Raspberries are delightful fresh off the bush, soft and juicy. Those same qualities make raspberries highly perishable and very labour intensive to harvest. And the bugs love them – masses of hungry Japanese beetles, spider mites, aphids and fruitworms eat the fruit, leaves and even the woody canes. Raspberries prefer warm, dry days with cool nights, and cultivating them in undesirable climates can trigger mildew or fungus, causing the fruit to rot on the bush.
As a result of these challenges, commercial growers typically turn to several pesticides and fungicides to kill pests, as well as synthetic fertilizers to grow larger berries. Raspberry samples tested by the FDA have tested positive for residues of up to nine different pesticides. Considering that raspberries are a favourite finger food of many toddlers and small children, it makes sense to be cautious about selecting nonorganically grown raspberries.
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Excerpted from To Buy or Not To Buy Organic, copyright 2007 by Cindy Burke. Used by permission of Avalon Publishing Group.All Rights Reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced except with permission in writing from the publisher.
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