Celery – facts
· King Tut's tomb contained a shroud adorned with garlands of wild celery, olive leaves, willow, lotus petals, and cornflowers.
· A recipe uncovered in Pompeii for a celery dessert called for roasting chopped celery in an oven and serving it with honey and ground pepper.
· Celery comes to us from the Mediterranean region of the world, where it’s been grown for some 3,000 years.
· This vegetable was featured heavily in Greek and Roman medicines.
· The Greeks also used celery ornamentally, making wreaths out of it to honor sports victors or dead ancestor.
· Celery really didn’t become part of food recipes until the 1600s!
· The first recorded mention of celery in France was in 1623.
· Celery was first introduced to America in 1856 when a Scotsman named George Taylor brought celery to Kalamazoo, Michigan.
· Kalamazoo began promoting itself as the "Celery City" and became known around the country for the "strange" vegetable.
· The 1897 Sears Catalog featured a nerve tonic made from celery and described celery as a "great nerve builder."
· Celery is a member of the Umbelliferae family, which also includes carrots, parsley, dill, cilantro, caraway, cumin, and the poisonous hemlock.
· It takes just one ounce of celery seeds to produce an acre of celery.
· One stalk of celery contains about 10 calories. Some contend that it contains "negative calories," meaning that one spends more calories digesting it than are consumed when it eating it, which supposedly helps with weight loss.
Where Celery is Grown:
In the United States:
California (produces about 90% of the US supply of celery) and Florida
In California:
Ventura, Monterey, Santa Barbara, Ben Benito and San Luis Obispo
In the World:
United States, Mexico and Canada
Nutritional Facts
· Celery provides an excellent source of vitamin C and fiber.
· It is a very good source of folic acid, potassium, and vitamins B1 and B6.
· Celery also offers a good source of vitamin B2 and calcium.
· Even though celery contains more sodium than most other vegetables, the sodium is offset by it's high levels of potassium. Studies have shown that the amount of sodium is not significant even for the most salt-sensitive individuals.
· Celery contains compounds known as coumarins. Studies have shown that they are effective in cancer prevention and capable of enhancing the activity of certain white blood cells. Coumarin compounds also lower blood pressure, tone the vascular system, and are possibly effective when used in cases of migraines.
· Due to the high levels of potassium and sodium, when celery-based juices are consumed after a workout they serve as great electrolyte replacement drinks.
· Studies have also shown that celery may help to lower cholesterol and prevent cancer by improving detoxification.
Organophophates(OP’S) and Celery
Celery has no protective skin, so pesticides settle on the vegetable and in turn are directly ingested by you.
Why OP’s are used on Celery Farms
If it has the suffix –cide in it, then you know it's about killing something. Pesticides are designed to kill insects, fungus, bacteria and other things that feed on crops, are vectors for disease, nuisances, and things that destroy property.
Tarnished plant bugs (TPB) are a pest of a variety of crops including: celery, lettuce, spinach, strawberries, apples. potato, and pepper.
In celery, TPB nymphs and adults feed on main stalks, causing lesions which range from stings to cavities. As plants near harvest TPB feed on leafy parts of the petiole, resulting in “black joint”.
Another issue for celery growers is that TPB feeding makes plants more susceptible to secondary infections.
Farming is big business. And some of the farming companies are bottom–line entities in business to make money at any cost. Pesticides and genetically modified organisms are how they insure that they will get the crop yield they demand every season.
The wide use of organophosphates is based on several factors:
* They are relatively inexpensive.
* They are broad spectrum (most organophosphates can be used on several crops to control a variety of insect pests).
* Because of this broad spectrum of activity, one organophosphate might control the insects that would require three or four non-organophosphate insecticides.
* In general, insects have not developed resistance to organophosphates as they have to some other pesticides.
Effects of OP’s on Humans and Envirionment
Organophosphates can be hazardous to the neurological development of children and babies in the womb, producing lower IQs.
Exposure to OP’s has been linked to behavioral and cognitive problems in children of farm workers and other high-risk populations.
OP exposure during fetal development and the first 2-3 years of life has been linked to detrimental effects on neurodevelopment in young children, including behavioral problems and deficits in memory and motor skills.
Other health effects include chronic fatigue, asthma, wheeze, immune system disorders, impaired memory, disorientation, depression, irritability, flu-like symptoms, and may increase risk of cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.
Farmers and their families and other persons who use chemical pesticides regularly are at greatest risk for achieving toxic levels in their bodies. The danger is spread out to larger areas, as the pesticides:
· Are carried on the wind
· Leave residues on produce
· Remain inside produce and animals
· Run off into open water, contaminating public water supply as well as fish and other seafood
Anyone who uses pesticides or is present when pesticides are sprayed is at risk for dangerous exposure. The pesticides can enter the body through skin, eyes, mouth and nose.
Most exposure to organophosphates occurs from ingestion through the food supply. Direct dermal exposure can also occur for people that work directly with these chemicals.
OP’S LINKED TO ADHD IN CHILDREN
A recent nationwide study, conducted by Maryse Bouchard, Ph.D., a researcher at the University of Montreal, suggests that children exposed to higher levels of organophosphates, found in trace amounts on commercially grown fruit and vegetables, are more likely to have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder than children with less exposure. The study is the first to examine effects of pesticide exposure in the population at large.
Urine samples were collected and analyzed from children ages 8 – 15.
*Kids with above –average levels of a common pesticide (organophosphate) byproduct had twice ADHD risk.
“OP’s are ‘designed’ to have toxic effects on the nervous system, that’s how they kill pests”, says the lead author of the study, Dr. Bouchard.
What are Organophosphates (OP’s)?
Organophosphate pesticides/insecticides are nerve agents that inactivate the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, which is essential to nerve function. Though organophosphates degrade rapidly when exposed to sunlight, air, and soil, chronic toxicity can still occur as these chemicals are used on food crops, orchards, and food storage centers.
OPs are all derived from phosphoric acid. They are generally among the most acutely toxic of all pesticides to vertebrate animals.
Forty organophosphate pesticides are registered for use in the United States, the most common being Malathion®. Malathion is widely used in agriculture, landscaping, and mosquito control.
Over 25,000 brands of pesticides are available in the United States, with 14.7 million pounds sold. Use is monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
In the 1930s, organophosphates were used as insecticides, but the German military developed these substances as neurotoxins in World War II. They function as cholinesterase inhibitors, thereby affecting neuromuscular transmission.
Toxic nerve agents used by the military are often of the organophosphate group. One example is sarin, the nerve gas used in a terrorist action in Tokyo in 1995. In anticipation of military use of OP neurotoxins during the Gulf War, the US military was given prophylactic agents which some believe caused some of the symptoms of Gulf War syndrome.
Organophosphate (OP) compounds are the most widely used group of insecticides in the world. Their acute toxicity causes a hazard both to professional and amateur users.
With the emergence of the West Nile virus in the northeastern United States, programs of spraying OP’s have been implemented in large urban areas, in particular New York's Central Park.
Controversy exists regarding the long-term effects of exposure to low levels of potentially neurotoxic substances.