Dirty Dozen: Why to Eat Organic Bell Peppers

Dirty Dozen is an ongoing Organic Nation series that seeks to explain the benefits of certain organic foods and products over their conventional counterparts. To see other recent posts in this series, click here.

When it comes to pesticide use on conventional produce, fruits like apples, peaches and berries are among the worst culprits. Although they're generally considered to be vegetables, sweet bell peppers are technically fruit (sort of like tomatoes), and they're generally sprayed with just as many poisons as the fruits mentioned above.

In the latest version of the Environmental Working Group's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides sweet bell peppers rank third worst (behind only peaches and apples) on the list of 47 fruits and vegetables. The EWG found 64 different pesticides on the bell peppers that were studied, and 11 different pesticides on one sample -- the most of any vegetable that was tested.

Bell peppers are attacked by a variety of pests and diseases, ranging from aphids and cutworms to mildew and rot, and of course they must compete with weeds. To combat these problems, conventional farmers spray pepper fields with a variety of pesticides before, after, and several times during the growth cycle. According to the Pesticide Action Network, sweet bell peppers are sprayed with 49 known or probable carcinogens, nine suspected hormone disruptors and nine neurotoxins.

Of course you want to keep those chemicals out of your body, but we also want to keep that stuff out of the water table and the broader environment. Whenever possible, support organic farmers and buy organic bell peppers. 

-Mark

Comments

[Jill Tondu]

Thanks for the info Mark - "Hormone disrupters" sound especially bogus.

[Scott C]

This is propaganda by organic farmers. I don't have anything against organic food, but your should know what you are buying. Here are a few points that were left out so the reader would assume otherwise:

1) Organic foods also contain pesticides. The only requirement is that the pesticide not be man made. This also means that the pesticide is not nearly as effective as man made pesticides. So it may take 7 treatments of an organic pesticide to be as effective as 2 treatments as a man made one. Remember, many things are toxic; it is the dose that makes the poison.

2) Organic pesticides are not tested for their toxicity and how long they persist. The incorrect assumption has been that something natural is safe and man made is not. But this is not true, natural poison will kill you just as synthetic poison will.

3) The USDA study samples included organic foods. See page 8 of the latest Pesticide Data Program (year 2008). "Samples are selected without regard to country of origin, variety, or organic labeling." So organic foods are included.

4) Look at the tables of data in the report. If pesticides are found they are often 100 times lower than the amount that is absolutely considered safe.

You can find the USDA's report on their website. Google: usda pesticide data program

[Houston personal injury]

I am only know that by adding organic peppers in our dish it becomes spicy but not know that it has these many benefits. One of the most benefits is It will reduce cholesterol and inflammation.