The blog headline is from a song lyric which literally comes to mind whenever we are dealing with the Environmental Working Group, the authors of the “Dirty Dozen” list.  EWG is very adept at using inflammatory language to call into question the safety of fruits and veggies.  However, whenever we ask (which we’ve done repeatedly) for clarification or more information about their statements, they either refuse to answer, go off on a different subject or simply begin leveling inaccurate accusations about farmers, our organization or both.  So, we’ll try again.  To EWG, here are some often asked questions from us, as well as our members, about the “Dirty Dozen” list and related issues.  We would appreciate a concise answer that is not laden with hyperbole and fiery adjectives.  Just answer with the facts please.

Your Contradictary Statements

• How do you justify saying certain produce items are “doused in toxic pesticides” and then in the very next sentence recommend that consumers eat those fruits and veggies?
• Since you recommend that people consume conventionally grown produce, then you must agree that they are safe, correct?   

Your List

• There are many discrepancies between the USDA PDP report findings and your list.  For example, you state that USDA sampling found 78 different pesticides residues on lettuce.  However, your claim is not substantiated by the USDA data – not even close!  So how can you say there were 78 different pesticide residues found?  Please address why there is such a discrepancy between the USDA sampling data and your statements?
• You stated in your press release last week, “EWG researchers analyzed annual pesticide residue tests conducted by the USDA and federal Food and Drug Administration between 2000 and 2010. The samples were first washed or peeled prior to being tested so the rankings reflect the amounts of the crop chemicals likely present on the food when is it eaten.”  When generating your list, are you combining 10 years of data compiled by USDA and FDA?  If so, then wouldn’t this mean that you are including decade old sampling results but presenting them as what was currently found?
• You stated yesterday that “the USDA's pesticide data - the data we use to create our Shopper's Guide - is generated AFTER food is washed or peeled.”  You also acknowledge using FDA sampling data (see statement above).  However, the samples pulled by FDA and included in your “list” compilation are not washed or peeled so why do you continue making inaccurate statements about all the samples being washed?
• And, why do you constantly attack the FDA’s recommendation that “washing” can reduce and often eliminate residues if they are present on fruits and vegetables, which most agree is a healthful habit for both organic and conventional produce? 
• Which of your “researchers” actually compile the statistics and generate the report? 
• You often make statements about “high levels of pesticides.”  Can you please provide us with a range of residue levels you would define as “high.”
• Finally, many experts question the scientific validity and the methodology used to compile your list (including a peer reviewed paper in the Journal of Toxicology), so why don’t submit your report and corresponding list to a respected, credible scientific journal for peer review?

Your Response to Our Consumer Research/Scared Fat Report

• Our new consumer research shows your statements may result in decreased consumption of fruits and veggies, especially among low income consumers.  You stated that you are “100% certain that any decline in fresh produce consumption is not attributable to the EWG shopper’s guide.”  So, why don’t you conduct your own consumer survey in a transparent way as we did and prove us wrong? 
• If your mission statement is to “use the power of information to protect human health,” then wouldn’t you want to ensure your list and your statements aren’t having the opposite effect of your stated mission by reducing the consumption of healthy fruits and vegetables?
• What is your advice for the almost 10 percent of low income consumers who stated in the consumer survey they would reduce their consumption after hearing about the “Dirty Dozen” list?  

Your Statements About Pesticide Use

• Yesterday, you stated that “as long as AFF’s members continue to spray pesticides on food, EWG will continue to make sure the public knows which crops carry the highest and lowest levels of pesticide residues.”   Can you tell us what pesticides (organic or conventional) are ok for farmers to use?  (Your group likes to compile lists, so give us one and we’ll share it with our members.) 

Your Statements About the Alliance for Food and Farming

• Why do you continue to call us a “pro-pesticide front group” when our 2011 Tax Return clearly shows that we don’t receive any money or support at all from any pesticide company or group? 
• Why do you call us “Big Ag” when our total annual budget is much less than your president’s annual salary and most of the individual salaries of your top executives (We’ve attached a link to your federal tax return here which list your top salaried executives.)

We actually have many many more questions, but we’ll stop there.  Remember, EWG, all we’re asking for are answers with the facts attributed please.  We would appreciate you posting your answers as comments on this blog or email them directly to info@foodandfarming.info

It’s been a couple weeks since we sent the Environmental Working Group our blog with a list of questions and/or clarifications about their “Dirty Dozen” list.  We also reached out to EWG via their Facebook page and their Huffington Post blog to see if we could obtain those answers.  But, EWG has remained strangely silent and has not answered or addressed one single question.  Not one.  EWG has, once again, resorted to their standard diversionary tactic of leveling misleading attacks about who the Alliance is, which they do whenever the conversation turns in an uncomfortable direction. 

