Reducing Lead, Phthalates and BPA in your food

At Ozark Akerz, our health focused farming practices are focused on the entire farming life-cycle. People tend to focus on the reduction of herbicides and pesticides, but toxins lurk in the most unlikely of places.
One example is water hoses. A lot of hoses contain lead and/or BPA. As the hose sits in the sun, the lead and other chemicals can leach out, not a cocktail you want to be watering fruits or vegetables with! To reduce this risk, we’ve adopted methods such as flushing our irrigation lines after watering and protecting them from the sun by burying them under mulch. We were also excited to find lead and phthalate (endocrine disruptors) free hoses, another step toward increasing the health value of our crops! One word of caution if you're planning on buying the  lead and phthalate free Element hose, it kinks easily so you'll need patience to take another step towards a healthier garden!
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​Even if you buy organic, be sure to find out what the general farming practices are of the farms you buy from. Although organic is better for you than conventionally raised food, if the farm does not take a holistic approach to farming you may still be exposed to toxins.

Learn more about chemicals in organic food in this Mother Jones article.

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