Simon Chiles
DD Moderator
- Location
- Surrey/ Kent Border, UK
I was suprised to learn yesterday that rice contains quite high levels of arsenic, so if you eat it often, the levels build up. Apparently soaking it overnight and cooking it in a lot of water is the answer to dropping the levels. So whatever you eat, someone will find a problem with it. I agree with @Pasty - by all means visit the farmers market and then go and visit the farm. Honest farmers/stallholders will be willing to show you how their produce is grown and produced.
I think apple pips also contain high levels of arsenic, I always eat the lot thinking that it was a natural anthelmintic. Tannin can do the same job. A neighbouring farmer never has to worm his lambs as he sticks them on fields with high clover content, btw he's not organic.
@Organic86, Welcome to the forum, I must congratulate you for trying to find out more about your food and engaging with it's producers. We are all very proud of the quality of the food we produce but you'll find that we probably all have differing opinions. I ought to add that you would class me as a conventional farmer ( uses chemicals ) however I'm amongst a growing band of farmers who have decided that there are better ways forward and like all things in life often a compromise is the best solution, I call it working with nature rather than fighting against it. More generally it's called conservation agriculture. However even on this forum you'll find much debate about the subject. I think I ought to point out that no farmer uses anywhere near the max dose of chemicals, they are far too expensive and the margins to tight for it to be economic. I regard chemicals as plant health products, I need a healthy plant to produce the maximum yield free of toxins, some of which like mycotoxin and ergot would be very bad for you. However, sadly, I don't think you are ever really going to find out much about your food until there is proper food labelling ( the only thing we do all agree on ) because quite frankly the system is at best misleading and possibly fraudulent. Food processors are able to source from all around the world, stick it through a factory and then label it as produced in the UK and don't even get us started on the subject of fictitious farm names invented by supermarkets.
The best solution is probably to find a local producer whether organic or not and buy directly from them. Most would be proud to show you around their farm so that you get a feel for the effort that goes into food production.
Good luck with your quest.