Choosing organic foods can make a big difference for our
children. Industrial agriculture techniques are relatively
recent innovations. When my parents were young, the bulk of our
food supply was not grown with antibiotics, hormones, or
chemical pesticides. Their use became widespread in my lifetime.
We are finally beginning to scientifically examine the impact of
these techniques. I’ve summarized some of the most important
recent studies below. These are some of the reasons that I am
encouraging parents to take the Organic Lunchbox Challenge of
giving their kids at least one serving of organic foods each day
this year. We know that, at high enough levels, pesticides and
other chemicals (such as mercury) found in food cause a variety
of significant health problems in children, including cancer,
attention deficit disorder, learning disabilities, genital
abnormalities, and reproductive problems. We know that the very
problems caused by environmental chemicals are increasing in our
society and in our children. W