I've been watching some teevee (go Mariners!) lately. We usually try to mute the commercials, but lately I have been watching them b/c they have become more interesting! (black and white, arty, interesting music...I have to be careful that I don't get too mesmerized!) Anyway, I saw an ad for a product that is being sold for home use that you put in water and wash your vegetables with. Gets off pesticides and wax, etc. Only in America!!! What does that say about a society that puts pesticides into its food supply, and then turns around and sells you a product to wash it off! Honestly, that one just floors me! Thanks for reading my gripe.....

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), October 10, 2000

Answers

That is just one additional reason why my garden keeps getting bigger and bigger each year! We were hurt by the drought this year but still have a lot in the freezer and a lot canned. At least when we do it ourselves we know there were no chemicals there! (rabbit poop is such wonderful fertilizer! and they are so happy to make a continous supply! ha!)

-- Suzy in 'Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), October 10, 2000.

Im with you, Sheepish. The Mrs and I sat down for a rare moment and decided to flip on the tube. A commercial for a product called "FIT" came on. It sounds similar to the one you are talking about. The Mrs and I just looked at each other, wide-eyed. Niether of us could believe that such a thing existed. I said, "Well, Id just as soon that they didnt put all that garbage on my food in the first place and then I wouldnt have to wash it off." She says, "Me,too." We powered off the eternal cyclops and headed out to what is left of our garden.

-- William in WI (thetoebes@webtv.net), October 10, 2000.

They sell that stuff at Wally World here, right by the dishwashing detergent. You know, I am amazed at how many people think the stuff at the grocery store is safe to eat because of government. So many folks think the government is makeing farmers be so safe about what pesticides they can use and all that.As if there are any safe pesticides. The ones I talked to didn't even realize that most of the produce they bought out of season came from other countries without government intervention. As if we are supposed to think big brother is really conscerned for our health. PLEASE! I would rather eat the bugs than the pesticides!

-- Bonnie (josabo1@juno.com), October 10, 2000.

I think a lot of this is being driven by the consumer. They want 'perfect' vegetables and fruits. Horror of horrors if there is the slightest blemish or defect. Look at what is available in supermarkets. It all looks like it was cloned. It's not like the supermarket can return it because no one bought it before it spoils. The buyers will buy what the consumer will purchase. How can anyone eat a tomato, even if it looks perfect, when it might as well taste like red-dyed cardboard? Yet, they sell.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), October 10, 2000.

They have had this stuff in Japan for years; it was on the shelves when I was there for the summer of '76. Of course, there are other things to be thought of in Japan....like the use of "night honey" (human waste) in some of their field. Hey, if you think pig manure on spring fields smells bad, ya aughta smell people manure in the spring. And we think PIGS smell....!!!! And Japanese are even worse than us about some of their foods; they wrap the ripening fruit in paper bags, to prtect it from blemishes, and sell it at the stores in elaborate presentation boxes at elaborate prices. I stayed with a missionary who bought her veggies from a door-to-door vender. We were able to get good deals on tomatoes and bananas, since the Japanese like their tomatos on the green side, and their bananas positively green; if they were yellow at all, they were refused. And perish the thought of a black spot! Half of the meal presentation is the LOOKS of a meal in Japan.

-- Leann Banta (thelionandlamb@hotmail.com), October 10, 2000.

I read the label of one of the veggie washes. Seems it's mostly vinegar.

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), October 10, 2000.

Okay, what about the pesticides that end up INSIDE the fruits and veggies? They spray apples all through the growing. Can't wash that off. They say grapes and zucchinni are the worst.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), October 10, 2000.

Dee, yup! It's bad enough that somebody can actually market something to help us wash our vegetables (duh) but that we can cleanse them! Advertising and marketing are amazing. Only superceded by our incredible gullibility. Speaks volumes to our ability to elect decent leaders, but hey, an entirely different story and I'm not going there tonight...

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), October 10, 2000.

Strawberries, peas, and green beans are also very heavily pesticided apparently.

Supposedly these fruit/veggie washing solutions are also helping wash off "bad" bacteria, etc. I always wash anything that I buy, organic or not (though I can't remember when I bought something non- organic). I use a spray that I make myself by putting a bit of GSE (grapefruit seed extract) in a spray bottle and filling it with water. Spray the produce, let it sit a minute, then rinse it off. GSE is a natural bactericide. I imagine the vinegar would be a good one too. I buy the GSE at the health food store, but some of the sprouts web sites sell it too.

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), October 11, 2000.

Just because I have become rather cynical, I wonder if the company that sells the stuff to take the pesticides off is owned by a company that makes the pesticides? I always find those kinds of ties to be funny in a black comedy kind of a fashion.

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@yahoo.com), October 11, 2000.

Doreen, oh yeah! I had the same thoughts...probably made by Monsanto!

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), October 11, 2000.

Years ago, the owner of the health food store I worked at, said the highest concentration of pesticides in apples is in the core. She said not to eat to close go it.

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), October 11, 2000.

My nursing instructor advises many of the students to use this product. The reason...nothing to do with chemicals, just the simple fact that folks use the potty and then don't wash their hands. Then they go to the store and man handle all your fruit & veggies. Think about that next time you sink your chompers into a nice apple! And the organic foods have the same problems because they are sitting out just like everything else. Yuck! BTW, good handwashing should be a minimum of 15 seconds. Doesn't sound like much, but next time your in a public place sit on the toilet a sec and listen when someone leaves. How long did the sink run? Bet it wasn't very long & often they don't bother to wash at all!

-- Elle (hotging@aol.com), October 16, 2000.

Elle, hey! Folks not washing hands after using the toilet is one of my pet peeves! (reference to another thread going on currently.) LOL. I wash our vegetables from the garden if they are dirty. I ALWAYS wash fruits and vegetables from the store. I guess I just don't get why we need a SPECIAL product to wash them. Why not water and/or soap and water? I am not in favor of marketeers creating yet another artificial need in the populace, that's all. Good advice, though, about washing! Who knows where those hands have been, indeed!

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), October 16, 2000.

Hi Sheepish, be really, really careful of those washes. Some extend the life of fruits and vegetables but not human beings! I got so instantly, deathly sick when I ate from a salad bar that I have completely quit doing so, and I love salad type offerings. Some people have this same, instant illness from MSG, a useless additive that should also be banned, but I do not have a name for the washes, just know that restaurants use them. Maureen

-- Maureen Stevenson (maureen@mtaonline.net), October 16, 2000.