But, then it occurred to us that they simply don’t have any answers to our questions.  EWG’s information is jumbled, often hypocritical and lacking in science.  So when asked for clarification or the scientific basis for the information presented, they have nowhere to go and no answers to give.

But, we’ll keep asking our questions of EWG in an effort to make them accountable.  And, we'll keep providing consumers with credible, science based information about the safety of organic and conventionally grown fruits and vegetables.  And while safefruitsandveggies.com has an ever-increasing amount of information and science, there is still much more to come.  Unfortunately for the EWG, more science from us also means more questions for them.    

They answered us.  Finally.  And, with good news!  The Environmental Working Group unequivocally states that “EWG believes that both organic and conventional produce is safe to eat.”  Further, their advice for low income consumers who may reduce consumption after hearing EWG’s “Dirty Dozen” list statements: “Our advice to these consumers is the same for everybody: Eat more fruits and vegetables!  The health benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables outweigh the risks of pesticide exposure.” 

Of equal importance, EWG also admitted that they are combining years old sampling data with current data to generate their so-called list.  Some of this sampling data is almost a decade old.

It should be noted that most of EWG answers were still muddled or indirect and they often reverted back into their contradictory, fear-based messaging position.  As expected, many of our questions were also met with EWG’s standard rudeness and sarcasm as well as attacks on our organization.  But EWG’s statements regarding the safety of all produce, their recommendation to eat more, their acknowledgement of the Alliance’s consumer research findings as well as EWG’s admission that they are relying on years old data when compiling their list are key. 

They are key because these answers by EWG open the door for us to ask our real question: “Why publish a list like this at all?”

Recently, guest bloggers Dr. Richard Reiss and Dr. John DeSesso described several studies which showed the importance of pregnant women consuming a diet rich in fruits and vegetables.  But there are also numerous studies that show the importance of a healthy diet among toddlers and children.  Below are just a couple of examples.

Children who lack access to healthy foods, particularly fruit and vegetables, are twice as likely to develop behavioral problems, according to an April 2011 peer-reviewed study from the Queensland University Technology Institute of Health.  Food insecure households were between 25 percent and 40 percent less likely to consume the recommended servings of fruit and between 15 percent and 25 percent less likely to consume adequate servings of vegetables. The study found that children are two and half times more likely to display behavioral problems if they live in a food insecure household. 

Toddlers who have a diet high in processed foods may have a slightly lower IQ in later life, according to a British peer-reviewed study described as the biggest research effort of its kind. The 20 percent of children who ate the most processed food had an average IQ of 101 points, compared with 106 for the 20 percent of children who ate the most "health-conscious" foods.   The study was published in February 2011 and conducted by the University of Bristol, School of Social and Community Medicine.

With food costs projected to rise, efforts to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among low income populations could continue to be challenging.  Safety fears advanced by activists groups, like the Environmental Working Group, have also been shown to have a negative effect on consumer’s consumption habits, especially among low income consumers. 

But, with EWG’s recent and strong statement about their belief in the safety of eating both conventional and organic produce and the need to eat more, the Alliance is hopeful that they will abandon using their past negative and misleading messages concerning safety and “dirty” produce.  It’s just time to do the right thing and focus on helping to improve the diets of Americans, not denigrate and disparage the very foods that  scientists have proven we should be eating more of for better health. 

Some positive news from the Environmental Working Group.  Their new guide “Good Food On A Tight Budget” for low income consumers does an excellent job of promoting healthy eating and consumption of multiple servings of fruits and vegetables.  EWG has partnered with Share Our Strength to develop this new guide, which will be officially released tomorrow, and get it into the hands of low income consumers. 

However, this new and promising effort and direction from EWG makes it even more crucial that they drop their negative and misleading messaging which calls into question the safety of fruits and vegetables.  Ironically just last week EWG actually compared conventionally grown produce to junk food and implied that it should only be eaten in moderation.  How does EWG balance this message with their new guide’s recommendation to low income consumers to eat five to nine servings of fruits and veggies every day?  Or, how does incorrectly calling safe and healthy fruits and veggies “laden with toxic chemicals” helpful in efforts to increase consumption?  The answer comes in the Alliance’s recent Scared Fat report, which shows these types of statements from EWG results in reduced consumption of fruits and vegetables among low income consumers.

