How Many Pesticides Make it to Your Thanksgiving Table?

Thanksgiving is my all time favorite holiday, and not just because it's a day of fabulous food, friends and family, but it's a great time for reflection. This year in particular, I will be giving thanks for my new found commitment to green living. After years of living blindly to the dangers that lurk in our food, our homes and the Earth, I finally realize that it is so important to the health of our families. Duh. I guess better late than never.

This year, we will be hosting the 1st Annual All Natural Organic Thanksgiving! Here are a few ideas for you to keep it chem-free.

Step 1: Order an Organic Bird. This can be done at a quality butcher shop, or even a local farm. If you want a really good one, based on a test of 9 turkeys conducted for the New York Times, buy an Eberley (also labeled D'Artagnan) certified organic or an Eberley (D'Artagnan) natural, which is similar except it's not fed organic grain. In taste tests, these turkeys ranked #1 and #2 hands down respectively vs. the other 7, which included a Butterball, a Bell and Evans, a kosher turkey and several wild birds. To order one, call 800-327-8246 and they will ship it right to you. It costs more than store bought, but this is one day to splurge. Or try IGourmet.com; they also offer organic turkeys.

Did you know the world famous Butterball brand is injected with the following: vegetable oil, water, salt, emulsifiers (mono- and diglycerides), sodium phosphate, annato color and artificial flavor. Is this supposed to be Thanksgiving or a high school chemistry experiment??

Not that I'm Giada de Laurentiis or anything, but I do highly recommend brining the bird the night before in a salt water mixture. This helps the turkey retain its moisture and tenderness. You can find many recipes using this technique at www.epicurious.com.

STEP 2: Organic Bread Stuffing. This is an easy one. Buy a few loaves of organic wheat bread ( or mixed varieties) and let them go stale. Not rock hard, just day old. Then cut off the crust and chop into bread cubes, add poultry seasoning, onions, celery, milk, stock or whatever you fancy and voila, fresh and natural dressing.

STEP 3: Haul yourself to the best organic market in your area or the local farmers market, if available. In my area, that is going to be Whole Foods. They have a wonderful selection of produce, and organic potatoes, both sweet and regular, should be on your list. Contrary to my own incorrect assumption, and according to the Environmental Working Group, 81% of potatoes were shown to have contained harmful pesticides, after peeling and washing. Here is a list of other Thanksgiving favorites, with the percentage of the sample that contained known pesticides, according to a study by the EWG:

Celery 94%
Carrots 81.7%
Green Beans 67.6%
Winter Squash 41%
Sweet Potatoes 58.4%
Cauliflower 84.6%
Spinach 70%
Lettuce 68.2%
Broccoli 28%
Frozen Peas- 23%

Not all veggies made it to the list, like my beloved brussel sprouts. But this list is fairly comprehensive. So shop accordingly.


Step 4: Dessert. I haven't found results on pumpkin, but I am confident that you can find a can of organic pumpkin puree at a good market, or use your old pumpkin off your stoop and hope it won't kill you. Based on the fact that you are only using the inner scrapings, my guess is that its not bad at all. Apples for that cobbler has a high concentration of pesticides also- 94%, and peaches 96%, strawberries 92% - but blueberries seem to be the big winner at 27%. Go figure. Or find an organic bakery and let them do some of the work!

I hope you found this information helpful. Enjoy the fruits of your labor, and be thankful for YOU- for putting out such a healthy and delicious meal!