Hmmm those home grown vegetables, they certainly have a special flavour don’t they? That subtle something in the flavour that distinguishes them for the shop bought varieties. If you live in Chicago that flavour may be lead and that’s very bad.

Chicago has one of the highest rates of lead poisoning in the United States and research undertaken by Northwestern University is trying to find out why. Home grown vegetables have been identified as one of the contributing sources of the lead. Much of the soil's lead contamination comes from deteriorated paint, past use of lead-containing gasoline and industrial air pollution. Lead in soil does not biodegrade or decay. Whilst the bulk of the lead is stored in the roots, making vegetables likes carrots particularly risky, even the leafy parts contain significant amounts of lead.

Lead can harm virtually every system in the human body. Lead is particularly harmful to the developing brain and nervous system of fetuses and young children.

Read more about the research here.
Learn more about Lead Poisoning here.