So, EWG, in order to effectively promote your new guide which clearly seeks to improve the diets of low income consumers, it would seem that you would need to drop your other guide, the “Dirty Dozen” list, since the messaging used counteracts the other.  You can’t compare healthy produce to junk food and unfairly disparage the safety of fruits and veggies one week and then tell consumers the very next week to eat five to nine servings (especially since some of the low cost produce you recommend is on the “Dirty Dozen” list!).  It makes no sense and you really have no choice but to abandon those misleading statements and claims if you really want your new guide to succeed.

Overall, we are encouraged by EWG’s new initiative and guide for healthy, low cost eating.  We hope that this represents a new direction for them.  And, we’ll happily remind consumers that EWG’s new guide states: “Add more fruits and vegetables to your meal plan.  Fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables.  You can get 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day for about the cost of a bus ride in most cities.”  That is something we can all agree on and it is a strong, clear and concise message for consumers!

Today, there is widespread media coverage of a new peer reviewed study from Stanford University’s Center for Public Health Policy which found that there are little nutritional differences between organic and conventional produce.  Further, the Stanford study stated that any levels of pesticide residues found on fruits and veggies were almost always under the Environmental Protection Agency’s stringent safety limits.

This study underscores what the Alliance for Food and Farming has been stating all along – both organic and conventionally grown produce is very safe and very nutritious.  Choose either with confidence but eat more fruits and vegetables for better health.  It is just that simple.

While we watch the continued media coverage and uproar over Stanford University’s recently published paper (Are Organic Foods Safer or Healthier Than Conventional Alternatives), we are perplexed by the controversy.   After all, the Stanford study simply showed that organic and conventionally grown produce are equally nutritious and that both are safe.  Isn’t this good news for consumers? 

But in the midst of this paper’s release, came another report from USDA’s Economic Research Service.  This report showed that 10% of American households were not able to provide their children with “adequate, nutritious” food at times during 2011.  Here lies the real issue.  Low income consumers already struggle to put healthy and nutritious foods on their tables.  This is why the reassurance that more affordable, conventionally grown produce is nutritious and safe is of crucial importance. 

To further illustrate this point, a recent consumer survey from the Alliance for Food and Farming found that almost 10% of low income consumers said that they would reduce consumption of fruits and vegetables after hearing the Environmental Working Group’s negative safety messages when promoting their so-called “Dirty Dozen” list.  The prevalence of EWG’s scary and misleading messaging is what the Alliance is working diligently to counter with credible, science based information since misguided fears can clearly become a consumption barrier.

Stanford’s findings should reassure all consumers that buying more fruits and vegetables – organic and conventional – is the right thing to do for their families.  As our panel of scientists and experts recently concluded in the Scared Fat report:  “Regrettably some well-intentioned media and internet reports on food safety may create a situation where some consumers feel like they are making inferior choices when they buy conventionally grown fruits and vegetables rather than organic.”  The experts further concluded that it is inaccurate to suggest that organic is the only safe choice when it comes to selecting safe fruits and vegetables.

Like most in the produce industry, the Alliance represents both organic and conventional farmers.  There is no “us versus them” mentality that we’ve all seen so much of in blogs, social media or the comment streams.  Our message to consumers is simply to choose either with confidence.  Both are safe and nutritious so eat more for better health.  These recent reports would seem to support this position.

Our industry has done a remarkable job of providing consumers with a wide and abundant array or fruits and vegetables grown safely.  Our products are the healthiest in the store!  The amount of organic and conventional choices now available should be celebrated.  The controversy is unnecessary. 

We repeat:  Read, learn, choose but eat more with confidence.  It’s that simple. 

Yesterday, the Environmental Working Group made the following webinar announcement: “Please join us on Friday to hear EWG experts talk about the methodology used to score the household cleaning products in EWG's Guide to Healthy Cleaning.” 

The Alliance is encouraged that EWG is being more forthcoming about the development of their “Guide to Healthy Cleaning” but we call on EWG to hold a similar webinar to discuss the methodology of their so-called “Dirty Dozen” list.  For years, the produce industry has asked the Environmental Working Group to fully explain the methodology used to develop this list without success.  A webinar would give scientists, industry experts, farmers and the media a rare opportunity to get direct answers from EWG.     

We would ask that EWG follow the example set by the Alliance in the webinars that we have hosted and conduct their webinar with transparency and not censor questions from participants.  To be clear, whenever the Alliance has hosted a webinar to announce and discuss scientific information and studies newly available on the safefruitsandveggies.com website, we have directly invited EWG to participate and have answered every single question asked by participants.

