A very misunderstood idea is that “organic” foods are grown without pesticides. This is patently untrue. Organic foods are grown with “approved” pesticides – generally those that have a biological origin. Of course, this does not mean that these pesticides are worse, or better, than “unnaturally” produced chemical pesticides (aren’t biological pesticides also chemicals? Oh, ignore my semantics … that’s too scientific)?
But let’s think about this a little bit more. Did you ever wonder why certain foods taste the way they do, particularly on the bitter side? Did you ever wonder why ANY plants exist at all, if the worry is that pests and animals will just eat them all? Well of course plants are clever creatures too, and they obviously make their OWN protection. And this protection can be quite poisonous. Think about a common food – cassava, which is one of the most important staple crops on Earth. Cassava needs serious preparation before being allowed for human consumption – it has cyanide in it. Yes, the stuff that we put in the little pills we send up with the astronauts. Cyanide! And of course, many poorer regions of the world rely on cassava – and since the cassava requires extensive cooking to get rid of the cyanide, we put enormous pressure on poorer areas to find enough fuel to do it. So, we are “allowing” poor countries to deforest and rely on unsustainable biomass practices to cook their foods, and we “allow” them to eat dangerous and poison foods. Yet, our “first-world” sensibilities (mostly European, but increasingly in America) deny these very same people access to biotechnology that could make their farming and eating lives far safer and more sustainable.
In any case, if we are serious about “healthy” foods and keeping poisons out of our fields, farms and bodies, I think the obvious conclusion is to ban plants. Think about it. If we had banned plants, then it is possible that Alexander Supertramp would have survived his excursion up into the Alaskan Wilderness, instead of having the unfortunate luck of likely ingesting canavanine, an antimetabolite that is likely stored in the seeds of the organic, natural, local, wild potatoes he ingested, which was developed by many leguminous species to ward off predators.
“But that’s NOT what we are talking about!”
What ARE we talking about then?
Who would want this in their kitchen!? These chemicals are not coming into my house! (slight editing on my part)
“FCO often cause a stinging sensation in the eyes of people nearby, and often uncontrollable tears. This is caused by the release of a volatile gas, syn-propanethial-S-oxide, which stimulates nerves in the eye creating a stinging sensation.[5] This gas is produced by a chain of reactions which serve as a defense mechanism: damaging a FCO causes damage to cells which releases enzymes called alliinases. These break down amino acid sulfoxides and generate sulfenic acids. A specific sulfenic acid, 1-propenesulfenic acid, is rapidly acted on by a second enzyme, the lacrimatory factor synthase, producing the syn-propanethial-S-oxide.[5] This gas diffuses through the air and soon reaches the eyes, where it activates sensory neurons. Lacrimal glands produce tears to dilute and flush out the irritant”
FCO = freshly cut onion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion#Eye_irritation
Broccoli should be packaged in paper boxes, so that a big cancer warning can be printed on the box. Broccoli contains huge amounts of carcinogens, relative to levels which our government laughably considers significant.
http://easyopinions.blogspot.com/2009/07/plants-make-natural-pesticides.html
Plants Make Natural Pesticides
The bad news is that our plant foods contain carcinogens, natural pesticides that cause cancer in rats. Examples are basil, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, celery, fennel, grapefruit, mushroom, mustard, orange, parsley, parsnips, pepper, pineapple, and raspberry.
These chemicals are present from 70 ppb (parts per billion) to 4 parts per thousand (4,000,000 ppb). These levels are enormously higher than man-made pesticide residues in plant foods.
The good news is that the risk of cancer is negligible at levels we get from plants, french fries, or grilled food.
A good read:
Danger, Natural Pesticides
http://www.fortfreedom.org/s42.htm