ABOUT
Smart discussion of the latest science and news on toxins in your food, water, and air, and what government agencies should be doing to protect public health. Enviroblog is a project of EWG Action Fund. (More. . .)
FEED
An EWG podcast for environmental health news on the go.
TIPS
Did we miss something? Email Amanda.
BLOGROLL
STAY CONNECTED
Get our monthly eNewsletter, action alerts, & environmental tips. [Privacy policy, About EWG]
Pollan says 'food' over 'nutrients'
Wall Street Journal story of the day:
Organic Foods
Organic farmed fish a contradiction in terms
FEATURED
BPA in your body: How to minimize your exposure
Caution: These 7 household items may feminize baby boys
BPA in infant formula: This is not a call to panic
7 ways to reduce your exposure to PBDEs
Ask EWG
Is there eco-friendly jewelry?
Are stainless steel water bottles safe?
Is mineral-based makeup safer?
SEARCH
Category Archive
July 31, 2007
Ask EWG: Is hydroponic produce organic?
This is our first Ask EWG video! We're pretty excited about it, but as a small nonprofit that focuses on research we're just getting the hang of this YouTube thing. If you've got any comments, suggestions, or original music we could use in our videos, please let us know by leaving a comment or sending an email.
Question: I bought hydroponic tomatoes at the store yesterday thinking they were organic, but when I looked again I realized that they weren't labeled "certified organic". Is hydroponic produce organic? How does it rate compared to conventional produce?
Answer: Hydroponic crops are grown in greenhouses, in solutions of chemicals and minerals, not in soil.
Just as with conventionally grown crops, growers often use synthetic pesticidies on crops grown hydroponically. But some of these crops can meet the organic standards using organic nutrient mixtures and no synthetic pesticides – when this is the case, you’ll see “organic” on the label.
Hydroponic does have some advantages. These fruits and veggies may contain fewer pesticides, since the need for chemicals to kill weeds and insects is reduced in greenhouses compared to fields. And they need less water to grow. On the other hand, certain diseases can spread quickly in greenhouses, and growing these crops is often energy intensive.
As with conventional crops, making the best choices for families, farmers, and the environment involves considering nutrition, pesticides and more. It’s important to pick produce low in pesticide residues - buy organic, or use our shoppers guide to find the fruits and veggies with the lowest amount of pesticides.
Got a question for our researchers? Send it in! We'll select one (or a few) for next month's edition of Ask EWG.
Want Ask EWG sent to your inbox? Sign up for our monthly bulletin.
July 13, 2007
Two days left to Grow Organics!
We're almost there! In the past week, more than ten thousand people have signed the petition to Grow Organics. We only need a couple thousand more to meet our goal, and we've got just over two days to do it.
So far more than 50 of you have posted about the Grow Organics campaign on your blogs, and many more of you have mentioned it on forums and on myspace. But with only two days left, the time has come for direct action: If you know anyone who would want to sign this petition, drop them a line to make sure they've seen it!
In Congress, work on the Farm Bill continues -- for an analysis of the latest, head on over to Mulch.
And if you're hungry for even more talk on organics and a whole lot of other topics, check out one of the 23 blogs who posted a link to the petition in the past week!
Amy Pritchard, Charlotte Local Food, Cooler than the Cat, Crafty Celtic Housewife, Darlene, Edible Nation, blog of Edible Communities, EnviroMom (great name, don't you think?), someone's Experimentation with Blogs, Food Person, Foodphiles, Girl Detective, Green Talk, Heart Rock Garden, Local Food North Nevada, Mind Body Spirit
, Mint Green Lifestyle, Mothering on the Spectrum, One/Change, Organic Connection, Rawket Science, Tempest in a Teapot, The Future Earth, The Perfect Bite, This Modern Period, Up the Down Staircase, and of course Worsted Witch.
Thanks so much to everyone who's been spreading the word -- keep up the good work!
Image: Organic apples on Oz Farm in northern California.
June 29, 2007
Growing Organics in the blogosphere
You may have heard a thing or two about a little bill that the House is scheduled to vote on at the end of July. Of $76 billion in subsidies in the current Farm Bill, organic farmers would receive less than one percent (Who is getting all that money? Have a look at the Farm Subsidy Database).
EWG Action Fund has created a petition asking Congress to include fair funding for organics in the Farm Bill. We want them to level the playing field for organic farmers and expand access to safe, healthy organic food. We set the bar high -- we're looking to get 30,000 signatures by July 15th. On July 17th, EWG Action Fund will deliver the petition to Congress to let them know that we want them to vote for organics.
What can you do? For starters, sign the petition. Then, tell your friends -- link it from your Myspace page, send out an email, share it on Facebook, and tell that nice lady you buy lettuce from at the farmer's market. Post about it on your blog -- and while you're at it, post a badge!
This week, EnviroLove goes out to Katrina at Kale for Sale, Caroline at FarmGirl's Adventures, Jennifer at Eco Child's Play, the friendly folks at What's Organic, Diane and her Big Green Purse, Caroline at Culinate, the Blue-Green Marble blogger, Organic Mama, Krista at the cleverly named Livin' la Vida Verde, Marc at Eat Local Challenge, Granny Miller, the author of Stories in America, the Organic Connection blog, and the inimitable Sam Fromartz at both Chews Wise and Gristmill. A special shout-out to Tabetha at Think Bigg, who also posted about the awesome tote bag you can get by donating $65 or more to the Grow Organics campaign!
