the non-profit Environmental Working Group led to the release in 2006 of a list nicknamed the Dirty Dozen. The 12 worst foods for pesticide residues were peaches, apples, capsicum, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, pears, imported grapes, spinach, lettuce and potatoes.
No such list is published in Australia. Food Standards Australia New Zealand is conducting its first tests since 2001, when it said all results fell within "acceptable health standards".
Regular testing of Australian produce is done only by the fruit and vegetable industry itself. FreshTest, part of the Australian Chamber of Fruit and Vegetable Industries, says that in 2006 3.4 per cent of products tested were above the maximum residue limits, but it will not say which ones.
The consumer group Choice recently dipped a toe in the murky waters. In a report released in January it found pesticide residues in 25 of the 27 conventionally grown strawberry samples tested. One sample was above the limit, 17 had two or more pesticides, four had four pesticides and one had a pesticide not permitted for use on strawberries in Australia.
"More independent testing is needed," the Choice report said.
"Our results highlight the need for truly independent, comprehensive and regular testing on a national basis, as is done in the UK."
Choice recommends peeling, discarding outer leaves and cooking as ways to avoid pesticides in conventionally grown foods. Based on this, one approach for consumers might be to stick with conventional agriculture for food protected by a thick skin (such as bananas) or food that is cooked (such as oats) and go organic for food that is eaten whole and raw, such as lettuce, apples and peaches.
However, many pesticides are systemic, says Andre Leu, chairman of the Organic Federation of Australia, meaning they affect the whole plant. "Even if you peel the fruit there can still be pesticides in it," he says.
With all this conflicting information, shoppers might choose to skip the heady world of fruit and vegetables and instead invest their hard-earned in organic meat and dairy. The industry shuns growth-promoting hormones, uses pesticide-free feed and pasture and places a greater emphasis on animal welfare.
Alternatively, geography could be the deciding factor. Cam Walker, of Friends of the Earth, says: "Support local organic producers. Ultimately we need to relocalise food."
Buying organic for the children might be another approach. Research shows that toddlers are most vulnerable to pesticides because they eat a lot of food for their body weight.
Or we could concentrate on growing as many fruit and vegetables as possible in our backyards. It would save so much money that we might be able to afford organic oats from the supermarket after all.
Do you have a green dilemma? Email
swebster@fastmail.com.au