As always, we’ll send this webinar request directly to EWG today and let everyone know their answer. But, if they decline or ignore this request, that will be quite telling in itself.  

The Dr. Oz Show can now be credited with creating renewed fear among parents about feeding their children healthy and safe fruits and vegetables - the very foods health initiatives like the First Lady’s Let’s Move campaign are promoting.   However, health experts, scientists, consumer advocates and environmental groups all recommend that consumers eat more conventional and organic produce for better health.  The science and the facts support that both production practices are very safe and consumers can choose either with confidence.  The Alliance strongly encourages people to read, learn, choose, but eat more fruits and veggies for better health.

In response to the Dr. Oz Show segment, the Alliance joined with the Produce Marketing Association, United Fresh Produce Association and Western Growers Association in issuing the following statement: 

"Produce farmers are committed to providing safe and healthy fruits and vegetables to consumers.  This is the same food they feed their own families.  The facts stand strong – the health benefits of eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables (both conventional and organic) is well known and well documented.  Decades of nutritional studies show that people who eat more fruits and vegetables have improved health and longer lives – these studies were largely conducted using conventionally grown fruits and vegetables.

Further, recent peer reviewed studies show that children who lack access to healthy foods, particularly fruits and vegetables, are twice as likely to develop behavioral problems.  Poor diets in children have also been associated with a five point drop in IQ.

Our organizations represent both organic and conventional farmers and we strongly affirm the safety of both production practices.  The use of pesticides on organic and conventional farms is stringently regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Food and Drug Administration, the United States Department of Agriculture as well as state and local regulatory authorities.  Produce farmers work with these regulatory bodies to ensure responsible use of organic and conventional pesticides.  It’s in their best interest – not only for the safety of consumers, but for their families as well.

We urge consumers to learn more about the safety of organic and conventionally grown produce by visiting safefruitsandveggies.com.  Read, learn, choose, but eat more fruits and vegetables for improved health."

The Alliance also issued the following press release today in response to the Dr. Oz Show.

Healthier!

Last week, a new peer reviewed study published in the journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology underscored the importance of eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables.  That study concluded that an estimated 20,000 cancer cases could be prevented if half of all Americans increased their consumption of fruits and veggies by a single serving. 

The paper also examined  potential cancer risk from pesticide residues and concluded, “the overwhelming difference between benefit and risk estimates provides confidence that consumers should not be concerned about cancer risks from consuming conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables.” 

These findings reinforce decades of past nutritional and toxicological studies as well as the repeated message from health experts, the government, consumer advocates and environmental groups that consumers should eat more organic and conventional fruits and vegetables and that both production practices provide safe food. 

Happier!

And, there is even more reason to enjoy the bounty found in today’s produce section – eating more fruits and veggies can make you happier!  Economists and public health researchers in the United Kingdom studied the eating habits of 80,000 people and found that mental well-being appeared to rise with the number of daily portions of fruits and vegetables people consumed.  According to one of the researchers, “This study has shown surprising results and I have decided it is prudent to eat more fruits and vegetables.  I am keen to stay cheery.” 

What other food group can boast such vast nutritional benefits and now maybe even promote happiness?  And, why is this same food group so often disparaged with misleading information and erroneous safety claims?  It would seem that the new peer-reviewed consumption study provides yet another science-based example of why this unfair disparagement of safe and healthy fruits and vegetables should stop.

And, based on the new “happiness” study, the Alliance may have to amend our favorite recommendation to consumers that they “read, learn, choose but eat more fruits and vegetables for better health,” to “eat more for better health and to stay cheery!” 

For those of us who read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books about life in the late 1800s, we can all agree that learning more about that time was fascinating and entertaining.  But, most of us can also agree that we wouldn’t want to live that lifestyle, especially women.  If you recall, the majority of “Ma” Ingalls’ days revolved around growing food, prepping food, canning and preserving food and cooking food.

As we celebrate Food Day tomorrow, it is a good time to consider how modern farming has freed most Americans to work in other industries and endeavors.  Like the Ingalls family, many of us still have home gardens, bake our own bread or can vegetables.  But most do so because they want to, not because they have to. 

The reality is that today’s farmers have greatly increased our access to a wide and diverse array of healthy and affordable fruits and vegetables.  Consumers also have more choices in where they source or purchase their foods.  They can choose to make a special trip to a farmers market or get their produce from community farms.  But, the majority of us still prefer the convenience of purchasing our food at the grocery store because it allows us more time to do other things. 

