It’s not where you begin; it’s where you end up.

Pesticides are designed to kill bugs on our farms, in our homes, and in our yards. One such pesticide is chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate pesticide. It’s a very effective nerve toxin that will essentially kill anything with a nervous system if the exposure is high enough. It was eliminated for in-home and yard use years ago but is still used as a farm pesticide as well as on golf courses and other open areas.

Paula forwarded an op-ed piece from the New York Times that talked about a recent EPA decision to ban this pesticide for all uses; the decision was overturned by the current administration. After years of investigation by numerous scientists that concluded that chlorpyrifos was potentially too toxic, use is going to continue. One statistic in the article that stuck out to me was that the EPA had found levels on fruits and vegetables at levels 140 times what was determined to be safe for children 1–2 years old.

I can’t feed my grandson Riley vegetables and fruits that can harm him, so I had to check that out. I don’t care about the political intrigue; I’m concerned about what’s safe for you as readers and your families as well as my family. But as I said in my opening sentence, where I began is not as important as where I finished. This week will show how complicated eating in the 21st century can be.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

References: Nicholas Kristof. The New York Times. October 28, 2017