Toxins and Commercial Agriculture

Hi all!! I am super excited for the opportunity to share one of my greatest passions with you- the amount of toxins in agriculture. When we think of toxins in food we jump to two obvious categories; toxic ingredients like aspartame, and toxins in our foods like pesticides in produce and hormones in meats. We will touch on those briefly, then jump to my favorite and often overlooked agricultural toxin (keep reading to find out!!)

​Eat real foods. Plain and simple. If you want to eliminate toxins from your life, start by eating foods that aren’t made in a lab. Interestingly enough, veggies are really really good at helping your body function properly, including eliminating toxins.

Dr. Morgan has talked about your toxic load and what your body can support. Think of it like coffee in an overfilled filter, or like when your tea bag just explodes. Somehow the structural integrity was compromised, either through over filling or a fault in design, which sullies your morning brew. You can only process so much in a certain amount of time and each body is different. So, what should we be eating?
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When it comes to toxins and food, the first thing is what are we eating? Real foods! Foods that are ingredients, not food with ingredients. In Missoula, we can get real foods from the farmers markets and farm stands in and around town. In the grocery store that means shopping the outer aisles. Produce, meats & seafoods, dairy (and dairy alternatives), and even the bakery for fresh bread with a small ingredient list. 

Next up is the toxins in the foods we eat. While in a perfect world, all that would be available is organic produce, meats, and flowers. Commercial agriculture uses a lot of chemicals! It’s sometimes not financially feasible to buy all organic, so do what is best for you and your family. If you are in Missoula, we have access to some AMAZING farm stands. Frank’s Little Farm is on the corner of Curtis & Wyoming, Turner Farms is on 3rd just past Tower, Little Red Hen is on Spurgin between Tower & Clements, and County Rail Farm is in Huson and can be found on Google Maps (it’s super easy to get there). While not all farms are certified as organic, they all use organic and ethical farming principles.

If you go out to eat, think about where they are getting their food. I was at a downtown restaurant a few months ago. They had some very sad saggy roses on their bar. I am always looking for ways to get my flowers into more local business and mentioned something to their manager. He said that they get the roses from the grocery store and use them in drinks, so how they look isn’t that important. Wow. Those commercially grown roses are NOT food safe and should NOT be used in people’s drinks!! Commercially grown flowers are full of pesticides and other chemicals to keep them looking fresh as a cut flower. When you are picking flowers or produce and shipping them great lengths, you need some science to help keep things looking alive when they aren’t. 

Here’s the last little toxin that surrounds our food and agriculture!! Something we often overlook, or haven’t learned about yet, is how people growing these products don’t have protection from the chemicals used to grow your raspberries. In the US, we have OSHA to protect workers from chemical exposure through workplace declarations (MSDS sheets and training materials) and protective equipment. A lot of the produce sold and consumed in the US is grown in South & Central America, where workers aren’t protected from the chemicals used in commercial agriculture. When you buy a food that was grown with chemicals, that means workers were exposed to all the chemicals used to grow your foods. 

What are our favorite tips for eating toxin free?

• ​Shop farmers markets and farm stands
• Eat locally from small businesses, grocery stores, and restaurants that support small local farms 
• Grow your own! Sprouts are a simple and easy countertop green that you can grow literally anywhere- even a basement apartment. 
• Shop the outer aisles of the grocery store, including the bulk departments.
• Plan ahead. It takes more time to cook real food than it takes to microwave a lean cuisine. Multitask and meal plan.
• Budget for better foods. When you eat real foods with vitamins and minerals, empty calories and junk food won’t fit in your diet or budget. 
• Keep it simple! Snack on fruits and vegetables that don’t need a ton of work to enjoy. Apples are abundant right now!!

When you buy locally grown agricultural products, you are empowering your neighbors and growing a deeper connection with your food. Simple changes can make a difference in how your body feels and functions. Making conscious choices to live without toxins can be hard at first, but very rewarding.