>>...what residues are in the fruit and vegatables we are eating.
I would think that if the bees are getting some of this from pollen,some of it in low levels would be in the end product( fruit or veggie).Anyone know of any studies on this?

The Environmental Working Group compiled the 'dirty dozen' list of fruits and vegetables from thousands of USDA studies(http://www.foodnews.org/fulldataset.php) The dirtiest were peaches and apples while onions were the cleanest.

The number of different pesticides is [suprisingly] high although the PPM levels appear not to be so.  One needs to decides for oneself though - especially if your healthy diet is based mostly on vegetables and fruits.

I looked into this a little more when a couple of years ago my right arm broke out in a nasty rash after eating a bunch of fresh strawberries from Chile.  I have nothing against Chile or China or any other country but there is very little inspection of imported food by the FDA and I don't know if those countries follow even the US standards.

Good advice is to eat mostly fruit that is in season so you have a higher propability that it was grown locally or at least in the US.

Organic is better than conventional but if you use conventional, for whatever reason, use a good veggie wash to greatly reduce pesticides and pathogens.

A basic, homemade veggie wash is a mixture of cider vinegar and hydrogen peroxide 1:1.  Generously spray your fruits and vegetable with the veggie wash and let sit for about 10 minutes.  Rinse thouroughly in warm water.  We do it as soon as we bring the produce home from the supermarket.

This, by the way, should reduce ecoli and other nasty bacteria.

I peel the skin of fuzzy fruit like peaches before eating.

I think everyone with a backyard should grow as many fruits and vegetables as they can.  Not only will you be able to avoid pesticide residue, your produce will be properly ripened greatly increasing its enzyme, vitamin etc. content.  Not to mention the psychological boost.

We use horse manure from the lady two houses over as fertilizer and don't use any pesticides.

Perishable fruit at the supermarket will have been sprayed with preservatives to prevent natural spoilage.  It's better to buy the frozen versions - like frozen strawberries - since they will have much fewer preservatives and will be much more ripened.

Waldemar

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