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Most Americans Have Roundup in Their Bodies. Researchers Say One Week of Eating Organic Can Help
Organic, pesticide-free eating is an important factor in health and is something consumers should remain conscious of when shopping.
Photo courtesy of Scott Warman, Unsplash.
One week of eating organic can dramatically reduce pesticide levels in the body, according to a recent study conducted by the Health Research Institute, Commonweal Institute, and Friends of the Earth.
The group of researchers tracked the pesticide levels of four families across the United States. They took measurements after six days on a non-organic diet and again after six days on an organic diet.
The study, and a companion study published last year, found 16 different kinds of pesticides and chemicals in every participant. But after six days of organic eating, these compounds decreased an average of 60.5 percent—and some as much as 95 percent. Glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup and the most used pesticide in the world, dropped an average of 70 percent.
A study by agricultural economist Charles Benbrook finds that the use of glyphosate has spiked 15-fold globally since genetically modified, “Roundup Ready” crops were introduced in 1996. The percentage of Americans with traceable levels of glyphosate in their bodies rose from 12 percent in 1972 to 70 percent by 2014, according to researchers at the University of California San Diego.
Glyphosate exposure has been associated with a wide range of health problems. Researchers have flagged glyphosate as a probable carcinogen, and the chemical has been linked to kidney disease, reproductive issues, DNA damage, hormone and digestion disruptions, fatty liver disease, and more.
The recent study poses organic eating as a straightforward way to avoid glyphosate. But the authors also recognize that organic food isn’t always accessible.
To improve the availability of organic foods in the United States, the team calls for top-down policy changes—like stricter regulations on pesticide use, more federal research into the effects of pesticides, and aid for farmers as they transition to organic farming.
“Our federal pesticide policy system is broken, and we need people shouting about that,” Dr. Kendra Klein, a co-author of the study and Senior Staff Scientist at Friends of the Earth, tells Food Tank. “Companies like Bayer, Syngenta, and Dow are spending millions lobbying, and they’re also spending tens of millions of dollars to shape the narrative and perpetuate myths, like the myth that we need pesticides to feed the world.”
Klein points out that just 1 percent of U.S. federal agricultural research dollars go towards ecological farming, and pesticide regulations are few and far between. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has loosened some pesticide restrictions in recent years. Between 1993 and 2008, the EPA raised the threshold for glyphosate residues on oats from 0.1 ppm to 30 ppm.
Larry Bohlen, Chief Operating Officer at HRI Labs and another co-author of the study, also emphasizes a lack of resources for farmers who want to transition to organic farming. He explains that universities and government training programs have taught farmers how to use pesticides for decades. “If they placed models of successful organic farming side-by-side with the synthetic chemical models, farmers would have choices instead of just one option,” Bohlen tells Food Tank.
Stringent pesticide regulations might seem like a lofty goal in the U.S., says Klein, but change is already underway abroad. Earlier this year, the European Union announced plans to halve the use of “high risk” pesticides by 2030 and make at least 25 percent of farmland organic.
To spur change in the U.S., Bohlen urges consumers to vote with their wallets, if they’re able. “Each person’s purchase is a small vote that, when considered collectively, sends a signal back to the grocer and the farmer about what type of food is desired. It’s your purchase that has one of the biggest effects on land, farmer, and consumer health.”
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A Thai University Leads The Way In Organic Urban Agriculture
The 7,000sqm rooftop garden at Thammasat University is the largest such green space in Asia
September 14, 2020
It was on a sunny afternoon recently that teachers and students from Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand, set about harvesting organically grown rice.
They gathered on a rooftop urban farm in a bustling metropolis where skyscrapers dominate the landscape. As in many busy capitals, Bangkok is covered in unhealthy exhaust fumes and green spaces are scarce, apart from small city parks.
That is why the rooftop farm project Thammasat University, one of the country’s leading institutions, can point the way forward in greening this sprawling city, which was known in times past as the Venice of Asia thanks to its numerous canals that then still crisscrossed the landscape.
The 7,000sqm rooftop garden at Thammasat University is the largest such green space in Asia. Its design mimics scenic rice terraces on northern Thai hillsides so that rainwater used for growing crops can be absorbed and stored, which means that the farm can function with maximum water efficiency.
“We tend to make a distinction between buildings and green spaces but green spaces can be part of building designs in cities like Bangkok, which has few green spaces,” said Kotchakorn Voraakhom, chief executive and founder of Landprocess, an urban design firm.
The Thai university’s rooftop garden serves several purposes, one of which is the cultivation of chemicals-free crops, including organic rice. The project seeks to help wean Thai farmers off pesticides and insecticides in a country where such chemicals remain widely in use in agriculture.
The intensive use of chemicals at farms across Thailand is posing serious environmental concerns. From 2009 to 2018, Thailand imported vast quantities of agricultural chemicals, such as herbicides, insecticides and fungicides each year. In 2018 alone, more than 156,000 tons of such chemicals were brought into the country.
That same year more than 6,000 locals fell severely ill from exposure to hazardous chemicals and nearly 3,000 people were sickened from exposure to insecticides, according to health officials.
A goal of the sprawling rooftop farm at Thammasat University is to popularize chemicals-free produce like vegetables. And it is not only students and university staff who can grow organic crops: anyone who wishes to grow organic crops is welcome to join. People are invited to grow crops for themselves or else sell them to the university’s kitchens.
Towards the aim of setting up a chemical-free food system, the university is planning to set up an organic canteen and an organic market in the area.