Anna, you are such a good researcher that I wonder if you might have the answer to a question that I have been unsuccessful with.

I've been told by a couple of farmers that it is okay to use, for example, manure from horses that are fed non-organic feed, or non-organic veg scraps in compost or to feed pigs (think dumpster diving), because the "bad" molecules are too large for plants to take up. Even Geoff Lawton has made this claim! Yet I haven't gotten him to answer the request for resources proving this . . .

Non-organic manure & food waste is so abundant, such as in your poultry example here, that I would love to know the answer! Do you have any ideas, even of where to look for an answer?

Hmmm-----maybe I'll write the Rodale institute/farm.

Thanks for all that you do. Peace & blessings, Terry

Terry --- I guess the answer depends on whether your definition of "okay." I'm not sure that those inputs would work in a certified organic operation, but if you're like us and are interested in eating the healthiest foods possible and don't care about labels, I'd say you'd be fine.

A healthy garden soil can break down scary chemicals pretty quickly, especially if you promote fungi, so chances are the plants not only won't take up the bad chemicals, those chemicals won't even be present before long. Only heavy metals would stay problematic, since these can't be broken down by living things and can accumulate in plant tissues.

Feeding scraps to pigs then eating the meat is more likely to harm you than putting questionable inputs into your soil would, although I'd still do it if it weren't illegal to do so.

You might also be interested in this post, which specifically addresses the horse manure issue.