Strange but true: food from plants which have to fight off insects for themselves is more mutagenic than food from plants which are protected with pesticides.
Plants can't defend themselves against predators by running away. Their main options for self-protection are armor (bark, shells, thorns, etc.) or poison. Many plants secrete poisons in response to attack, sort of like an immune response. For example, blackened/wounded sections of potatoes are much richer in alkaloids than unbruised sections. This is also why chopping onions can irritate the eyes: the onions are literally creating a cloud of poison gas in response to trauma.
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Plants can't defend themselves against predators by running away. Their main options for self-protection are armor (bark, shells, thorns, etc.) or poison. Many plants secrete poisons in response to attack, sort of like an immune response. For example, blackened/wounded sections of potatoes are much richer in alkaloids than unbruised sections. This is also why chopping onions can irritate the eyes: the onions are literally creating a cloud of poison gas in response to trauma.