We need food labels.

Here is a label that surprised me.  “PRODUIT TRAITE” it says on these yummy looking donut peaches, an heirloom variety commonly found in Europe.  I know what “PRODUIT” means (product).  But what did ‘TRAITE’ mean?

I was in Central France in the Loire Valley and saw this at a regular run of the mill supermarket “Super U” (which is a well know chain, not known for health foods or organic foods.  The organic section was rather disappointing: bananas, potatoes and apples).  I went to ask someone what this label meant.  A manager at the store explained that PRODUIT “TRAITE” pronounced TREH-TAY means that the food is sprayed with harmful pesticides and we should not eat the skin of these fruits and veggies.  And/or wash them very carefully before eating.

Wow.

Talk about a country informing it’s citizens, a store letting customers know that there are toxins in what looked like beautiful fresh ripe fruit.  We can’t see them, taste them or smell them.  If they’re not labelled, how else can we know how they are grown?

With pesticide use now at record highs, we should have the right to know what toxins we’re ingesting in N. America.  GMOs are sprayed, positively doused with pesticides.  That is how they are grown.  GMO and Conventional farming are heavily sprayed with toxins that pollute the water and the soil and kill the bees.  If around 90 percent of N.American Wheat, Soy, Sugar, Soy and Corn are treated with toxic, harmful pesticides…. Can you imagine what kind of labelling must be in place to protect us and our defenceless children?

I can imagine some upper level decision maker in the Super U store saying, “Traite?  Eet ees treated wiz round up and ozzer pesticides?    Zat is legal.  Oui. But zat ees not right.  Hi dont want my cheeldren to eat zat.  My mozzer should not eat zat eizer. Eef some body wants to eat zat, zey must be told.  Zut alors.”

Let’s take the best practises we can find worldwide and apply them to better ourselves and our planet.

What more can I say but: Vive la France!