Organic Center releases “Organic Essentials”

A new complimentary pocket guide can help consumers avoid the highest-risk fresh produce during both the summer season and winter, when a significant share of fresh produce is imported. Available for free download at The Organic Center's Web site, the "Organic Essentials" pocket guide presents lists of conventional fruits and vegetables that the Center has determined pose the most significant pesticide-related risks and – therefore – are the most critical produce items for consumers to purchase as organic.

In the wallet-sized four-fold guide, "Organic Essentials" offers two lists covering domestically grown fruits and vegetables that pose the greatest pesticide dietary risks, while two other lists apply to imported produce that typically enters the U.S. market in the wintertime.

In 1993, the National Academy of Sciences released a widely acclaimed report entitled Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children. The report set forth a compelling case to protect infants and children from developmental problems triggered by pesticide exposures. Unfortunately, the reforms recommended by the NAS have been just partially implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency. As a result, there have been only modest changes in the uses of several risky pesticides in conventional farming over the last 15 years.

"Consumers eagerly want to know more about the healthful benefits of organic food and farming. Too often, in the bustle of the grocery aisles, they don't have the time or the information to make the most appropriate purchases," said Dr. Chuck Benbrook, Ph.D., chief scientist with The Organic Center. "We hope consumers will download the guide and put it in their wallets so they will have at their fingertips information on the most important organic produce to buy to reduce pesticide risks to themselves and their families."

The non-profit Organic Center generates and advances peer-reviewed scientific research and information on the health and environmental benefits of organic food and farming.

http://www.organic-center.org/reportfiles/TOC_Pocket_Guide.pdf