Sometimes we end up doing the worst thing possible for our kids even if we were trying to the best thing possible. Let's take the example of the mother who is making her own juice or pureeing her own baby food in an attempt to have her kids be as healthy possible. She might be buying all kinds of healthy foods and vegetables and even juicing and grinding them up in an effort to extract the most nourishment possible for her child without knowing at all that what she is really doing is adding a potent mix of pesticides to the food.
One way to make sure that you are not adding pesticides to your child's food is to scrub unpeeled vegetables under running water as thoroughly as possible before serving them. Make sure you teach your children how to do this as well. This is a good habit that they need to pick up and maintain for life to reduce their exposure to pesticides.
You should also explain to your children the importance of peeling fruits and vegetables. Be sure to remove the outer leaves of vegetables like lettuce and cabbage and only eat the inside as the most pesticides are sprayed on the outside of the vegetable
Some foods are more difficult to wash. Soak foods like strawberries, grapes, broccoli, spinach and lattice for a few minutes and then rinse them a few times to make sure they pesticide free.
It is also a good idea to trim animal fat from meat because pesticides tend to gather in the fat. Remove the skins from chicken as chicken skin absorbs the pesticides from the grain that chickens are fed.
You should also look for locally grown produce when you shop as it is the least likely to be sprayed with pesticides and waxes. Fruits and vegetables that come from a long ways away tend to have more chemicals sprayed on them so they will survive the trip.
Foods that have the highest levels of pesticides include celery, peaches, apples, blueberries, bell peppers, spinach, cherries, grapes, greens, kale, collard greens potatoes and strawberries.
Do your children a favor and explain to them why they should wash all of their vegetables as well as eat foods in season. Foods that are grown out of season usually come from another hemisphere and are loaded with more pesticides.