Organic/natural living

[miss puff]

So, I am not a vegetarian. I tried for about a month and then Thanksgiving time came around and oooohhhh, well, old habits die hard.... But, I have been trying to make changes in the choices I make concerning food and what I bring home to my family. I have been trying to switch to mainly whole foods, organic or made naturally. It really makes me feel good that I am giving my children milk that isn't pumped full of hormones and what not. However, it's REALLY expensive. Does anyone else out there eat whole foods/organic foods and if so, do you have any great suggestions as to foods and or maybe which larger grocery chains have them cheaper?

Also, since alot of organic foods don't get the hormones and pestecides would that be more of an opportunity for salmonila poisening or something like Mad Cow disease? And in organic foods, do you know if they have to pass all the health processess that most FDA approved food does?

[Minnymouth]

Hopefully there might be a nurse nutritionist on the forum that can help answer these questions for us....

Yes, natural foods are good for us..... But almost everything you buy in a grocery store is sprayed with insecticide, or processed with persvative (can't spell)... Including all fruits, vegs, etc...

Fresh beef, pork, fowl is very hard to find sometimes. Everyone once in a while some of the private groceries will purchase off farmers (vegs, fruit, etc) and hopefully none of this stuff is "sprayed down"...

I would say a "butcher's shop" is probably the only place you can find "fresh, unprocessed meats....

[oliveoil]

Hopefully there might be a nurse nutritionist on the forum that can help answer these questions for us....

Yes, natural foods are good for us..... But almost everything you buy in a grocery store is sprayed with insecticide, or processed with persvative (can't spell)... Including all fruits, vegs, etc...

Fresh beef, pork, fowl is very hard to find sometimes. Everyone once in a while some of the private groceries will purchase off farmers (vegs, fruit, etc) and hopefully none of this stuff is "sprayed down"...

I would say a "butcher's shop" is probably the only place you can find "fresh, unprocessed meats....

I got to jump in on this conversation. Do you have a Whole Foods by you. It is the whole concept behind how they sell stuff. Look them up on the internet it is really a fun experience going there. Minny on those meats I think whole foods big deal is none of the animals have had steroids or other enhancing drugs. I know there milk comes from cows that graze in pastors that don't use any kind of pesticides or eat food that has been chemically treated. There not cheap at all but these stores are just packed when ever you go.


Say does anybody know about the question I asked about cooking oils, Sinkingfast made mention of? I searched and will try again right now about smoking oils?

[Bobby'sGirl]

If you haven't already found this site

Go ask Alice answers many nutrition and cooking questions and is run by a group of educators at Columbia.

http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2277.html

[Bobby'sGirl]

As far as organic...

...you can open a can of worms, so to speak, in trying to find the truth in the hype. Local farms may not have much regulation at that food stand, but there are more regs for the products getting into the supermarkets. As to milk, one thing for sure, our ancestors got a lot more calcium from nuts and veggies in the diet and not as much from dairy once they were past childhood. Relying only on one or two foods to provide most of a nutrient is not the best way to eat. It is an eye opener to look at serving sizes and convince ourselves that the Oriental and Mediterranean eating styles with only a few ounces of meat/day is all our bodies need. And small amounts of a lot of different foods spreads the risk around of not getting bacterial toxins naturally occurring in foods as well as environmental contamination. In the US and Europe most people have the luxury of picking where they want to take their risks to health and life. Fasten your selt belt? Give up sky diving? Avoid second hand smoke? Eat junk food and avoid fruits/veggies because they may have pesticides? Some things will pay off short term (no broken limbs or asthma attacks) others long term ( lower risk of stroke, cancer). When money got tight in BK, I looked back at my grandparent's rural life and less processed diets, and tallied up my laziness (prepared foods) factor versus money saved eating less processed but healthier with more variety.

AOL had a feature a week or so ago about when does it matter to buy organic if it is a concern. http://money.aol.com/consreports/sma...12134909990001

Mypyramid.gov has a feature that lets you enter foods each day to see how your nutrients stack up, and may be a useful check every so often if you are trying to budget and still juggle feeding yourself/family well.

[13inOR]

this is a little of the subject, but you should avoid organic milk and juices that
are not pasteurized when giving to children---my nephew last winter got ecoli which went into hemolytic uremic syndrome (he and about 10 kids in the same area) and was in ICU for a month, and came sooo close to dying you cant believe it. It is VERY dangerous for kids. Not to be negative but it was a horrible experience for my family that I wouldnt wish on anyone.

