What Parents Need to Know About Organic Foods

Got Kids? Read This!
If you’re a parent, you need to be especially concerned with pesticide use in food and in the environment. According to the USDA, because infants and children have a lower body weight ratio to the amount of foods they consume, and because their still developing internal organs cannot detoxify chemicals as efficiently as adults, their susceptibility to toxins is more sensitive.

Unfortunately, all that agency’s studies and recommendations about the so-called “acceptable and safe” levels of toxic chemicals in foods were determined on adult tolerance levels, not on children’s.

When considering the importance of whether or not to feed your children organic foods, think about these sobering statistics (and lest you think these stats come from some left wing tree hugger organization, think again, these are the US government's own statistics):

• Depending on body weight, standard chemicals are up to ten times more toxic to children than to adults.
• Blood samples show concentrations of pesticide residues are six times higher in children aged 2 to 4 who eat conventionally farmed fruits and vegetables compared with those eating organic foods.
  
• According to the EPA’s “Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment,” children receive 50% of their lifetime cancer risks in the first two years of life.
  
• The U.S. Centers for Disease Control report that one of the main sources of pesticide exposure for children comes directly from the food they eat.
  
• Organophosphate pesticides (OPs) are currently found in the bodies of 95 percent of Americans tested. OP exposure has been linked to hyperactivity, behavior disorders, learning disabilities, developmental delays and motor dysfunction.
  
• Half of produce currently tested in grocery stores contain measurable residues of pesticides according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
  
• The FDA also reports that eight industry-leader baby foods reveal the presence of 16 pesticides, including three carcinogens.

Think organic foods are too expensive? Read tomorrow's post for money saving tips and strategies.