Most of vegetables and fruits on sale in fresh and modern trade markets are laced with pesticide residues

[gemguy]

True story:

I met a young Thai women at a coordinated business party put on by the Canadian chamber of commerce.

She was handing out her business cards for her family run business supplying organic rice products being pesticide free and all.

She spoke English very well and went on to tell me that her family business had been selling chemicals and fertilizers and pesticides to many farmers in her region for nearly 30 years while her parents and uncles sold a variety of agricultural pesticides.

Business had been very good all those years.

She told me her Uncle, who ran the warehouse facility and pesticides handling and blending operation, died and the cause was toxic poisoning from all the pesticides he had handled for all those years with little or next to no safe handling of all those chemicals.

She also said that they were aware of the health issues while she and her family could see and witness many of their client farmers growing ill and some of them dying while they were aware that the pesticides were the reasons or certainly a large factor.

So, after the death of her uncle her father decided they would leave that business and use their money to start all over again and stop selling chemicals and learn how to grow pesticide free rice and other food crops while canvasing the same client based areas and encouraging the farmers and their customer base to grow only organic rice and other food crops.

Eventually their family business had evolved into working with hundreds of small farmers and educating them how to grow and sustain chemical free rice crops while they would help market the natural rice product under a brand name and a farmers cooperative style organization.

When I met her she was marketing her brand name and looking for customers while she told me it was a great struggle to establish her brand and sell the organic rice products in a very competitive market that is somewhat rigged making it all the more difficult.

Point being....it was clear that herself and her family had grown a conscience and reverted back to an organic farming based enterprise and focused their efforts on helping the farmers to bring their organic products to market proving that it is not always about the money and only the money for some Thai people.

I still have her card somewhere from 6 years ago and I wish her well of course.

Cheers

[AlQaholic]

37 minutes ago, UPDEHSOI said:

Soaking the veggies  ( and fruit ) in a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water for 5 to 15 minutes works somewhat also.

 

Where do you get hydrogen peroxide? I have tried to find but cannot find anywhere?

[ClutchClark]

4 minutes ago, AlQaholic said:

Just to put things in perspective.......:

Pesticide usage kg/ha for some countries:

Costa Rica 51.2 kg/ha

Netherlands 9.4 kg/ha

Denmark 1.4 kg/ha

Thailand 1.1 kg/ha

My quick search couldn't find data for USA, and some data (such as Thailand) may be unreliable....

http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Agriculture/Pesticide-use

 

 

Its suspect that Costa Rica is so high when Thailand is so low since a number of crops are the same...one exception being coffee.

 

Do you know if this data is strictly for agricultural food items (fruits & vegies) or does it include items such as palm oil and latex ?

 

If tonnage of latex is included then that would really bring down Thailand average since the rubber tree does not require heavy pesticide applications.

 

I would agree with your quote that Thailand may be unreliable. 

[gemguy]

2 minutes ago, AlQaholic said:

Where do you get hydrogen peroxide? I have tried to find but cannot find anywhere?

You can buy it ready made in small or large quantities in a variety of diluted solutions from most chemical supply houses in Bangkok and around Thailand

[ClutchClark]

12 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

Well for starters you should always wash all your fruits and vegetables before using/eating them anyways !

 

Not just for the pesticide residue, but think about how many different people may have handle that stuff before you groped it and added it to your cart. Probably half a dozen people before it got to the market/store, and then all manner of people pawing everything at the store/market (not to mention the coughers/sneezers/nose pickers, etc, etc).

 

As for the pesticides themselves. What a lot of people are conned into thinking is that "organic" means NO pesticides used, which is a load of crap because if they didn't use something they wouldn't have any crops to sell.

What they do is use "organic" (natural) pesticides. Problem is, "organic" pesticides don't work as well so they often have to use more than if they used manufactured pesticides. (Organic pesticides are made from chemicals as well, something the pseudoscience nuts often like to overlook.)

 

"Organic Certification" involves more than just the use of pesticides and the requirements vary from country to country (for those countries that even have some form of "organic certification"). See here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_certification

 

(For Thailand you might find more information here: http://www.actorganic-cert.or.th/en or at the Ministry: http://www.acfs.go.th/)

 

From the US Department of Agriculture:

"The National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances identifies the synthetic substances that may be used and the nonsynthetic (natural) substances that may not be used in organic crop and livestock production. It also identifies a limited number of non-organic substances that may be used in or on processed organic products." http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&SID=9874504b6f1025eb0e6b67cadf9d3b40&rgn=div6&view=text&node=7:3.1.1.9.32.7&idno=7

 

So even "organic" farms can use non-natural chemicals (and some "natural" ones are banned).

