Buying organic foods is the opposite of being selfish

“Buying organic makes you selfish,” March 18 book review.

I read this article with disbelief. In her new book, “Why You Eat What You Eat,” Brown University neuroscientist Rachel Herz tries to make a connection between buying organic and behaving like a selfish jerk. What?

I started buying organic bananas after travelling to Costa Rica and hearing about the thousands of laborers who suffer from working with pesticides. A high amount of chlorpyrifos was found in the bodies of banana laborers, and in children in surrounding communities. This chemical disrupts brain development in children and impairs cognitive function. Dibromochloropropane, a known carcinogen, has also been used extensively in banana production.

You can save a few pennies and buy non-organic bananas, because you can always peel them and your body will most likely be safe from these toxins. But that doesn’t protect the workers from cancer and disease.

I think that is the supreme act of selfishness. Lynne Charles, Denver

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