Santay sana squashed banana

Bananas. Super smoothie ingredient. Early baby food. Monkey fodder.
Also involved in the poisoning of communities and harvesters. Sadly.
It's the first thing I committed to buying organic. And it wasn't for my health. When it comes to protecting the fruit itself, the peel is pretty amazing for blocking out the pesticides that are used to spray the banana plants. But I read about how many of the banana farm workers won't even eat the fruit because they see how heavily they are sprayed. And even with that, the workers are still exposed, all day long.
The past month or so my husband and I--and several close friends--have been having  a lot of conversations about money, and what we're doing with what we've got in our household. My hubby pointed out that we spend a fairly large amount on our food bill now; and it's about double what it used to be before we went organic. (This was also before we had a two-year-old boy with a voracious appetite, but he hasn't doubled our purchasing! Not yet...) 3 years ago, I just thought organic foods were a luxury item for people who are really picky or nervous about what they eat. I only bought them if the item I needed was only available as an organic. I've gone through a bit of a revolution in my thinking. I'd say we're about 90 or 95% organic now in our house. I've read a lot of articles, research, and data points about how people have lower pesticide levels in their bodies and receive higher nutrient content from organic foods. And honestly, we cannot comfortably afford it. We manage it, but it isn't actually easy for us--and probably a little harder every day that our 2 year old's appetite grows more  (seriously, where do they put it?!!)
Not too long ago a friend was pointing out that you don't have to buy all organics, because some of the vegetables with thick peels are pretty low in residues anyway. And that's true. On top of that, the Clean 15 list from Environmental Working Group helps people to sort out which conventional vegetables are low in pesticides.
But I'm also thinking about the farm workers who don't get to pick what is sprayed or not sprayed on the fields; they just need a reliable job.
And I'm thinking about the soil and the waterways that are soaking up everything that is dumped onto them, year after year.
There are other things we could do with the money. Sometimes I wish we were doing other things with the money it costs us. But then I think--maybe I'm paying for these foods what they ought to cost. What they ought to cost me, who benefits from them. Not the farm worker just doing his job. Not the deteriorated, polluted soil; not the chemical water that somebody somewhere will end up drinking because they have nothing cleaner. Maybe I could save the money and buy something else for myself or my kids--or save for their future; fix up broken things in my house; even give it to charity. There are a lot of good things I could do.  But I also have the chance to invest in a more conscientious way of farming, and feeding animals for meat, by buying organic foods. It isn't charity; I benefit as much as anybody else. But I think it is also more generous to the people who live in farming communities and who make their wages working farm fields.
And maybe my banana is still a Dole banana-it's not like it came from an independent cooperative of banana farmers. But if my choice helped to force Dole to convert one or two of its banana fields from a pesticide-ridden hazard to a more humane, careful organic farm, I think I can be satisfied with the improvement.

A natural crib mattress? Greenwashing

I've been looking for a natural crib mattress for our second-born. On our limited budget, we can't afford to replace all of our mattresses with natural ones, but I hope that whatever new ones we purchase in the future will be natural, so that we can avoid air contamination from flame retardants in mattresses. Though the mattress industry says that flame retardants pose no danger for babies or adults, I am more inclined to listen to the skeptics and doctors who argue that the addition of so many flame retardants to mattresses may be contributing to a variety of health problems, even SIDS.

Last week I thought my search had ended, with an affordable, "green" mattress that I found at Costco, made by Simmons Kids. The package claimed chemical-free flame resistance, soy foam, organic cotton cover (that nonetheless was waterproof?), GreenGuard tested for emissions, and more. Still, I know Simmons Kids is a major retailer of standard mattresses, so I was hesitant. I kept the packaging intact and did some research. Fortunately, I found a post by Eco-Novice that linked "The Mattress Matters", a recent publication about the chemical content of crib mattresses. It's a great report on in-depth research on many crib mattresses, with a chart at the end that indicates what chemicals of concern may be present in each part of the mattresses' composition. It also indicates where the companies were unwilling to disclose what additives were used in the mattresses. It turned out that the one I had bought was probably a pretty good example of "greenwashing," where a product is made to look more eco-friendly than it actually is. Hey, it's a big marketplace, so companies will do what they can to get a slice of an ever-growing pie as parents and families go greener. In short, the mattress I had waiting probably has vinyl (as the second layer of the organic cotton cover--thus the waterproof claim), chemical flame retardants (who knows which ones), and its "soy-based foam" is probably still between 80% and 95% polyurethane foam. The company did not disclose most of the specifics. I don't trust that. Sigh. Back it went to Costco (thank goodness for a GREAT return policy!) The search is still on. I'm starting to consider getting a prescription for a chemical-free mattress... Has anyone done this?