 

The myth of "no pesticides in organic farming".

https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~lhom/organictext.html

http://www.colostate.edu/Dept/CoopExt/4dmg/VegFruit/organic.htm

https://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2015/12/07/myth-busting-on-pesticides-despite-demonization-organic-farmers-widely-use-them/

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/science-sushi/httpblogsscientificamericancomscience-sushi20110718mythbusting-101-organic-farming-conventional-agriculture/

https://www.thebalance.com/which-pesticides-can-be-used-for-organic-production-2538082

 

 

In the US I trust the "Organic" label.

 

In Thailand I do not.

[AlQaholic]

3 minutes ago, ClutchClark said:

 

Its suspect that Costa Rica is so high when Thailand is so low since a number of crops are the same...one exception being coffee.

 

Do you know if this data is strictly for agricultural food items (fruits & vegies) or does it include items such as palm oil and latex ?

 

If tonnage of latex is included then that would really bring down Thailand average since the rubber tree does not require heavy pesticide applications.

 

I would agree with your quote that Thailand may be unreliable. 

Statistics is for all agricultural area, no distinction between crops, and includes areas that are agricultural but may not be in use..."  arable and permanent cropland"

Edited October 7, 2016 by AlQaholic

[Junkyarddog]

Fake organic fruits and vegtables. Only in Thailand. I would not be surprised to find out the air we breathe here is fake. 

[ClutchClark]

3 minutes ago, AlQaholic said:

Statistics is for all agricultural area, no distinction between crops, and includes areas that are agricultural but may not be in use..."  arable and permanent cropland"

 

Thank you.

 

 

[cumgranosalum]

find this very easy to believe as developing markets are prime targets for the hard sell techniques of pesticide companies. Under-informed famers and consumers and an aggressive sales team make an uncomfortable mix.

 

it's all very well saying you cook/wash your own veggies, but the majority of Thais eat from food outlets most of the time - and there's no telling how much time they are prepared to spend washing stuff before it is thrown into the wok.

Edited October 7, 2016 by cumgranosalum

[AlQaholic]

9 minutes ago, ClutchClark said:

 

Its suspect that Costa Rica is so high when Thailand is so low since a number of crops are the same...one exception being coffee.

 

Do you know if this data is strictly for agricultural food items (fruits & vegies) or does it include items such as palm oil and latex ?

 

If tonnage of latex is included then that would really bring down Thailand average since the rubber tree does not require heavy pesticide applications.

 

I would agree with your quote that Thailand may be unreliable. 

I agree with you, with no statistics per crop it is almost impossible to compare, especially when comes to latex. Just show the old saying "with same statistics you can say almost anything"

[NextStationBangkok]

That is the price we pay for our Vegetables to beautiful.

 

If people start buying the fresh products without good looking, farmers don't have to use pesticides to keep them look good from insects.

 

Also GM crops needs lot of protection, where as natural indigenous crops don't need them to grow, because they can grow with natural fertilizers.

[kannot]

1 hour ago, UPDEHSOI said:

Might be nice to use soma that 15 rai to grow some of yer own veggies. 'twould be very healthy living methinks.

you mean like, red bananas, dwarf cavendish bananas, large green bananas ( somtam) normal small Thai bananas, coconuts 2  varieties, Mangos red, yellow and the long  ones, Pappayas 2 varieties one is  "Holland", beans, some leaf things the wife  likes? and a few others.......

[ClutchClark]

1 minute ago, NextStationBangkok said:

That is the price we pay for our Vegetables to beautiful.

 

If people start buying the fresh products without good looking, farmers don't have to use pesticides to keep them look good from insects.

 

Also GM crops needs lot of protection, where as natural indigenous crops don't need them to grow, because they can grow with natural fertilizers.

 

No disrespect intended but do you actually have any farming experience ?

[whaleboneman]

47 minutes ago, UPDEHSOI said:

We did a "before and after" test of soaking the veggies in a mixture of 1/4 cup of hydrogen peroxide and one gallon of filtered water, then rinsing them of. It works fairly well. ( depending on the type of pesticides used, of course )

What did you use to test for pesticides?

[whaleboneman]

26 minutes ago, boomerangutang said:

Up here in Chiang Rai, I used to go to a roadside vege stall which claimed they were 'organic'. They would point to the large field behind - was where much of their produce was grown.  A bit later, while walking around the field, I noticed a man spraying chemicals.  Go figure.

 

I wash some veges with soap and water.  Maybe that's not good enough.  I scrape skin off of apples, which I never used to do.  Particularly fruit from China (apples, asian pears, etc) is probably heavily laden with toxic chemicals.  I grow about a fifth of my own food, so at least I know some of my diet is chemi-free.   I also have the only grapefruit in Thailand (plus, it's pink & seedless).  One of my avocado trees had about 500 fruit this year. They're smaller than store-bought, but bursting with flavor.  It's grown from seed.

