It’s not just china. As one of the first 140 organic farmers to be certified by the state of Texas, I can tell you that the lettuce and other foodstuffs coming from Mexico are laced with as many as eleven different pesticides banned in the US. (At the time there was only about one head of lettuce in 1100 tested for such at the Texas/Mexico border.) After that, we only need to worry about Chile, and all the other latin American countries that produce our food.
The problem with a viable organic food industry in the US is that our product looks no different than non-organic, but costs more to produce due to lack of pesticides, chemicals, etc. Oftentimes it lookes worse. If one can’t afford organic food that has been certified, at least one should buy the apples and other foods that have blemishes on the outside chance it missed being adulterated, then peel everything that can be peeled, and wash the heck out of the rest.
>>>>I can tell you that the lettuce and other foodstuffs coming from Mexico are laced with as many as eleven different pesticides banned in the US.
And they use dark soil.