LOCALLY grown, pesticide-free food is gaining sway these days because it is fresh, healthy and supports area farmers. But how many of us give the same kind of thought to the Christmas trees we bring home? Can you decorate your Fraser fir without getting pesticide residue in your lungs and on your skin?

Sure, if the tree is certified organic by the Department of Agriculture. Or if it is a Certified Naturally Grown tree, which meets the same basic requirements: it was raised without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, using sustainable methods like composting and erosion control.

Certified Naturally Grown, a national organization with 500 members from 47 states, was founded in 2002 (the same year as the Agriculture Department’s organic certification program) by small farmers looking for an alternative that didn’t require a licensing fee and complicated record-keeping. State groups like the Farmer’s Pledge, sponsored by the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, can also provide assurances that a tree has been grown sustainably.

Or if you buy your tree from a local grower, like Mike Ludgate, who manages Ludgate Farms, a natural foods and farm store on the outskirts of Ithaca, N.Y., you can simply ask how the trees were raised.

“We buy and resell our trees from one of my neighbors, who doesn’t spray,” said Mr. Ludgate, who also sells greens for wreaths and swags from trees he has grown himself for 20 years without chemicals.

But many Christmas trees – which, after all, are sold for their beauty – are sprayed with pesticides, especially those grown on the large tree plantations in Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan and Canada. How much residue is left once the trees are cut down is a matter of some dispute, as is any risk that might be associated with it.

Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/garden/04garden.html