FAQ:

 What techniques can farmers do to reduce the amount of pesticide residue in their produce?

Farmers can change the way they farm to decrease the level of pesticide seen in their produce.  They can switch to Integrated Pest Management or to Organic Production Methods. Integrated Pest Management farming uses less toxic chemical pesticide  rather than synthetic chemicals to regulate pest control. Whereas, Organic farming uses no synthetic pesticides.Synthetic pesticides are chemical pesticides.

What is organic food? and who regulates the certification of it?

Organic food is any food that is processed and grown with the organic practices.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) decides whether a food should be labeled organic or not based on the governmental standards they set. Organic foods have labels such as the one shown below which indicate that the product is organic based on the USDA requirements of organic farming. In order for food to be labeled organic, the food has to be processed and produced in the national organic standards meaning that no synthetic chemicals were used .  Foods made with less than 70 percent of organic ingredients will  not be labeled organic.

http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=ORGANIC_CERTIFICATIO"

 What steps can indivduals do to decrease the pesticides on their food?

In order to decrease some of the pesticides not visibly seen on fruits and vegetables consumers should always wash and peel their produce with cold or warm water. Some people recommend steaming and cooking your vegetables while others find that no difference is made when you steam the vegetables. It has been said that consumers should buy frozen organic produce since it has less pesticide residue. Consumers should also peel off the outer leaves of of vegetables such as lettuce and cabbage. Health experts recommend buyers to buy the dirty dozens fruit and vegetables organic to limit their intake of pesticides in their food .They also recommend users to still eat their fruits and vegetables because they can prevent themselves from other diseases

One of the items that has been recommended by health experts to invest on are fruit scrub brushes. These brushes are suppposed to remove some of the pesticides found on the surface of fruits and vegetables. Individuals can use these brushes on vegetables with either thicker or softer skins such as oranges.