This increased access to fruit and veggies has directly coincided with a decrease in cancer rates and heart disease and a longer life expectancy.  In fact, a peer reviewed study published last week found that 20,000 cancer cases could be prevented if half of Americans increased their consumption of fruits and veggies by a single serving. 

Ironically, that healthy tide is turning. Fruit and vegetable consumption is stagnating and obesity rates are soaring.  This is occurring despite repeated calls from health officials, the government, the nutrition community, consumer advocates and environmental groups for us to eat more organic and conventionally grown produce to improve health.

At the Alliance for Food and Farming, our goal is to provide consumers with more information so that they can make educated choices about the fruits and vegetables they purchase.  But, we also work to reassure consumers about the safety of organic and conventionally grown fruits and vegetables. Our hope is that as consumers learn more about how organic and conventional produce is grown and who is growing them – they’ll consume more.  (Our “Ask the Experts” section of this website gives consumers the opportunity to hear directly from farmers about organic and conventional production practices and why growing safe food is their highest priority.)

Tomorrow’s Food Day is a “celebration and movement for healthy, affordable and sustainable food.” It serves as a good reminder for everyone to embrace today’s choices and enjoy the bounty of fruits and vegetables available to us.  And, most importantly, be thankful for our farmers.  

Yesterday, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation issued a press release which stated: “The majority of fresh produce samples collected by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) in 2011 had no detectable pesticide residues, and residues that were detected generally fell well below allowable limits to protect public health.” 

California’s sampling program findings underscore similar findings released by the United States Department of Agriculture Pesticide Data Program (PDP) in May.  USDA stated:  “The 2010 PDP report confirms that food does not pose a safety concern based upon pesticide residues.” 

California DPR tested 2,707 samples of domestic and imported produce.  DPR found that 60.8 percent of the samples had no pesticide residues detected.  And, 35.8 percent had residues that were within allowable limits set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  The fruits and vegetables sampled by DPR were not washed or peeled prior to testing.

“We want to emphasize that most produce has no detectable pesticide residues and when there are residues, they are at such a low level they are not a health risk,” DPR Director Brian Leahy stated in the press release.

These state and federal government residue sampling programs verify that farmers are following the stringent pesticide use regulations set in place to protect the safety of our food supply.  In addition to sampling conducted by USDA and the Federal Food and Drug Administration, many states, like California, conduct their own sampling programs to protect consumers and local environments.

California DPR joins with the FDA in recommending washing fruits and vegetables for those consumers who may still be concerned about pesticide residues.  DPR states:  “Washing will remove most surface waxes and residues, along with dirt and bacterial contamination.”  FDA states: “Washing fresh produce before eating is a healthful habit. You can reduce and often eliminate residues if they are present on fresh fruits and vegetables.” 

The positive sampling results by yet another government agency should help reinforce the recommendations by health experts, nutritionists, consumer advocates and environmental groups to eat more of either conventional or organic fruits and vegetables for improved health.  These new results also reinforce the key consumer message of the Alliance for Food and Farming which is to read, learn, choose but eat more organic and conventional fruits and vegetables with confidence.  Both farming methods produce safe and healthy foods that you and your family should be eating more of.  So enjoy!

Just two short months after the Dr. Oz Show did a segment titled, “Are Pesticides the Greatest Risk to Your Kids’ Health,” Dr. Mehmet Oz seems to have done an about face.  In this week’s Time Magazine, Dr. Oz authored an editorial where he takes a position very much in alignment with the Alliance for Food and Farming’s “Scared Fat” report. 

Among the statements in his editorial:  “After several years of research and experience, I have come to an encouraging conclusion:  the American food supply is abundant, nutritionally sound, affordable and, with a few simple considerations, comparable to the most elite organic diets.  Save the cash; the 99% diet can be good for you.”  Dr. Oz also discusses the importance of “dispelling myths” and that he considers it a “public-health service” and “critical to improving our nation’s health” to communicate to mom’s trying to feed their families that non-organic, more affordable foods are healthy and nutritious.  He also expresses concern that consumers are becoming “dejected” and “alienated” by today’s foodie culture.

While this turnaround by Dr. Oz is surprising given the verbiage and rhetoric used during the recent Dr. Oz Show, we welcome it.  Maybe there was a realization that his show’s content was scaring consumers away from healthy and safe fruits and vegetables – the Scared Fat report certainly showed that. 

