Guest guest Posted June 29, 2004 Report Share Posted June 29, 2004 We try to buy all our produce organic, but when that is not possible I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a recipe I can concoct at home to wash our produce? I know that there are a variety of brands I can purchase, but I'd rather limit the cost by making my own. Thanks everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 29, 2004 Report Share Posted June 29, 2004 Yes! Do not buy those expensive produce wash things they sell for a mint. If you are concerned about pesticides, wash with 1/2 and 1/2, vinegar and water. It'll accomplish the same thing. on 6/29/2004 12:51 PM, bernadettepawlik@... at bernadettepawlik@... wrote: > We try to buy all our produce organic, but when that is not possible I'm > wondering if anyone can recommend a recipe I can concoct at home to wash our > produce? > > I know that there are a variety of brands I can purchase, but I'd rather > limit the cost by making my own. > > Thanks everyone! > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 29, 2004 Report Share Posted June 29, 2004 >> We try to buy all our produce organic, but when that is not possible I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a recipe I can concoct at home to wash our produce? I know that there are a variety of brands I can purchase, but I'd rather limit the cost by making my own. Testing on most all of those brands found them to be no better than a simple solution you can make at home. This is from some info from consumers unions testing.... Cut residues by washing produce We tested our produce unwashed, just as it arrived from the market. But in real life, most people don't eat fresh produce without doing something to it first, if only rinsing it off. No one has directly studied rinsing with water only, but an ingenious study done at the Southwest Research Institute in San shows that extra-careful food preparation can get rid of a lot of pesticides--though not all. The San researchers brought fruits and vegetables in 10-pound lots and tested half of each sample for pesticides. If residues showed up, they prepared the other half of the sample as follows: First, they washed the produce using extremely diluted green Palmolive liquid dish soap, then rinsed with tap water. After that, they did the usual things a home cook would do: stemmed the strawberries, snapped and boiled the green beans, peeled and seeded the oranges, peeled the carrots, and so on. The results: 53 percent of the washed samples no longer had detectable pesticide residues. The samples that still had residues registered declines ranging from 30 percent to nearly 100 percent. This may not answer your question but it may be of interst in regard to the importance of organic produce.... About a year or so ago, the National Organic Certification program went into effect. Unfortunately, it dramatically changed what the meaning of " organic " is. What I mean is that they now allow dozens of chemicals to be added to the food and/or soil and still be called certified organic. They also allow certain medicines/chemicals to be injected into animals and still have them be called certified organic. In additon, a few weeks ago, about 2 dozen pesticides can now be used and the food still be called certified organic. While I am sure there is some merit to a debate on each one of these chemicals and their individual safety, the main issue here is that organic is not what everyone thinks it is. The NYTimes ran a great article on this about 2 years ago called The Organic Industrial Complex. I have a copy of file if anyone wants to read it. You can also see all these chemicals listed at the official organic website here.... http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/standards/ListReg.html An interesting report from a european commission on organic food..... http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200001/cmselect/cmagric/1\ 49/14902.htm THere has been some mention of Dr Ames and his work in relation to some nutrients and ageing, here is his comments on pesticides... According to Dr. Bruce Ames of the University of California at Berkeley, one of the most respected scientists in this area (Cancer), 99.99% of all pesticides are naturally occurring in plants. Most commercial plants have been bred to resist attacks by parasites and they do this by producing a wide array of chemicals. However, it is clear from many dozens of studies that the more fruits and vegetables consumed, the healthier a person is. Therefore, there is no compelling evidence that the pesticide residues found in fruits and vegetables are associated with any harm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 30, 2004 Report Share Posted June 30, 2004 > >> We try to buy all our produce organic, but when that is not possible I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a recipe I can concoct at home to wash our produce? I know that there are a variety of brands I can purchase, but I'd rather limit the cost by making my own. This reminded me of the recommendation of Pitchford in his book " Healing with Whole Foods " p40 " To remove poison residue from surfaces of fruits and veggies soak for 20 mins in a solution of 1 Tablespoon 3% hydrogen peroxide per gallon of water " Canary Peg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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