Two reports.

Two important reports have been released to the public this year.  One is the USDA annual report that shows test results of pesticide residue in fruits and vegetables.  This report was expected to come out earlier in the year but was allegedly held up by lobbyists from 18 pesticide-intensive food trade associations. They were worried that it would hurt business.  The full report can be found here:  http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5091055

The second important report was released by the UN this year.  It examines the myth that only chemical-driven Big Ag can feed the world.  The report “Agro-ecology and the Right to Food” reveals that, in fact, small-scale sustainable farming would even double food production within five to 10 years in places where most hungry people on the planet live. “We won’t solve hunger and stop climate change with industrial farming on large plantations,” Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food and author of the report, said in a press release. “The solution lies in supporting small-scale farmers’ knowledge and experimentation, and in raising incomes of smallholders so as to contribute to rural development.”
The full report can be found here:
http://civileats.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/20110308_UN_agroecology_report.pdf

On a lighter note, another thing the USDA  reports is  that green leaf lettuce has quite a few nutrients per head, including 13 mg calcium, 5 mg Magnesium, 10 mg phosphorous, 70 mg potassium, 6.5 mg vitamin C and a fair dose of vitamins A and K and lutein.  Red leaf is good, too.  (Actually, the darker the leaf the better.)  So wrap your lettuce around a hunk of cheese and enjoy!