Post about the petition on your blog, and next Friday I'll make sure you get some link lovin' from Enviroblog!
January 31, 2007
Pollan says 'food' over 'nutrients'
In New York Times Magazine, Michael Pollan lays his framework for why Americans are so confused about proper nutrition and what to eat. Pollan argues that confusion about food is job security for the food industry, nutritional science, and journalists. He cites some interesting examples of industry influence over nutrition information, taking us back to 1977 when the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition was bullied by the meat and dairy industries to change the wording of their new dietary guidelines from “eat less red meat and dairy products” to “choose meat, poultry, and fish that will reduced saturated-fat intake.”
It’s a good read so you should check it out for yourself if you have time. If you don’t, Pollan’s recommendations, in brief, are: Eat meat like a side dish rather than as a main course. Eat whole foods, not processed, and stay away from food with health claims on the packaging, as they are a good indication that what you are about to eat is not food. What is "food?" Something that your great-great grandmother would recognize.
Pollan touches on the social and environmental implications of organic agriculture as well, and I particularly like this sentence, which provides a thoughtful counterpoint to the often-heard sentiment that organic foods are elitist because they are not affordable for everyone:
And those of us who can afford to eat well should. Paying more for food well grown in good soils — whether certified organic or not — will contribute not only to your health (by reducing exposure to pesticides) but also to the health of others who might not themselves be able to afford that sort of food: the people who grow it and the people who live downstream, and downwind, of the farms where it is grown.
January 18, 2007
Wall Street Journal story of the day:
Organic Foods
From Buz Livingston at Motley Fool:
Yesterday's most popular article on The Wall Street Journal's online edition (www.wsj.com) was not Intel's (Nasdaq: INTC) 39% drop in earnings, nor was it homebuilder Lennar's (NYSE: LEN) continuing woes as it copes with the soft real estate market. You would think that the Dow notching another record close would be the top story, but surprisingly, that honor goes to a column on the increasing popularity of organic foods.(Subscription needed to read complete articles.)
Continue reading "Wall Street Journal story of the day:
Organic Foods" »
November 28, 2006
Organic farmed fish a contradiction in terms
Can fish really be “organic?” Well, that depends how the USDA shapes that definition in the coming years. Currently the agency has no standards for what qualifies a fish as organic and it seems they are moving towards guidelines that favor aquaculture—the factory farming of the sea—rather than wild caught fish.
Continue reading "Organic farmed fish a contradiction in terms" »
September 25, 2006
Unsafe levels of pesticide residues in food
From The Guradian (UK):
Consumers are being routinely exposed to unsafe levels of pesticide residues in their food which are nevertheless still within legal limits, campaigners warn today.Here's a handy wallet guide listing produce items that are most and least likely to retain unsafe levels of pesticide residue after washing and preparation.More than 5% of fruit, vegetables and other foods carried harmful pesticide residues which posed "appreciable" health risks to consumers. One pesticide, Imazalil, exceeded the safe limit on 79% of oranges sampled, according to the Pesticide Action Network.
[snip]
The government report generally focuses on the legal limits of pesticides in food, which are set by the EU. Yet this limit, known as the maximum residue level, does not actually relate to how safe the pesticide is.
September 18, 2006
Natural Selection Foods: Organic spinach not to blame
Contrary to claims of those sympathetic to chemical-intensive farming, all cases of this most recent outbreak of E. coli have been traced back to packages of non-organic spinach, according to Natural Selection Foods—the manufacturer, which produces both conventional and organic spinach.
But this current outbreak brings to light a possibility that is all too easily capitalized on by big agribusiness and its PR people, front groups, etc. What if the E. coli poisonings had been traced back to organic spinach? Would that prove that organic produce is more susceptible to deadly strains of viruses? The answer is no, but the negative buzz just from that suggestion does plenty of damage to the organic movement and to consumers who are misled by such claims.
Continue reading "Natural Selection Foods: Organic spinach not to blame" »
August 25, 2006
Pesticides in Farmworkers' Children
Environmental Science and Technology reports on a study finding high levels of pesticides in the children of immigrant farmworkers. Of the farmworkers studied, researchers found that "40% of the mothers and 30% of the fathers had not received training in pesticide handling, a violation of U.S. EPA regulations." It was apparent that many participants had misconceptions about the toxicity of the chemicals they handle. The scientists, from Wake Forest University School of Medicine, are pushing for better education for farmworkers to protect their children from pesticide exposure.
July 31, 2006
Organics in the News
The New York Times plugs EWG's Shopper's Guide:
If you would like to make sure your organic dollars are delivering on their promise, you can keep an eye on the Environmental Working Group’s site at www.ewg.org[...]
Some Vermont dairy farmers are finding the transition to organic production to be both painless and more profitable. Currently 10 percent of the state's dairies are organic and by next year that number is expected to jump to 20 percent.
July 18, 2006
Organic Fast Food Coming to NYC
Organic hot dogs, burgers, and milkshakes may soon be making their way to the streets of the Big Apple. According to Sustainable Industries Journal, activist Antonia Nagy is working on a business model that will put multiple street-vendor style food carts around New York, allowing a greater diversity of people exposure to organic food. Way to go, Antonia!