I have this memory as a young girl sitting between two of my uncles and I began to sneeze as I inhaled the large amounts of pepper they both sprinkled onto their pile of mashed potatoes that covered at least one third of their plates and stacked quite high. Whether we were dining with the relatives or dining as a family, most nights Mom peeled and boiled a large pot of potatoes. I never really thought about how many potatoes my aunts and my Mom cooked almost every day. We just took for granted that the pile high potatoes in a very large serving bowl was a basic staple that accompanied our roast beef or roast chicken. I do recall hearing the story of how Mom and Dad had to monitor how many potatoes my older sister ate when she was little since all of the starch was causing her to sweat too much! But it wasn’t until my future brother-in-law had dinner with us and he was stunned by how many potatoes were in the bowl and even more stunned by how many potatoes we consumed that I realized that not everyone enjoyed their potatoes as much as us!
Sadly, my childhood memories of eating mashed potatoes that are fluffy with lots of milk and butter and asking for more with the comment, “Pass the spuds please” has increased my outrage that this vegetable is now being tampered with by pesticides.
The Environmental Working Group is only one research study that confirms that potatoes are one of the Top Ten vegetables that have the most number of pesticides. This Group says that 81% of the potatoes sampled had detectable pesticides and most of them had at least 18. Other studies even go further and believe that outside of coffee, potatoes have even more pesticides than that!
Recently, I sent an e-mail to the provincial potatoes grower’s association asking them if Alberta uses as many pesticides as the United States since so much of the research comes from there.
Below is his response:
The PMRA (Pest Management Regulatory Agency), a division of Health Canada legislates what crop protection products can be used on all crops in Canada. Health Canada dictates what the acceptable residue levels are in every crop to ensure the safety of the consumer. Potatoes are regularly tested for residue levels to ensure that they are within the acceptable levels. Health Canada would not allow one crop to have higher residue level tolerance than another. This does not mean that one cannot be higher than the other but still be within acceptable safe levels.
I cannot comment on whether potatoes have the highest residue levels of any food however I can tell you that residues, if there are any at all, are well within Health Canada limits for safe food. I can tell you that Alberta potatoes have the lowest pesticide use of anywhere else in North America which would translate to lower residue levels. It should also be noted that not all crop protection products result in residues in the food component of the crop.
The Potato Industry in North America is highly regulated and monitored. The CanadaGAP on-farm-food-safety program has a component specific to potatoes to ensure their safe production and handling. The consumer should not have any concerns as to the safety of the potatoes they buy from reputable sources.
I hope this alleviates your concerns.
I felt some reassurance that Alberta uses less pesticides, but I also felt that I was being reassured without any real facts except that whatever pesticides are being used are being supported by the government! That government sanctioning is to make me feel better? It is interesting that the government has deemed that this amount of pesticides is perfectly acceptable without telling us how much is not acceptable. In other words, how many potatoes can we eat before they do become dangerous? Or when I combine this vegetable with other vegetables that are high in pesticides, at what point does that become dangerous?
My concerns continued to increase after my husband spoke to someone who does business with a local potato grower and shared that the “worst” pesticide is the one that is sprayed over the tops. Apparently, consumers don’t want to purchase potatoes too large and by killing the green tops, the growth of the potatoes slow down and yet are still able to remain in the ground.
I am annoyed that I have to spend so much money on a small bag of organic potatoes to help my body to heal. I am even more annoyed that other people whom I love very much cannot even consider purchasing organic potatoes due to the higher cost. I am outraged that the sweet memories of sharing a meal that included a staple we assumed was not only tasty but nutritious has now been corrupted with pesticides. No sir, my concerns have NOT been alleviated!
No comments:
Post a Comment