So there is hope.  Since we launched the safefruitsandveggies.com website, our goal was to provide consumers, especially moms, a place to go to find science-based, credible information about the safety of organic and conventional fruits and veggies.  It was time to counter the flood of misinformation perpetrated by activist groups that continually called into question the safety of produce.  Whether the activists are motivated by altruism or financial gain is irrelevant.  The result is the same – their words raise concern with little regard for the science.  Upon hearing those words, 10 percent of low income consumers say they will reduce their consumption of fruits and vegetables and another 10% say they don’t know what they should do.

At the Alliance, we embrace consumer choice, however, we also embrace informed choice.  As the activist groups clearly understand, instilling fear shuts down rationale communication and dialogue and inhibits our decision-making ability (again as evidenced by the Scared Fat report).  This is why the turnaround by Dr. Oz is so crucial in helping to ease these fears.  Dr. Oz  can be that calming voice which could open the door to a more reasonable dialogue so that consumers don’t feel fearful, dejected or alienated when making food choices.

Safefruitsandveggies.com provides a venue where consumers can go to learn, read and then choose what is best for their families.  It’s time for rationale, science based information, not fear, to lead the discussion about the safety of organic and conventionally grown fruits and vegetables.  Don’t Moms deserve better?  Don't Moms deserve the truth?

Just in time for holiday meal planning, the new paper concerning produce consumption and cancer prevention is now in print in the peer reviewed journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology.  That study concluded that an estimated 20,000 cancer cases could be prevented if half of all Americans increased their consumption of fruits and veggies by a single serving.  So while you are busy studying recipes and planning meals, it may be wise to add one more vegetable to the dinner menu or a fruit plate with your holiday breakfast. 

It should be noted that the paper also examined  potential cancer risk from pesticide residues and concluded, “the overwhelming difference between benefit and risk estimates provides confidence that consumers should not be concerned about cancer risks from consuming conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables.” 

This paper serves as another important reminder to consumers that choosing either conventional or organic produce is a safe and healthy choice for families.  And, that eating even a little bit more produce each day can improve your health.

So enjoy all the wonderful holiday foods this season, but remember to put a few more fruits and veggies on your plate.

As we begin 2013, the Alliance for Food and Farming is more committed than ever to providing consumers with fact-based, credible information about the safety of conventional and organic fruits and vegetables.  Our goal remains to remove fear as a barrier to consumption and give moms truthful information to help them make educated shopping choices for their families.

As part of this goal, we will continue to work to correct misleading information perpetuated by activist groups and the media.  Whatever their motivation, the net effect of their fear-based messaging  is a negative one and it undermines the efforts of the government, the First Lady and health experts everywhere to promote eating more fruits and vegetables. 

This fear-based messaging is even more concerning since it is not supported by facts or science.  The language is inflammatory and exaggerations are commonplace.  Ironically, some of this verbiage has resulted in increased questions about the safety of organic pesticides and those residues.  Therefore the Alliance will launch a new webpage so that consumers can see the stringent government standards and regulations regarding the use of organic pesticides in place to ensure the safety of organic fruits and veggies.

As part of our outreach efforts in 2013, the Alliance will also continue to remind consumers about the decades of nutritional research that shows how eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables promotes better health.  These studies were largely conducted using conventionally grown produce. The nutrition facts are indisputable and a new peer-reviewed study which showed that 20,000 cancer cases could be prevented if half of Americans increased their consumption of fruits and veggies by a single serving is yet another example.

The Alliance is proud to advocate about the safety of fruits and vegetables on behalf of the organic and conventional farmers we represent who work hard every day to deliver the safest and healthiest foods to American families.  Our information is science-based, peer-reviewed and has not been disputed.

Moms, parents and consumers everywhere deserve better information about the safety of fruits and vegetables.  We hope that people visit our website, read our information,  learn more about organic and conventional growing practices and then choose what works best for their families.  Raising fear without facts is a disservice to consumers.  Moms deserve factual, science based and balanced information.  Moms deserve the truth.

Last Friday, the United States Department of Agriculture released its annual Pesticide Data Program report results.  Once again, USDA strongly reiterated that “U.S. food does not pose a safety concern based upon pesticide residues.”  The Environmental Protection Agency echoed that statement and added that “EPA remains committed to a rigorous, science-based and transparent regulatory program for pesticides.”

But this year, under the Obama Administration, both the USDA and EPA did a stellar job further explaining to consumers about the food safety processes in the Q and A and “What Consumers Should Know” portions of the PDP report.  Both sections clearly and concisely explained how the government and corresponding regulatory processes and systems are protective of all consumers, including infants and children.  We applaud the inclusion of this food safety information within the context of the report since it will be so very reassuring to consumers.

