You can have your water tested. We did that as our home was built in 1959 and so there was some concern about lead. They test for everything though and it's quite reassuring. Google water testing for your area. It was super cheap to do and well worth it.
In Cities there are Water Treatment Plants that treats the water before it reaches your home. (Not to be confused with Waste Water Treatment Plants) In a lot of cities (including here) Tap Water is better than Bottled water. I’m not sure how you would find out how your water is rated. Ours was rated as one of the best in the country. That surprised me because of all of the Industrial Plants and run off from the farms North of us. We can’t eat the fish from the Mississippi River but we got some Damn Good Drinking Water.
I find it quite terrifying when food is messed with. I know Canada has tightened up some of it's regulations, but still - seems every time you turn around someone is getting sick, usually from something imported from a country with less strict food handling/growing laws.
I now buy most of my groceries from our local Farmer's Market. Local meats make me feel safer. This year I started my own veggie garden as well. Last year I just grew tomato's, this year I have carrots, tomato's, sweet snap peas, green peppers and zucchini.I'm also growing my own herbs now and am going to learn to can this fall and dry my herbs. Next year I am going to add more. My son and I pulled a few carrots yesterday - they are small but edible. Oh my gosh, the taste!!!! So much better it was mind boggling. And I know no pesticides or other things were used. A small victory, but one that makes me feel better. Plus,my little boy thinks it's great fun and so exciting to have done this project.
Condensed Poop to the 15th Power and they did sell it to be used for Fertilizer. I’ve seen some of most beautiful Tomato, Cucumber, Watermelon, and Cantaloupe growing out of them. I’m not even going to mention the things laying beside them and hanging from some of them.
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Absolutely disgusting.
So maybe bottled water *is* better than tap? Where does bottled water come from? Dare I ask?
OH Lord, don’t get me started on WWTPs. Me and Barbe has had this conversation before. We have witnessed things no Human should have to witness. I refer to the Drying Beds as AMWAY Poop. Condensed Poop to the 15th Power and they did sell it to be used for Fertilizer. I’ve seen some of most beautiful Tomato, Cucumber, Watermelon, and Cantaloupe growing out of them. I’m not even going to mention the things laying beside them and hanging from some of them. There was an operator that claimed he had been eating them for years (not sure if he was pulling my leg or not).
When I read the OP, HAV was the first thing that came to mind.
The treated sludge that comes out of American wastewater treatment plants is also full of heavy metals. But the recent outbreaks of cyclosporiasis and Hepatitis A have been linked to imported produce. The Third World hasn't caught up with us yet in terms of modern contaminants. These disease outbreaks are more 'organic'.
I know one WWTP operator who eats the tomatoes out of his drying bed and he's mad as a hatter. (Ancient mercury poisoning reference.)
Buy local from someone you know or grow it yourself.
(NaturalNews) It is one of the latest forms of "greenwashing" that has many thinking they are "recycling" solid waste, but the practice of dumping biosolids (which is really just concentrated human waste) on farm fields is a serious environmental detriment.
NBC Philadelphia reports that local residents in Lehigh County, located in eastern Pennsylvania, have been raising an issue with local and state authorities about the use of "granulite," a type of sewage sludge fertilizer made from human waste, on nearby farm fields. The so-called fertilizer has reportedly contaminated groundwater and left a disgusting mess all around town.
"There's a huge difference between using fertilizer and using human feces that's been treated with different chemicals," said local resident Bill Schaffhouser to NBC Philadelphia. "This stuff will end up in the food and meat they eat, the milk they drink, this is a real issue."
By renaming human waste as "biosolids fertilizer," wastewater treatment facilities, public utilities and farm supply companies that sell them apparently think it is safe to apply to farm crops. But in Pennsylvania, residents see it as sewage sludge that is polluting their water supplies, yards, creeks, and neighborhoods.
Back in 2010, the Food Rights Network (FRN) conducted tests on "organic biosolids compost" that the city of San Francisco was distributing to local residents as natural fertilizer. The "compost" was made of sewage sludge, and was determined to contain "appreciable concentrations" of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants; triclosan, a toxic antibacterial agent; and nonylphenol detergent breakdown components; as well as other chemical (http://www.naturalnews.com/029504_organic_biosolids_toxic.html).
Turning sewage sludge into "fertilizer" may help keep less waste from being dumped in other places, but now much of it is being dumped on the food supply. Human waste, of course, is far different from animal manure gathered on small-scale farms, and applied in small quantities to crops -- the former is a toxic biohazard, while the latter is how crops have been fertilized for centuries.
"It's on the streets, it's all through our neighbor's yard, and it's supposed to be regulated but who's regulating it?" asked Schaffhouser. "We've got the chemicals going into the ground, got human feces going into ground (sic) none of it's normal, none of it's natural."
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/034546_biosolids_fertilizer_human_waste.html#ixzz2aGMw25d9
"Should the FDA do a better job of inspection of what comes into this country?"
I think so, especially since our food sources have become so global. But to do that, money would have to be pulled from somewhere else. Maybe it could get bumped up ahead of stockpiling ammo, since without safe food there will be no one to shoot.
Scary to think what else could come up from fruits or whatever that is basically foreign to this country. Should the FDA do a better job of inspection of what comes into this country?