Blog Pesticides

I had chicken with some corn and rice last night. For the chicken, there were no pesticide residues. For the corn, I learned that there were 15 pesticide residues found by the USDA Pesticide Data Program. Among these pesticide residues, there were 9 suspected hormone disruptors, 5 known or probable carcinogens, 5 neurotoxins, and 1 developmental or reproductive toxins that can affect the human health. There were also 7 honeybee toxins found in the corn. For the rice, I learned that there were also 15 pesticide residues. Among these pesticide residues, there were 10 suspected hormone disruptors, 4 known or probable carcinogens, 3 developmental or reproductive toxins, and 2 neurotoxins that can affect the human health. There were 6 honeybee toxins that can affect the environment. I was so surprised to find out that the corn and rice that I ate last night both have 15 pesticide residues. That means my one meal contained a total of 30 pesticide residues. That number is big! It’s scary to know the long-term health affect if I kept eating corn and rice with numerous pesticide residues.

A federal agency need to enforce regulations with using pesticides. They should monitor each farm about what pesticide they use. They should only allow farmers to use the safe and approved pesticides. I really like the ideas that I learned from the video “Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Basics.” I think the government should be encouraging farmers to use IPM. Farmers should learn organic farming and start using the steps of Integrated Pest Management (IPM). From watching the video, I learned that it is important to combine cultural, mechanical, biological, and pesticides if needed to grow fruits and vegetables that are not harmful to people. The farmers need to learn about their plant and monitor it. They need to learn when it is time to treat their plants from pests. They need to know that there are other interventions that they can do before resorting to pesticides. If they did decide to use pesticides, they should only use the safe pesticides. Then, they should keep a record of everything that happened and what was effective so they will know what to do for the following year.

Website: What’s on my food?

URL: http://www.whatsonmyfood.org/index.jsp

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqjJg6KGOe4