Even our health foods are poisoned with this shit. Amazing. Funniest part is they found higher concentrations of PFAS in the organic kale, further destroying any meaning for that label.
Studies have previously found PFAS in vegetables in fields where sewage sludge was laid as an alternative to fertilizer, and the FDA claimed it had “no indication” of a health threat in PFAS it found in vegetables grown in 2018 near a North Carolina PFAS manufacturing plant.
So… I can keep eating kale? Also, is there any point to the “organic” stuff or is eating the normal stuff okay?
eating produce is gonna be good for you. wash your produce, especially if it's part of the "generally consumed raw" family. peeling them can be a good idea too.
the origin of the organic ag movement had legit critiques of consolidation of food production around chemical companies. the IFOAM founding documents (international federation of organic agriculture movements) had a shitload to say about labor exploitation and worker safety that was dropped when the USDA began developing the regulatory rule for organic agriculture in 1980s-1990s. because who gives a shit about broken down old farmworkers with neurological tremors from chronic exposure to whatever the fuck?
at the time of public comment for the rule, it was the most publicly commented on piece of regulatory language in US history.... and back in 1989, the organic movement was a lot smaller than it is now. my point being, it was a very small but very engaged group of people that made up this movement in the beginning. the focus of the movement, originally, was about protecting natural resources and laborers. but it became, in typical capitalist fashion, about conspicuous consumption and being "safer/healthier" to eat for consumers.
more or less, is food produced using organic principles better for the environment where it was produced compared to "conventially" grown food? that is a controversial topic and the stakeholders are at each others' throats about it. not to mention, the rules adopted by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) are constantly under pressure to be more accommodating to "industry". a lot of organic growers stopped fighting for organic as soon as it became a USDA label. a lot more checked out when it accommodated hydroponics. so even the language of "what is organic" is contested and there is a shitload of disinformation or just bunk surrounding it, most of it put out by individuals or institutions with a lot at stake over its growth, one way or the other.
organic is mostly marketing bullshit from what i understand. they just end up using different pesticides a great deal of the time anyway. the main thing is to wash your fruits and veggies thoroughly before eating
not much you can do about the lead and shit