I am growing an avocado tree from seed (New Zealand). Where are your seeds from? And how long did it take to get fruit? Thanks.

[ChrisY1]

It's not just the fact the residues are on the skin of vegetables......it's more important to understand the take-up of chemicals through the root.....then to the shoot and leaf.

So buying fruit and vegetables needs to be done with care.....or if you can, grow your own as we do.

[Tarteso]

I use Baking soda...Washing under water 10 minutes all vegetables and fruits. It is all I can do!

 

 

[Yann55]

This is scary.

But, but, but ... wait, there is a solution ! Big C, Macro, Tesco Lotus and the three wholesale markets could sue Thai-PAN coordinator Ms Prokchon Usap for defamation. How about that ?

Edited October 7, 2016 by Yann55

[kiwikeith]

1 hour ago, klauskunkel said:

I guess we all know what's likely to come next

 

Are you sure it was not sue Mrs Pokémon .

Given that the enlightened ones who run the country are aware of this then the only possible way to do anything about it is to educate people.

The competition from Pokémon and Thai soaps plus overall attitude would make this impossible.

Having said that , it's hard enough in clean and green NZ which is  and polluted with glyophosphate and fertilizer run off into rivers.

Some are so toxic that Nz just had a major water poisoning outbreak which killed people and closed schools around Hastings.

Caused by run off into water aquifer's controlled by the city councils, whom having known about it before have done nothing.

 

The USA is run by Chemical company bullies (mainly Monsanto) who lobby the enlightened ones right before our eyes.

America washes chickens in bleach and adds chemicals into beef to kill bacteria.

The place is awash with roundup and GM foods which Monsanto produce , they bashed up and sued farmers for saving their own seed and not growing theirs.

So I  guess we can't slag Thailand to much they are all at it.  

Edited October 7, 2016 by kiwikeith
spelling

[silent]

2 hours ago, sirmud63 said:

yes your right . the multiple weekly spraying are likly to be foliour feeding tho ,they use seaweed solution alot . but , to the best of my knowedge there is no such thing as certified organic in thailand . for starters the land has to clear of any trace for 7 years before you can gain certification . i owned a restaurant in chiang mai ,and did alot of rechearch into this .

There may be no such thing as certified organic in Thailand, but a number are certifiable.

[DDbkh]

Otto make an Ozone vegetable cleaner which is very effective - its available at Central department store. It will thoroughly clean chemicals and bacteria.

[cameraman888]

Appreciate everyones comments. I assumed the fruits & vegetables were not as bad as USA but now I know I'm wrong and they are probably  worse, especially since organic can't be trusted either. Disappointed :-(

[jdf2231]

3 hours ago, fruitman said:

That's why we buy imported vegy from Australia.

 

Thailand is soo far behind the rest of the world.

Where do you buy it from ? I'd like to know :)

[jdf2231]

3 hours ago, trogers said:

Don't buy vegetables that have not been bitten by insects...

This sounds like a good tip. I assume it's because insects approach the pesticide free veggies and fruits? I always thought fruits here are clean and organic... 

[trainman34014]

How many times has this been reported in thew last few years ?  What has been done about it ?

 

I think we know the answers, so move along and read it all again next year.

[cumgranosalum]

Washing in various ways may get the pesticides off the surface, but they can't do uch about the pollution that comes from the soil and is absorbed into the plants.

[Honthy]

Surely we will get similar result when someone checks the quality of bottled water, especially the big ones and pork.

Probably chicken would fail too, so what can we eat and drink ?

[howbri]

2 hours ago, soalbundy said:

I always cook the veg twice, once bring it to the boil and let it simmer for a bit then throw away the water,wash off the veg and recook.

Aren't you cooking away the vitamins etc?

[Rancid]

It is a big problem in Thailand, although hardly limited to here of course. Solutions are not simple as not always easy to find organic products here. At least the even more toxic GM crops haven't arrived yet (I think). The problem seems to be that these pesticides are not easily eliminated from the body, as such there is an accumulation, one that many rationally argue causes a whole range of health issues later in life.

 

My plan is like some other posters, later when we return again we now have enough and to grow our own organic crops. Bit of a hassle, but one I believe worth the effort, may even have some excess to sell.

[Shiver]

4 hours ago, trogers said:

Don't buy vegetables that have not been bitten by insects...

 

Agree.  Probably this is the easiest way to know for the casual observer.  It says a lot about the make up of the produce in terms of nutrition too.