Bittersweet

Telluride Daily Planet, Friday, October 11, 2024

I adore pomegranates – the sweet arils and their bitter seeds, and everything these bursts of goodness can add to a salad, a dessert, a smoothie bowl, or just a messy, stain-making hand-to-mouth experience.

Growing up, we’d see them relegated to sad displays of exotic grocery store fruits, where the persimmons, pineapples, and coconuts were also to be found, desperate or dying.  My closest relationship to the pomegranate, a berry-family fruit, was in the occasional Shirley Temple, a drink in which grenadine syrup, made of cooked down pomegranate juice and sugar, is mixed with ginger ale, lime and a cherry. It was the old version of an energy drink, something sweet enough to zing with just a tart edge. But could anyone identify the actual cherry-like taste of pomegranate in this drink?

Every fall as pomegranates begin to populate the produce aisle again, I have always looked forward to splurging on these fat and succulent beauties. But now I am rethinking this, splurging less, and seeking out organic varieties.

First of all, some fanfare – just because every single fruit and vegetable has it going on! Pomegranates are packed with nutrients like Vitamin C, Potassium, Fiber, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, and Folate. They are high in antioxidants and fiber, and contain plant compounds (polyphenols) like ellagitannins, anthocyanins, and organic acids that all have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. 

They are good for brain, circulation, and digestive health. They aid in exercise recovery. They are considered a superfood by virtue of their high nutritive value and low caloric value.  It is no surprise that pomegranates (“grainy apples”) have been eaten, used medicinally, and revered for thousands of years.

So I was disturbed to read that the biggest distributor of pomegranates in California – which also grows pistachios and almonds – is the second largest user in the state of a nasty herbicide called paraquat (methyl violagen), to the tune of 27,000 pounds per year.

According to the CDC, paraquat is a toxic chemical used for weed and grass control. In use since the early 60s, the EPA, which has banned it on golf courses, currently only allows use in agriculture by licensed commercial entities and licensed individuals; and the liquid form is given a color (blue) and strong scent so that it is not be confused with something else. It is harmful if inhaled, swallowed or spilled on the skin, let alone accidentally ingested. Poisoning requires hospitalization.

Paraquat kills all plants exposed to it, and is also highly toxic to most organisms. Its use has been banned in over 70 countries including Europe, the UK, China and Brazil. In the USA, it is still used for no-till agriculture, which means instead of tilling a field, it is applied to kill everything on top of the soil so as to allow dead plant roots to hold the earth until the next the next spring, averting erosion. Since June of 2021 lawsuits against its maker, having to do with the alleged connection of paraquat to Parkinson’s and other diseases, have ramped up; as of now there are almost 6,000 reported lawsuits pending.

All of this by way of saying that whatever good a fruit or vegetable can do for you — and they truly are the mysterious nutrient and goodness factories they are made out to be — to the best of our ability, we cannot ignore how they have been grown, no matter how plump and perfect they look. In fact, perfection should be seen as suspect. And paraquat? It is only one of hundreds of herbicides and pesticides used on our food (don’t get me started on glyphosate).

Many of you are familiar with the “Dirty Dozen,” a list formulated each year by the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org), whose mission states “To empower you with breakthrough research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment.”

The Dirty Dozen annually identifies the most toxically treated fruits and vegetables, those better purchased organic or purchased less or not purchased at all. It’s worth taking a look at this and other useful lists they publish – among them another favorite of mine, their tap water database, which spells out water contaminants based on zip code.

As to the humble pomegranate, one last hopeful thought: if we thought the seeds were powerhouses or nutrition, the skin is utterly outrageous. Rather than contributing to landfill excess and pollution, it is now being seen as a future food additive both for humans and animal feed.