| Southern Farmer - 3/9/2015 05:52
Organic agriculture practices cannot ensure that products are completely free of residues; however, methods are used to minimize pollution from air, soil and water.
So what? Nobody is pretending that there cannot be any chemical residue. However, parts per million or billion trace amounts of pesticides coming from the rain or underground water or the air is not the same as saying it's only 95% organic. The important thing is that non-NOP residues are not introduced by the organic farm itself. They frequently come from packaging and processing rather than from the farm. I doubt there is any residue at all in CSA farms anyway, it's more likely to test positive on organic produce purchased at the big stores.
The tolerance for non-NOP chemicals residues in organic food is actually only 5% of the EPA limit for food, so if anything, you can expect to have at least 20 times less residues than what's possible on non-organic food:Residues of NOP-prohibited pesticides that result from accidental (and unavoidable) contamination are limited to 5% of the established EPA Tolerance in order for that food to be labeled organic. It's the same with GMOs, there is usually a small tolerance for accidental GMO contamination, like external pollen drift, including on organic certified seeds, but it's not coming from the organic farming practice itself. The USDA does not actually define any tolerance level, so it's up to the processor and certifying agent to decide, but most countries have a small or zero tolerance standard for organic food. It's 0.9% in Europe, for instance, with some private labels sticking to 0.1%. |
Buying locally??
