Question from Patricia
Hi Debra,
I know blueberries are on the dirty dozen list so I always try to buy organic blueberries. They are usually quite expensive. Wyman’s blueberries, www.wymans.com/sustainability, posts the following statement on their website and I wanted to get your opinion:
Thank you
Debra’s Answer
This is an interesting question.
I went to their website. First, they correctly do not claim their blueberries to be organic, but they do promote “sustainability”. What was surprising to me was that pesticides in any amount were being used on “wild” blueberries. I had always thought that if something was labeled “wild” it was harvested from the wild, but apparenetly not. I need to do more research on what “wild” means, if there is a legal definition. Does anybody know?
As to whether or not it is OK to eat blueberries with this tiny amount of pesticide, here are my thoughts. Ideally, we would eat NO pesticides–100% organic. However, in today’s world, that is usually not possible. Myself, I eat as much organic as is available wherever I am, but I also eat non-organic foods. So if I look at my overall consumption, I am probably eating more pesticides overall between organic and non-organic than are in those blueberries.
Also, we need to consider that there are many health benefits to eating blueberries that may outweigh the infinitesimal amount of pesticide in them. And, these IPM blueberries have much less pesticide than standard blueberries.
So I would say it is a better choice, but not the best possible choice. That said, it may be the best choice available to you where you live.