While the issue of pesticide residues often gets attention from both social and traditional media outlets, the release of this report and the important accompanying statements by USDA/EPA receive very little coverage each year.  The adage that “good news rarely gets attention” may apply here.  Ironically, there are groups that manipulate and twist the USDA PDP results to generate their own “reports” in a manner that unfairly disparages the safety of conventionally grown, more affordable produce.  This misleading information raises fear and concerns among consumers and, unfortunately, does generate media coverage since it communicates perceived “bad news.”    

But, raising fear without facts is a disservice to families trying to put healthy food on the table. And, this manipulation of government data at the expense of consumer confidence is a detriment to public health, especially when American’s need to include more fruits and vegetables in their daily diets.

Families deserve, factual, science based and balanced information – the Obama Administration provided that on Friday through the information presented in the Pesticide Data Report.  Hopefully, when faced with future manipulations of the PDP report, consumers and others will go back, review the content of the report and remember what it actually said – it was, in fact, very good news.

Read, learn, choose but eat more organic and conventionally grown produce for improved health.

Last week marked the three year anniversary of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign.  The “Let’s Move” objective is to create a healthier future for our children.  A key element of the campaign is promoting healthy eating and increased consumption and access to fruits and vegetables.  Many of the communities targeted by “Let’s Move” are lower income, also a key demographic for other government and private organizations looking to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables.

While the Alliance strongly supports consumption of both organic and conventional fruits and veggies, the fact that conventionally grown produce continues to be more affordable and accessible must be acknowledged and addressed, especially when promoting healthy eating in lower income communities.  And when certain agenda-based groups and organizations unfairly and incorrectly state that conventionally grown produce is “unsafe,” it is a disservice to these consumers and a detriment to the objectives of public health campaigns, like “Let’s Move.”

This is why it is imperative that factual, science based information reaches all consumers – and why the safefruitsandveggies.com website was created. We must provide balance to these fear-based and unfounded messages that are unfortunately becoming pervasive in traditional and social media.  A great example of safety information that was clearly and concisely presented to consumers was the Obama Administration’s release of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Pesticide Data Program report.  In the report content, both USDA and the Environmental Protection Agency strongly stated that “U.S. food does not pose a safety concern based upon pesticide residues.”  That’s pretty clear.

Interestingly, the timing of this statement by the Obama Administration reassuring consumers about the safety of fruits and veggies coincided with the anniversary celebration of “Let’s Move.”  It was good to see the government’s safety message and the First Lady’s “eat more” message presented simultaneously. 

At the Alliance, we believe that consumers deserve the truth about the safety and healthfulness of all fruits and vegetables.  We also believe that facts, not fear, should guide our food choices.  And the facts are that both conventional and organic fruits and vegetables are very safe and we should all be eating more for better health.  The USDA PDP report and the First Lady did a good job of reiterating that last week. 

Alliance blogs and a Food Safety News editorial have focused on the recently released results of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Pesticide Data Program.  We wanted to share the positive report results to help reassure consumers that eating more organic and conventional fruits and veggies is the right choice for their families – both are very safe and should be eaten with confidence. 

However, we know that in the coming weeks certain groups will “re-interpret” and “re-package” the USDA PDP results and somehow turn a positive food safety story into a negative one.  What motivates groups to do this is open for discussion, but this negative “re-interpretation” of USDA’s report into so-called shopping guides and "good produce/bad produce" lists receives media coverage every year. 

However, this manipulation of government data is yet another clear example of how these groups raise food safety fears without facts and unfairly disparage the safety of conventionally grown, more affordable produce. And the result is that these efforts are having a negative impact on consumer choice, they are a disservice to families struggling to put healthy food on the table, and they’re becoming a detriment to public health efforts aimed at raising consumption of fruits and vegetables. 

The Alliance’s goal is to present factual, balanced and science based information to counter this type of food safety misinformation that is prevalent today.  With this goal in mind, we will continue to remind people what the USDA report actually says – “U.S. food does not pose a safety concern based upon pesticide residues.”  We will remind people about the accompanying statement from the Environmental Protection Agency – “The newest data from the PDP program confirm that pesticide residues in food do not pose a safety concern for Americans. EPA remains committed to a rigorous, science-based, and transparent regulatory program for pesticides that continues to protect people’s health and the environment.”

