The top 12 produce with the highest pesticide content are often called   “The Dirty Dozen” for obvious reasons. This information will help you in deciding where you may want to make the cut-off. Bear in mind that there are many fruits and vegetables that are not on this list, this is meant to get you thinking.

Pesticides on Popular Produce: Peaches – 100Strawberries – 89Apples – 88Spinach – 85 Nectarines – 85 Celery - 83 Pears – 80 Cherries – 76Potatoes – 67 Sweet Bell Peppers – 66 Raspberries – 66 Grapes – Imported  – 64

 

Africa cannot grow enough food to feed itself. It is not feasible toexpect a poor African farmer to spend 400 euro to 500 euro per hectare to grow acrop if he can live on 1 euro per day as many do. For the money he has to spendon one hectare - he can live for a year. The NEPAD conference shows that they are looking at chemical fertilizer as the solution.The reasoning behind this is the success enjoyed by relatively wealthy farmers in Africa(predominantly of European origin), who have enough money to buy fertilizer. "Tè a fatige"

The poor results obtained with organic farming in South Africa together withthe lack of credible research and information, were crucial in the decisionbehind initiating research into organic farming as a discipline.

"We tend to think that water doesn't cost anything so we don't have to protect it," says Steve Maxwell, managing director at TechKnowledgey Strategic Group, a water industry management consulting firm. "The truth is that the planet has a fixed amount of water, while the population and industry continue to explode." As that fixed resource grows scarce, the need for conservation measures increases.One fruitful area is irrigation, says Maxwell, who points to: • Water reuse and reclamation programs for city parks and golf courses • Smart irrigation systems, whose automation increases efficiency • Consulting firms that help organizations implement and monitor efficient lawn-care technologies