We always try to eat organic foods. Of course they are not always available. So there are choices to be made. Some foods are worse than others as far as chemical use to grow them. Some time ago, I found out that raw almonds from the US are fumigated. The fumigant is propylene oxide which is recognized as a carcinogen by the EPA. The USDA is being sued by the almond growers to stop the mandatory fumigation. The USDA's regulations allow these fumigated almonds to be labeled as "raw" which is deceiving the public. Fumigating the almonds destroys as much as 90% of their nutritional value by altering proteins & destroying disease-fighting phytonutrients. They should not be able to be sold as "raw" almonds. A large number of people make recipes using raw almonds & expect them to be safe. Raw almonds should be just that. Raw & not tampered with. Just like other foods that are raw. Best left in their natural state. Leave it to the USDA to meddle with Mother Nature & then not tell us about it. Nutrient destruction should be labeled as such. Most almonds come from California. Other countries are not required to fumigate. So much for eating locally (or foods from this country). I hate to say it, but don't buy almonds from the US. If your store shows the point of origin, make sure the almonds come from a different country. I feel sorry for the growers who had no say in the matter. I hope they win their lawsuit.
7 comments:
It's kind of ironic. If the purpose of fumigation is to protect us, why demand it only of US growers and not those overseas? Very eye opening. Thanks Barb!
Excellent post ... I had no idea. But then again, I'm not really surprised. The more I get into the food we eat and how it gets to our table, the more appalled I am. It seems that unless a food is grown in our own backyard (literally), it is sprayed, washed or processed into something that is unhealthy. Thanks for sharing this with us!
BTW ... thank you, also, for following Reduce Footprints. I'm going to follow you, as well, and add you to my blog roll.
Take Care!
Small Footprints
http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com
That is gross. My list of "why I eat organically" just keeps growing...
Sometimes protecting us is doing the opposite. Apparently there were a couple of cases of salmenella due to the big agri-type farm growers using manure from livestock that was infected. Instead of requiring those growers to change their methods, they decided to punish the raw & organic producers. Go figure! It seems the only way to safely eat is to grow your own. I wish I could get everyone I know to do that.
Good post, thanks for the info! :)
There is very little in modern food production that is healthy - the reason why so many of us grow our own. Thankfully my almonds come from my back yard, both here and in the new home we will be moving to next month.
That certainly is some scary stuff, but not unexpected in our "produce it in mass & cheaply" world.
Molly, you are so lucky to live where you have your own almonds in the back yard. the more we grow, the healthier we are.
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