Further, we’ll remind the media and consumers that independent scientists who examined certain groups’  “re-packaged” data found that the methodology they used did not follow any established scientific procedures, that risk was not examined and therefore the resulting shopping lists/guides should not be used by consumers when making purchasing decisions.  (The most recent analysis can be found in the peer-reviewed Journal of Toxicology. )

Finally, we’ll ask consumers and the media to simply read the actual USDA PDP report whenever groups try and spin the positive results into something negative.  After all, why read a questionable “re-interpretation” when you could just read the actual report itself?

Read, learn, choose and eat more organic and conventional fruits and veggies for improved health.

A recent Yahoo Shine article examined the difficulties of eating a healthy diet while living in poverty and relying on food stamps (now renamed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP).  As the article pointed out, the average American family spends about $21.57 per person per day on food.  However, those living in poverty often have only $4.00 per person per day to spend.

Many politicians, chefs and others have taken the week-long “SNAP Challenge” to better understand the difficulties low income Americans face to put healthy and satisfying meals on the table for $4.00 per person.  Needless to say, those who take the SNAP Challenge find that it is exactly that – a challenge.

The Yahoo Shine article focused on The Biro family of four from Boston who recently accepted the SNAP Challenge (Peter Biro also wrote a more in-depth essay documenting their week).  Here are a couple excerpts from the Yahoo Shine article:

"I was surprised by how hard it is to fit into the diet the fruits and vegetables that our family is used to eating," she told Yahoo! Shine. "That was probably the most striking shift for us."

"I don't think I ever really stepped back and thought, 'How much does the food on my plate actually cost?'" he told Yahoo! Shine. Checking daily sales at local supermarkets helped him stretch his grocery dollars, and buying in bulk at Costco and cooking from scratch helped him save even more, but he recognizes that the working poor wouldn't have the time or money to do either.

Those involved in efforts to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables know that cost and convenience are both barriers to eating more produce.  Therefore when activists and other groups unfairly disparage the safety of more affordable and accessible fruits and vegetables it is a disservice to consumers, especially those that fall into the low income category, and public health in general.  What motivates these groups to promote and publicize negative, misleading safety messages that are counterproductive to public health efforts is probably irrelevant because the net effect is the same – their efforts may be scaring people away from the very foods we should all be eating more of.

Therefore, the Alliance is issuing this challenge to groups that continually and unfairly disparage healthy and more affordable conventionally grown fruits and vegetables:  Take the SNAP Challenge and limit your spending to $4.00 per person per day on food for one week.  For groups that promote “good produce, bad produce,” shopping lists we have an additional challenge.  Take the SNAP Challenge while adhering to your so-called “shopping guide” lists.  Can your families consume the recommended amount of fruits and veggies using these “lists” on $4.00 per person a day?

After taking the challenge, maybe these groups will agree that the best advice for all consumers is the most simple – eat more of conventional and organic produce.  Both are very safe and can be eaten with confidence.  And decades of nutritional studies show that the health benefits of eating a diet rich in fruits and veggies is indisputable.  So, if one choice is more accessible or affordable, the right choice is always to eat more.  

So,  who will agree to take the SNAP Challenge first?  We’ll let you know. 

The Alliance for Food and Farming has updated the safefruitsandveggies.com website with an easier to navigate research section and some new additions.  The research section has been re-formatted so the peer reviewed food safety reports and government studies are more accessible.  The Alliance has also added a link to the recently released USDA Pesticide Data Report so that consumers can review those positive government findings more easily.

In addition, the Alliance has added a new section called “A Dozen Reasons:  Why Eating Both Conventional and Organic Produce is the Right Choice for Your Family.”  This section features quotable quotes and statements from peer reviewed papers which underscore why eating more fruits and veggies – whether conventionally or organically grown – is always the right choice for improved health.

The safefruitsandveggies.com website continues to feature the popular “Pesticide Residue Calculator” which helps to illustrate how much of a produce item you could consume without any health effects from  pesticide residues.  Consumers can also view the “Ask the Experts” videos to see how conventional and organic farmers control pests and diseases in their fields and orchards as well as learn more from nutrition experts about the importance of consuming enough fruits and veggies each day.  The safefruitsandveggies.com website also includes detailed information about the rigorous government food safety standards in place today, a nutrition section and washing information from the Federal Food and Drug Administration.

The goal of the Alliance website is to provide consumers with science based, credible information so that facts, not fear, can guide healthy food choices.  We also hope to correct some very common misconceptions about the safety of fruits and vegetables which often undermine public health efforts to increase produce consumption. 

The Alliance welcomes feedback about our website content.  Please post a comment on this blog or on our Facebook page.