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There are pesticides here!

Posted at 2:31 PM on September 19, 2008 by April Luginbuhl (4 Comments)

I realize I should know better than to conflate locavore with organic, but I just found out that my favorite fruit vender uses pesticides. I felt silly for assuming all the venders at the market were organic. I also felt so disappointed. I want to limit my exposure to pesticides both for my health, and that of my son. I guess I need to find a different fruit vender and ask them about how they grow the fruit.

If they all use pesticides, I'm not sure what I'll do. I guess I'll go back to my original fruit vender if that is the case. When faced with the decision between local, or non-local but organic, what do you decide and why?

Comments (4)

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You are definitely not alone in making that mistake! I talk to people every weekend at the farmers' market, I work the information booth, that say the same thing ... and I struggle with how much to correct them. Fortunately, we have some good organic options here, but we also have growers who have better "organic" practices who aren't certified than some of our certified vendors!

I choose the local and organic, and if not, then the local - but I've had a chance to have all those conversations with growers, and I know which apple growers spray lots and which are low spray - those conversations are hard, its hard to know if the farmer is just telling you what they think you want to hear!

Posted by Sara Zoe | September 21, 2008 9:04 AM

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I've noticed at my local farmer's market that it's easy to find organic vegetables, but hard to find organic fruit. In fact there is even one farm which sells all organic veg, but only conventional fruit. And since my organic CSA is only for veg, I feel I don't have any alternative but to buy the non-organic fruit. My reasoning is that I prefer a conventional farm as my neighbor to a new housing development.

Posted by sonya | September 22, 2008 1:16 PM

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Sara, thanks for the insight. In Columbus the market I went to had a lot of farmers who couldn't afford to be organic certified, but they were happy to let you walk around their farms and see that they used organic practices. I like what you said about finding out if they are low spray or not. That is something I'll definitely use in bringing up the topic.

Sonya, I agree that a conventional farm is better than a development for a neighbor. I'm still eating the local fruit- it tastes too good, even with the chemicals on it. I wonder though if we do have an alternative in the long run though. If more people get involved with farmers markets and CSAs I wonder if there would be enough sweat equity in customer volunteer hours to make it easier for farmers to not need chemical sprays? Right now it's kind of a pie in the sky idea of mine, but it seems like that would be ultimately best for all of us.

Posted by April | September 26, 2008 2:16 PM

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Growing organic fruit that is "pretty" in much of the eastern US is extremely difficult! Don't give up on the local, but go for IPM (integrated pest management or low-spray) and tell producers you would buy blemished organic fruit. Then prove it: buy less pretty fruit.

The vast majority of blemishes on fruit are pretty harmless, and a lot of the chemicals used are to battle ugliness rather than damage.

I (clearly!) go for local fruit over organic. Pretty much everyone I buy from uses some level of IPM and I value the ecosystem services, food security, taste, and economic role in the community more than I do a 3 or 4 sprays.

Posted by Stephanie | September 30, 2008 10:42 AM