Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Organic Trade Association's Press Release ADHD Linked to Pesticides

2010 Press Releases


Organic agriculture prohibits pesticides linked to risk of ADHD

News release
For immediate release
Contact: Barbara Haumann, 413-376-1220

Organic Trade Association (OTA) encourages consumers to choose organic fruits and vegetables

GREENFIELD, Mass. (May 17, 2010)—Following closely on the heels of the President’s Cancer Panel Report exhorting consumers to choose food grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers , antibiotics, and growth hormones to help decrease their exposure to environmental chemicals that can increase their risk of contracting cancer, a study published in today’s issue of the journal Pediatrics concludes that exposure to organophosphate pesticides at levels common among U.S. children may contribute to the prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in these children.

“Studies have increasingly shown the importance of minimizing young children’s exposure to even low levels of chemical pesticides. This study adds to that wealth of knowledge and arms parents with information that helps them reduce their children’s pesticide intake,” said Christine Bushway, OTA’s Executive Director, pointing out that the use of organophosphates is prohibited in organic production.

The article reported findings from a study examining the association between urinary concentrations of metabolites of organophosphates and ADHD in children ages 8 to 15. Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, researchers led by Maryse Bouchard, a researcher in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the University of Montreal, analyzed the levels of pesticide metabolites in the urine of 1,139 children and found children with above-average levels had roughly twice the odds of being diagnosed with ADHD.
As the largest study of this kind so far, it reminds consumers that organophosphates were originally developed for use in chemical warfare because they are known to be toxic to the nervous system. Organophosphate compounds are used in agriculture to kill pests.

“Organic food production and processing is the only system that uses certification and inspection to verify that these chemicals are not used,” Bushway added. “Those seeking to minimize their exposure to these chemicals can look for the USDA Organic label wherever they shop.”

The abstract of the paper published in the journal Pediatrics is accessible online.

For more information on organic, go to OTA’s consumer web site, www.organicitsworthit.org.

The Organic Trade Association (OTA) is the membership-based business association for organic agriculture and products in North America. Its members include growers, shippers, processors, certifiers, farmers' associations, distributors, importers, exporters, consultants, retailers and others. OTA’s Board of Directors is democratically elected by its members. OTA's mission is to promote and protect the growth of organic trade to benefit the environment, farmers, the public and the economy.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Demeter USA About Biodynamic Agriculture


There are less than a half of a dozen Biodynamic Tea Estates, so far. We at QTrade proudly represent three of them and often exclusively. Email me for a list of current teas.


Biodynamic® farming is free of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers in the same manner as certified organic farming. In order to qualify for Demeter Biodynamic® status a farm must first meet the same 3-year transition requirement that NOP certified organic farming requires.

What distinguishes a Demeter certified Biodynamic® farm from a certified organic farm is that, in its entirety, a Demeter Biodynamic farm is managed as a living organism. This is the fundamental principal of the Biodynamic farming method. The special body of knowledge, which underlies Biodynamic agriculture, is derived from Rudolf Steiner’s “Agricultural Course”, and the spiritual context of Anthroposophy, within which this Course was originally held.

The Biodynamic method dates back to 1924 and is one of the original approaches to organized organic farming worldwide. In day-to-day practice Biodynamic farming involves managing a farm within the context of the principles of a living organism. A concise model of a living organism ideal would be a wilderness forest. In such a system there is a high degree of self-sufficiency in all of the realms of biological survival. Fertility and feed arise out of the recycling of the organic material the system generates. Avoidance of pest species is based on biological vigor and its intrinsic biological and genetic diversity. Water is efficiently cycled through the system.

While agriculture immediately takes nature to a state that is one step removed from wilderness, the practices of farmers that steer agriculture’s course can to a large degree mimic these ancient principles of sustainability based on a careful observation of nature as a whole. Demeter/Aurora certification requires a documented evolution towards this ideal. In the realm of day-to-day practice this requires a holistic farming system that is minimally dependant on imported inputs for its survival, but instead arise from within the living dynamics of the farm itself. Demeter/Aurora certification requires that as much as possible a farm be regenerative rather than degenerative. Consider carefully materials that are imported onto the modern day organic farm. Where do they come from? Often they can be tracked back to a natural resource provided by the earth. Examples of such inputs include petroleum to move materials around, ancient mineral deposits, by-products of unsustainable agriculture-related industry, and the life of the seas and water ways. An important environmental value of Biodynamic farming is that it does not depend on the mining of the earth’s natural resource base. Instead it emphasizes contributing to it. As such, it is a farming philosophy that results in one of the lightest carbon footprints of any agricultural method.

Looked at in its widest view, the scale of this farm organism extends beyond the fence line of the farm and includes the tangible and intangible forces that work through it. Examples of such “forces” include the climate, inherent wildlife of the earth (above and below the ground), the light and warmth from the sun and the focusing of even more distant cosmic influences through the other planetary members of our sun’s solar system. The Biodynamic method of farming attempts to align all of the factors that are inherent in a living farm system in a harmonious manner. The food that results is very true to its essence and provides deeply penetrating nutrition that is medicinal as well as delicious.

Source:http://demeter-usa.org/about-biodynamic-agriculture/