The food we eat has a direct effect on the health of our environment and those who grow consume the food. That’s why food labeled organic is the right choice. In addition to the problems of serious health questions linked to residues of toxic pesticides and lack of food quality, our food-buying decisions support or reject hazardous agricultural practices, the protection of farm workers and farm families and the stewardship of the land.

The organic choice is a clear one. It is important to eat organic food, nurtured in a system of soil health and plant health. Synthetic fertilizers and toxic pesticides can't do that. They contaminate our water and air, hurt biodiversity, harm farm workers and kill bees, birds, fish and other wildlife.

To help explain the urgent need for a major shift to organic food consumption, Beyond Pesticides has begun the Eating with a Conscience database which evaluates the impacts on the environment and farm workers of the toxic chemicals allowed for use on major food crops, grown domestically and internationally.

While the Clean 15/Dirty Dozen (foodnews.org/walletguide) list generated by Environmental Working Group is helpful in alerting consumers to hazardous residues on food, food residues are only part of the story. It turns out that those very same “clean” food commodities may be grown with hazardous pesticides that get into waterways and groundwater, contaminate nearby communities, poison farm workers and kill wildlife, while not all showing up at detectable levels on our food.To inform the public, Eating with a Conscience looks at the toxic chemicals that are allowed in the production of the food we eat.

For more information visit BeyondPesticides.org.