In the third and concluding part of our series on Chemical Laden Fresh Produce, with Mr. Mukesh Gupta, Morarka Foundation we focus on the chemicals used in the last leg of the food cycle i.e. transportation & storage; and also give you some pointers on how to reduce chemical intake in food.

1. Fresh produce is sprayed with chemicals like aluminium phosphide, barium carbonate during transportation to keep the produce healthy & fresh looking for a long time.

While most chemicals are suitable for particular problems, farmers end up using them as a panacea for any problem they find. Problems also arise when out of ignorance, farmers use higher dosages than recommended.

The biggest culprits are the new ripening solutions, which permit early harvest, and then allow long transport and finally ripening by harmful chemicals.

2. Eating locally produced vegetables and fruits does solve the problem of these chemicals to some extent.

This may not be feasible in today’s cosmopolitan environment. The better option is adopt safer methods. They may be more expensive, but at least the consumers can make an informed choice.

Transportation can be done through chemically protected means as well as by refrigerated vans. Local sourcing automatically reduces chemicals used in transportation.

3. Hormone injections being used in vegetables like bottle gourds, cucumbers to make them bigger.

This has become a common practice especially near big cities. For eg. most of the time oxytocin hormone is used on cucumber crops.

4. To increase shelf life, conventional vegetables are laden with chemicals such as sodium nitrate. Why don’t we see abundance of chemical free vegetables?

In case of Organic Vegetables no chemical usage is permitted to increase shelf life. That’s why organic vegetables are not so easily available. For alternative solutions (like cold storage etc), higher volumes are a pre requisite.

1. Consumer’s plight: what the consumer is subjected to

It is almost impossible for a consumer to identify a chemically treated produce. There are no easy methods to detect harmful chemicals in the produce. The methods available are complex, time consuming and very expensive.

• Chemicals like synthesized oxytocin and copper sulphate are used to ripen and color the produce before marketing. Excessive use of these is common in tinda, lady finger, parwal etc.
• Calcium carbide is used to artificially ripe bananas and mangoes.
• Some vegetables are dipped in copper sulphate solution to brighten their colours. On close examination, one can even see little green deposits.

2. What can a consumer do?

The safest bet is to eliminate pesticide risk is to go organic. An increase in the demand for organic food will push more farmers to covert from conventional to organic farming. Gradually commercial and policy changes will also happen.

However, there are some vegetables like Knol-khol and carrots that are quite immune to chemicals.

Agricultural scientists are doing a lot of research to find non chemical solutions for these common problems. Unfortunately, economic effective organic methods are still not commonly available and are still at a nascent stage of research.

Through this endeavour, we wish to make our readers aware of these problems in the hope that knowledge & information will reach farmers & decision makers, and consequently will have a positive effect on our society, environment and health in general.