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As parents, we don’t often think that cotton, the "fabric of our lives," will wind up in the food our children eat or the milk they drink. In fact, only 40 percent of the plant – the boll – is used for the fiber, while the remaining 60 percent goes for seed oil and other byproducts.

 And that’s how cotton enters the food chain. In the U.S. alone, over half a million tons of cottonseed oil are used annually as an ingredient in processed foods, such as snack foods and salad dressings. Another three million tons of raw cottonseed are fed to beef and dairy cattle, which, depending on the state, may also consume cotton "gin trash" in their feed.

When we eat these animal products, we’re eating cotton.

Why should we care? Cotton is the most intensively sprayed field crop in the world, accounting for more than 10 percent of the pesticides used worldwide and 25 percent of the pesticides used in the U.S. Yet despite cotton’s role in the food chain, chemicals that are banned for use on food crops are used on cotton. The accepted wisdom is that most pesticides break down before harvest, or get removed during processing. But that’s not always the case, as residues from pesticides, such as the toxic defoliant tribuphos (DEF), frequently appear on scans of cottonseed and other byproducts. Cottonseed oil, however, is rarely tested for pesticide residues. During a recent round of tests on milk, the U.S. Department of Agriculture did not look for DEF and other toxic cotton pesticides. Finally, cotton is increasingly genetically engineered (GE) – 61 percent of the U.S. cotton crop in the year 2000. But cotton food products, like all GE foods, are not required to be labeled as such. This is of concern to all consumers who want to eat as naturally as they can.

Here’s what you can do:

• Buy certified organic cotton products, like clothing for you and baby, diapers, tampons, even paper! The Sustainable Cotton Project has information for farmers, manufacturers, retailers and consumers, including a directory of businesses selling organic cotton products.
• Support the pesticide-free and GE-free organic cotton industry, which protects land and water, and provides the much-needed organic cottonseed oils used in organic processed foods, dairy and livestock feed.

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