Eco-Friendly Friday Tips Volume Sixty One

Posted by Stefanie Slater on Aug 28, 2009 in Health | 6 comments

August 28th’s Tip

Today’s tip is from Ideal Bite. Their tips are always informative, so sign up for their daily email if you want more. Per their guidelines, the Wanna Try? section has been replaced with my own words, but if you would like to read it in theirs, read the full tip here.

Produce Labels: Are your fruits and veggies blessed with good genes? Peel your eyes off the silver screen and check the number on the little label on your apple or squash. It’ll help you make sure what you’re buying is organic and nongenetically modified. Kind of a big deal.

The Benefits

• World-famous health benefits. Genetically modified (GM) foods have been in stores only since the 1990s, so we don’t know the long-term health risks, and in a recent study by the Austrian government, GM corn was found to affect fertility in mice.
• A more diverse planet for celeb tots… and the rest of us. Mainstream scientists are concerned that GM organisms will reduce biodiversity.
• No prominent pesticides. Although farmers can use some naturally occurring pesticides on organic foods, they’re way less harmful than the synthetic kind.
• A-List tastes. Foodies everywhere agree that the range of possible flavors is greater when we just let Mother Nature do her thing.

Look for These

You know those stickers on the produce? They aren’t just for the cashier to check you out – they mean something. Check the numbers. Conventionally grown produce will have a four-digit number. Be careful with the five-digit numbers – if it starts with a 9, it’s organic, but if it starts with an 8, it’s genetically modified.

Contribute

We are looking for reader submitted tips for Eco-Friendly Friday so we can share some even we may have not heard before. If you’ve got a unique or informative tip and want to contribute to Eco-Friendly Friday, shoot us an email. Be sure to include your URL if you want a link to your site included with your tip!