The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for setting limits on just how many pesticides are allowed in our food. The agency has made it perfectly clear that pesticides may cause harm to humans, especially in growing children, yet they set acceptable limits for how much of each pesticide is permissible for consumption. Public health experts believe that the limits for pesticides are set too high in our nation and are worried that Americans are exposed to a dangerous amount of pesticides in our daily lives. One recent study found that children who ate a variety of conventional grocery foods contained biological markers of organiphosphates, the same family of pesticides spawned by the creation of nerve gas in World War II. While no governing body is willing to claim that the pesticides in our food are likely to cause biological damage to our bodies, it has been released in numerous studies that traces of multiple pesticides are showing up in our systems at any given time.
Not surprisingly, studies have shown that the nutrition of our foods grown without the use of pesticides is more viable. A 2007 study our of Newcastle University reported that organic produce contained up to 40 percent higher levels of many vital nutrients, including vitamin C, zinc, and iron. Interestingly enough, these are some of the very same nutrients that are now being supplemented into our processed foods, packaged foods, and even fruit juices. Organically grown food has also been shown to be richer in polyphenols and phytonutrients that are responsible for preventing cardiovascular disease.
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