How Organic Produce Can Make America Less Healthy

Everyone’s heard of the scary chemicals used by agribusiness to keep your apples worm-free—it’s what generates the fear that makes organic produce lucrative. In exchange for more money, consumers are told they can have pesticide-free peace of mind. On Wednesday, the Environmental Working Group (which calls itself a nonpartisan organization aimed at protecting human health and the environment) released its annual ranking of the best (“Clean Fifteen”) and the worst (“Dirty Dozen”) produce when it comes to pesticide content. The list is meant to be a tool for the consumer: If your favorite fruit is among the Dirty Dozen, the thinking goes, you’d be safer buying organic. Strawberries and spinach hold the top two spots in this year’s Dirty Dozen—more than 98 percent of samples tested positive for pesticide residue. One sample of strawberries, the report states, came with 20 different pesticides, while spinach samples had on average double the amount of pesticide residue by weight as any of the other crops reviewed. But experts in pesticides and toxicology say this annual list, seen as helpful for sales of organic produce, oversimplifies a complicated issue. Just because pesticides are on an apple doesn’t mean the apple is dangerous. Meanwhile, critics say, the EWG survey muddies what is a much more important message for American consumers: Eat more fruits and vegetables. Period.  In fact, organic marketing that emphasizes the perceived threat of pesticide residue could be dissuading some consumers from buying fruits and vegetables at all. And that’s really not healthy.