WHAT'S ON MY FOOD ?

These facts are taken from an article by Malcolm McGuire in Organic Gardener.

Joan Smart provided it for us.

60 years ago pretty well all of our fruit and veggies were organic.
Mid 1950s Coles and Woolworths began converting their stores to self-service,

which changed our shopping habits forever. People started rejecting produce

that was not perfect and the supermarkets started demanding perfect produce.

This is still a big problem but a few non-perfect items are creeping in at a

cheaper price. Next, new agricultural pesticides mostly from America and

Germany flooded the market and were produced by the companies that made

nerve gas during the 2nd world war. Monoculture fields and industrialized farming became the norm and led to a lack of diversity and increased pest pressure. This all lead to wide spread use of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides.

Among the worst chemicals are the systemic insecticides, which work by being drawn up into the plant by its leaves and roots, where they remain. Pests are killed when they suck the sap of the plant containing the poison. As the insecticide remains inside the whole plant - peeling, washing or cooking will not remove it. An example of this is produce that travels form QLD to other parts of Australia (mangos and tomatoes). It is required to be treated post harvest before dispatch, with a systemic insecticide- based dip to prevent the spread of QLD fruit fly. Most of Australia's winter tomato crop comes from Bowen in QLD.

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By law all agricultural chemicals sold in Australia must be officially registered and all must carry detailed instructions, including active ingredients, use and handling information. Registration is by a state-by- state basis. Products may be permitted in one state and not in another.
While the registration body has to be satisfied that individual pesticides are safe to use, it is not involved in monitoring pesticide levels in food. In Australia, there is little coordination at a national level, with various organizations taking the responsibility for monitoring. Residue testing is totally dependent on the information provided to the registering body by the chemical companies. They examine the data and decide whether a particular pesticide has the capacity to harm in the amounts likely to be present in food.

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Testing does not account for the possible health risks of the "cocktail effect "of several different pesticides used on the same crop or the possibility of accumulation in the body with repeated use over time. The approval given by the registering body relates to the specific use of a particular pesticide on one occasion. The process also requires monitoring to be carried out on a regular basis by Commonwealth and State bodies and by industry but only a very small proportion of food or crops are subjected to any form of chemical scrutiny.

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The worst offenders: Apples, strawberries, pears, grapes, lettuce, nectarines, peaches and potatoes.

Apples: are the most sprayed crop and over 1500 synthetic chemicals have been approved for use on them. Powerful fungicides are used for apple scab, which in some orchards has developed a resistance, therefore a number of different fungicides can be used together. In wet weather they can be used every 2-3 days. Apples are also treated for sunburn and some protectants contain Morpholine which is banned in the European Union but is still allowed in Australia. It contains a precursor of a known carcinogen. Before being treated with the protectant the apples must be primed with a water softener, which contains a preservative that is made from formaldehyde and sodium cyanide. Even worse are the chemicals used to control codling moth. These include possible liver, thyroid and kidney toxicants and hormone disruptors and 2 further highly toxic neurotoxins - Parathion-methyl and Azinphos-methyl. These 2 have been banned in countries around the world and even though they have been under review for 20 years they are still used widely in Australian orchards.

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Citrus: are dipped in a fungicide after harvest often needing several applications and are then sprayed with a wax which is baked on. Then if fruit fly are present the insecticide Methyl bromide is often used.

Grapes: are often sprayed with a bird deterrent such as methyl anthranilate which needs to be repeated every 2 weeks.

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Grapes:are often sprayed with a bird deterrent such as methyl anthranilate which needs to be repeated every 2 weeks.

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Carrots: can be tear-gassed. A liquid fungicide chloropicrin is injected into the soil which immediately turns into a gas and fumigates the carrots. This chemical was used by German forces in World War 1 as tear gas.

Potatoes: More than 1800 government- approved pesticides are available for use on potatoes. Among these is atrazine which is banned in the EU.

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Peaches: More than 1000 different pesticides are registered for use in Australia on peaches. Often many are used at the same time to target different insects. One example is carbaryl which is a possible carcinogen and has been withdrawn in the UK and other European countries.

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Garlic: Most of us know to avoid white imported garlic. Most of it is from China and is bleached, gamma irradiated and sprayed and can be last year's crop. China can use chemicals on garlic, which have been banned in Australia. Also all imported garlic is fumigated with toxic methyl bromide on arrival here.

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Better choices:
Produce with thicker skin and which is less reliant on systemic pesticides is a better choice when organic is

not available. These include avocados, mangoes, onions, pineapples, sweet corn, melons and kiwifruit. There are no synthetic pesticides approved for use on basil, sage, thyme, parsleyor chives in Australia. But imported dried herbs and spices are irradiated.

Malcolm McGuire is the author of "Where food comes from and how it is produced". More information-

yourfoodcommunity.com

We can take heart from our speakers at the June and July meetings - from Tinaberries and Baffle Dairy, both tending towards natural and organic. Trevor tells us that quite a few local growers are getting interested in more natural methods and trying to avoid chemicals sprays. Good news indeed.

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