Organic September: food for thought.

19 August 2024

Laura Bate ACIPP, CIPP quality, environmental, safety and health executive, highlights the perils of pesticides and shares a number of cost-effective ideas on how to start your organic journey to help yourself and the planet

Many of our crops are grown using fertiliser, but the use of fossil fuel-based nitrogen fertiliser adds to the earth’s carbon emissions. More sustainable fertiliser comes from animal manure and using natural predators, such as ladybirds, can also control pests. Other pests can include aphids and locusts. When crops are rotated this allows soil to recover.

So, now’s probably a good time to consider how healthy your five-a-day really is. Completely converting to organic produce can be expensive, but here are some tips which may help you start your organic journey:

buy locally, for example, pick up organic fresh fruit and vegetables from your local farmers’ market
try to grow some of your own fruit and vegetables
buy seasonal, as buying out of season can be expensive
wear organic clothing – clothes that aren’t made from conventionally grown crops
choose organic beauty products that are free from genetically modified organisms, herbicides and synthetic fertilisers.

The ‘Clean Fifteen’?

The Clean Fifteen is the Environmental Working Group’s list of 15 items with the least pesticide residues, according to its analysis of data from the United States Department of Agriculture. Trying to stick to these may help if converting to all organic produce is not an option.

A good start would be to fill your fridge with fruits and vegetables which are conventional and contain a lower level of pesticides. Produce with a thicker peel, such as avocados, are more effective at keeping out pesticides.

The top five fruit and vegetables in the Clean Fifteen are:

avocados
sweetcorn
pineapple
onions
papaya.

Fruit and vegetables which are non-organic are sprayed with pesticides. Even after washing and scrubbing them they may still contain pesticides as they penetrate through the peel. Types of fruit and vegetables with a high percentage of pesticides include:

strawberries
spinach
kale
grapes
peaches.

The measurements in place

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) administers a food monitoring programme by conducting risk assessments. This is to identify the levels of residue which have been found in produce and the likelihood of it impacting human health, what to do if certain food has reached maximum residue levels and what actions and control measures need to occur.

The HSE also communicates with suppliers and food producers and that communication often drives positive impact work for the supply chain.

The Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN) charity analyses the results from the UK’s residue testing programme and publishes the ‘Dirty Dozen’ list, which includes fruit and vegetables most likely to be contaminated. This could be with multiple pesticides, and the produce with multiple pesticide residues are known as ‘pesticide cocktails’.

The pesticide cocktail effect

A mixture of pesticides can appear in food, water and soil, and can be very dangerous to humans and wildlife. There are millions of different combinations, which may vary in different concentrations. Due to the vast amount and impossible way of managing these on a case-by-case analysis, it’s advisable to minimise the risk to health and the environment by decreasing the overall use of pesticides which, in turn, is reducing our exposure to pesticide cocktails.

Due to the continuous nature of monitoring risk levels of food produce, it’s probably safer to consume organic, although the consumption of non-organic produce may still have pesticide residue. With regular checks via the HSE, anything which is detrimental to human health should be removed under legislation.

Institute update

We are spreading awareness throughout internal and external communications in relation to our climate stance by ensuring employees are educated about best practice. We have introduced ‘Animal of the Month’ whereby the CIPP’s green team writes about a certain animal to raise awareness of the importance of protecting our wildlife.