Any time there is a concentration of anything in compost, the biology in the compost adjusts to decompose the excess.

#1 remember any pesticides in the conventional produce would also be conentrated in your body...

#2 pesticides have a relatively short lifespan. If you're worried let your compost rest for a longer time and the pesticides will go away.

You cannot make a blanket statement that pesticides have a relatively short lifespan because some a very persistant in the environment. We are still getting measureable quantities of DDT from places where that has not been used for 40 years, and some of the other pesticdes have much the same half life.
How much of any pesticide is on the produce you buy in the store depends on what was used, where. The produce that comes from outside the USA can, because use is not regulated, have much higher concentrations of whatever was used than the same produce grown in the USA. Research has shown that the amount of residual pesticide on the produce you eat, if grown in the USA, is fairly minute and most will dissipate or be digested and rendered "safe" by the soil bacteria in your soil, if you have a soil that has a good, active Soil Food Web.

A proper composting process will breakdown virtually any pesticide into its basic elements, rendering it effectively harmless. That's why compost and composting microbes are used for bioremediation and toxic spill clean-up. There are a few instances where the chemicals persist, but they are rare. A lingering concern could be the presence of heavy metals but these are not common components of pesticides.

Quote:
The produce that comes from outside the USA can, because use is not regulated, have much higher concentrations of whatever was used than the same produce grown in the USA. Research has shown that the amount of residual pesticide on the produce you eat, if grown in the USA, is fairly minute and most will dissipate or be digested and rendered "safe" by the soil bacteria in your soil, if you have a soil that has a good, active Soil Food Web.

Kimm, such a blanket statement about other countries' guidelines on food production.
Perhaps you would like to state what countries the U.S. imports from having such lower standards than the U.S.
I would be very interested since Canada is America's biggest trading partner and vice versa.

Toronto is the third largest customer of California truck farm produce. That fact was unknown by its governor...Mr Swartzeneggar (sp) when he visited us last summer.
President H.W. Bush was also surprised at that fact.

And the second biggest trade parter of the U.S.....
the Province of Ontario.

Now it would be most interesting if you would state where you get such data from and list the countries you think have such low standards.

Did you know Kimm, the U.S.'s largest producer of chicken meats---for such places as Kentucky Fried Chicken et al...they came to Quebec to open a factory to serve the local restaurants and to ship all across Canada.
Well, they had to pick up their bat and ball and move out....it seems Canada's standards of production was too high for this company to make sufficient money at.
So they left this country.
That's a fact that you can check on.

Now its one thing to suggest that standards MAY BE lower...and such statement is probably true...you can always find something, some country with low or lower stnadards.

So if you will KIMM, state from where you get your data.

Whoa, Jeannie, Whoa! I don't think that person was thinking of NORTH of us, but SOUTH of us. We get a lot of produce from Mexico and Central America, and they are allowed to use a lot of stuff that can't be used here.

Jeez, I would eat stuff unwashed and raw from Canada! But your quality is more the exception than the rule since we got into the NAFTA crap.

But GardenGal48 is right: most of the pesticides in use these days are organic or petroleum-based, and can be broken down by a nice collection of soil microbes. Even kerosene can be eaten and digested by the microherd.

Sue

The data, the information, comes from the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration, a United States government agency not well known for being a consumer protection agency.
I have serious doubts, Jeannie, that any produce being sold in the USA now is from Canada, and I have not seen any in the stores around here. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, or Venezuala I have seen on the labels, but the only time I have seen Canadian produce was when traveling to Stratford, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec, or Victoria, while in Canada.

"Toronto is the third largest customer of California truck farm produce."

You're trying to tell us that Californians buy their produce from Toronto? Toronto in Canada? Toronto? as in the Toronto located in the frozen north?

I think it's nice when people are patriotic like that. I've only seen three Canadian grown items in my grocery store that I can think of---blueberries and apples and maple syrup, all of which my northern state also produces in abundance. As kimmsr says, the majority of U.S. produce comes from South America.

But I like Canadians---don't get me wrong. I think you're great in lots of other ways.

:) I think Jeannie meant we (Canadians) buy our produce from California.

Just wait til global warming thaws us out, then you'll see us growing stuff, but then again we'll havta learn how to build real houses cause our igloos won't last! :)

Lloyd

Oh and Kimm, it turns out we Canucks DO ship to the Land of the Free....

Peak of the Market's last thirteen years, 1994/95 to 2006/2007, have proven to be the highest sales years in the company's 65-year history. These record-breaking sales were accomplished by obtaining sales in markets across North America including California, Florida, Texas and Washington. These areas also produce a large supply of vegetables but they recognize the quality and taste difference that Peak of the Market vegetables provide.

Lloyd

Here is a link that might be useful: Peak of the Market

I've lived in the US AND Canada and have never seen or heard of "Peak of the Market" in a grocery store.

Canada does ship quite a few veggies southbound. But my suspicion is you'll find more of it in the freezer aisle (where more of it gets used and less peels, etc go into compost). When you walk through the fruit aisle in a typical American grocery store, it's all labled from South America (if not from California or Florida).

But more importantly, organic does not mean "safe". There are plenty of things in nature that will kill you, and plenty of them are allowed as certified organic. Your best bet is to go to the local farmer's stands/markets and know who's growing your food!

Thanks for all the comments. Keep them coming. I try to eat seasonally, but I do buy lemons and limes year round now. I'm not sure if they have an off season. They seem to come from Chile sometimes. I've also gotten exotic things like a dragon fruit in the late summer that may come from East Asia, but I'm not sure. The question of pesticides remaining is one I've always wondered.

A friend sent me an email with the following info. She didn't mention the source. Does anyone know if it's true?

"Examine produce stickers on the fruits and vegetables you buy. The PLU code for conventionally grown fruit consists of four numbers, organically grown fruit has five numbers prefaced by the number nine, and Genetically Modified/Engineered fruit has five numbers prefaced by the number eight."

Sue

The link below paints a broad picture of Canada-USA trade in agriculture; it's from our Federal government's ministry of agriculture, our equivalent to your USDA.

The largest Canadian food exports to the States are in beef, pork, cereal & oilseed grains. We do import much more fresh produce than we export to the US, but some of the produce we grow here heads south of the border -- the Niagara Region of Ontario exports substantial amounts of fresh fruit to you folks, for one example, and Atlantic Canada supplies large quantities of potatoes to the US Eastern seaboard.

Canadian produce exported to the USA has to fit within US food guidelines, just as US produce has fit within ours. NAFTA has done a lot to harmonize the standards across the borders, for good or ill.

BTW Kimmsr, of course you've seen Canadian (and Ontarian) produce in your local stores. They do carry McIntosh apples there, no? Enjoy that fresh Canadian taste the next time you bite into one. ;)

All the best,
-Patrick
(who personally brought fresh homegrown Canadian tomatoes to Maryland, USA, just last fall)

Here is a link that might be useful: Canada-United States Agricultural Trade