I am a very big believer in buying organic food because I don’t want poisons with my dinner. By poison, I am talking about pesticides.

To be clear, conventional farm produce generated in the United States tends to meet all government standards and, according to the law is safe for us. But what I wonder about is this: where the heck is that "law" when we become sick 20 years down the road? Will the "law" pay for our medical bills? Will it visit us in the hospital? Will it even just send us flowers?

The point is that you need to make your own decisions about these things. In my view, the government tends to be too wrapped up in protecting big business to have time to protect the likes of you or me. So let the buyer beware.

While I am sure that conventionally grown produce is generally fine and meets all legal requirements, I like to reduce pesticide exposure and often opt for organic.

There are not a lot of studies that discuss the overall effects of poisons introduced into our body from everything to which we are exposed, but that’s what concerns me. In other words, while a lot of conventionally raised produce contain pesticides below legal limits, they still often have some residue. What happens to your body when it is exposed to a lot of pesticide poison from a variety of sources, each at "acceptable levels?"

It’s the big picture that concerns me, the total pesticide load on my body. Personally, I am concerned that this aggregate load might make me sick later on –or contribute to making me sick later on. This does not seem to be well understood and in my opinion, why not be safe than sorry.

Having said that, organic produce is not always pesticide free. Which means while it poses a sound alternative, it too has apparent limitations.

In order to be considered organic, produce generally cannot be sprayed with synthetic pesticides and cannot come from a field that has been so treated over the last three years. Three years is supposed to be a cleansing period.

Some studies that have been published suggest that three years does not always do the trick and some organically grown produce may pick up traces of non organic pesticides applied longer than three year back. Therefore some organic vegetables have traces of non organic, sometimes dangerous pesticides.

In addition, some organic farmers do use pesticides - just not synthetic pesticides. Organic pesticides have natural origins , but guess what –they are still pesticides . Some can pose human risks and some pose risks to fish and other wildlife.

Some farmers are selling produce with no detectable pesticide residues as well as produce grown relying on smaller amounts of any kind of pesticide. This may represent an even healthier alternative.

In conclusion, if it’s a choice between no vegetables and conventionally grown vegetables, I certainly would pick the vegetables. American produce is certainly safe.

But I enjoy the extra measure of safety that I feel I obtain by purchasing organically grown produce. As I explained, this produce may have some levels of synthetic pesticides, but I believe they represent a step in the right direction.

Reduced pesticide produce and produce that has no pesticide residue may be even a further step in that same direction.

The information provided in this column is written by Stuart Lieberman,a practicing environmental attorney, and is for general information purposes only. It is not legal advice and should not be used in place of legal advice.

Stuart Lieberman, Esq., and IRED.Com, Inc., will not accept any responsibilty for any reliance on the information in this column or any damages whatsoever resulting from reading this column.