I just had my Sunday conversation with my 87 year old mother. Once again, she blamed her ill health and difficulty breathing on being sprayed, and thus poisoned, by pesticides. Mother is bedridden with osteoporosis, congestive heart failure and emphysema. We've never ascertained if she was actually "sprayed" (no one else in her gated community was) but I do know that the diseases from which she suffers are typical of the lifestyle related risk factors she accumulated over 80 years.

Regardless, as she often does, mother warned me again, today, about the evils of environmental poisons, especially pesticides. She echoes a fear that is rampant in our culture. Many people are terrified of pesticides and I'm guessing, if I asked, most folks would tell me that using them causes cancer.

In fact, all standards for pesticides applied in the U. S. meet EPA standards for use at levels 100 times less than that showing any unhealthy effect. Most folks also don't know that about 75% of fruits and vegetables grown in the U. S. have no detectable pesticide residues. Admittedly, produce is imported from countries where pesticide use may be higher, but residual pesticides can be removed by rinsing the food with plain water or by peeling the outer layers of the plant.

I also know that there are dozens of double blind, peer reviewed, published in reputable journal research studies that prove that the more fruits and vegetables a person consumes the healthier they are and the less likely they are to get cancer because these foods contain so many cancer-fighting nutrients.

Thus, once again, we're faced with weighing the pros and cons of any choice we make regarding the food we choose to eat. Personally, with this compelling anti-cancer information I suspect that if there are pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables the benefits of the nutrients in the plants outweigh any liabilities And, when I eat my 7 servings a day, I'm rinsing before eating to be sure!

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