[Minnymouth]

Sorry to hear that........ yes unfortunately, I would say that "that" is one of the pitfalls of organic items....... Nothing to kill off the bateria unless everything is cooked well done......

I too think this would be awfully dangerous around kinds.

My roommates daughter (12) spend 2 weeks with us, she's fed all organic at home..... she went wild eating everything she could while she was with us..... loving the taste of everything... Her mom will "kill" when she get back home.... BUT SHE HAD A GREAT VISIT.....

Though I did notice that some of the fried stuff and processed foods did bother her system some.... Some of it was due to the change in water content (minerals) I'm sure.

[AMISLANDER]

I try to eat better...

...because everything today, when I eat out, seems to make me throw up.

I don't know why...but if I eat at home, i.e. made grilled chicken with angel hair pasta & some alfredot dressing over pasta w/steamed asparagus...no problem...anything restaurant...is making me end up in the bathroom....fast food? forget about it...no way...so I am really trying to figure out if it's the heat or things are spoiling as they sit out waiting to be prepared...anybody else have this problem?

[Bobby'sGirl]

Ten years ago on the west coast fallen apples in an orchard...

...where cows were pastured led to a massive
E. Coli 0157:H7 outbreak associated with ODWALLA BRAND juice products. All of their products labelled organic are now pasteurized to prevent a recurrence, but smaller regional outbreaks with others still occur. Loius Pasteur developed the process to take care of troubling bacteria in the French wine industry in the 1800's. In our country the whole idea of heat treating milk was to protect consumers starting almost a hundred years ago from tubercular illnesses that could be passed from infected cows into milk. Cows today are not as likely to harbor TB, but samples of untreated milk from organically raised cows do show bacteria levels that led Purdue (2004) to recommend against drinking any "raw" milk, organic or regular. Antibiotics are useful in animal feed to keep down illness, but are can be overused because they promote better growth in animals and protect the farmer's bottom line. There is a proposal to only allow antibiotics in animal feed that are not the same antibiotics used for human illness to prevent resistant strains of bacteria, but it may be too late for the current ones used in this way for the past 40 years.
Sometimes knowing TOO much about food and food processing methods can be a very effective way to lose your appetite...I have seen under a microscope what can be in raw fish, and always pass on raw sushi...and raw oysters on the half shell...and rare meat....and I wash the outside of farmstand organically grown melons before slicing since manure is used as fertilizer!

[miss puff]

Yes, Olivoil, we do have a wholefoods about 20 minutes away from us. I have just been buying organic/whole at Cub Foods but would like a little bit more of a selection. I will have to check them out this weekend.

I was worried about milk, eggs and dairy with Ecoli, I think I accidentally said salmonila-I was searching the web and we have a farm about 15 minutes away from us that is all organic. They offer tours and hands on experience for the kids on Saturday mornings. I think I am going to go there with the kids and find out the process and ask about if they pasturize them or not. I certainly wouldn't want what happened to 13's nephew to happen to one of us. How aweful. Minny your roomates daughter was probably in food heaven.

Amislander, could this be stress related do you think? Maybe you got a gasteromical (sp) flu or something.

Great finds Bobbysgirl. I wonder if like wheat and herbs are subject to possible diseases.

[FraggleRock]

Look for a CSA ~ Community Supported Ag in your area, here is a site that lists a few sites: http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/csa/

We also go to a farmers market at least once a week, it's open 2 days/week here but with small children it's hard to get to. You can ask the farmers direct if they do a buy-in type of deal.

[Bobby'sGirl]

Stress+hidden fats+heat=need to eat light for me...

...because everything today, when I eat out, seems to make me throw up.

I don't know why...but if I eat at home, i.e. made grilled chicken with angel hair pasta & some alfredot dressing over pasta w/steamed asparagus...no problem...anything restaurant...is making me end up in the bathroom....fast food? forget about it...no way...so I am really trying to figure out if it's the heat or things are spoiling as they sit out waiting to be prepared...anybody else have this problem?

I always run into this in the summer, myself. I live near the Great Lakes, but kitchen help anywhere in country has to be trained, trained and retrained to keep things HOT or COLD and reminded of basic hygiene! And stress gets my gut tied in knots anyway, without further insults from eating badly prepared, rich foods out. Saves on the budget, anyway, right?

[tinroofrusted]

We go to our local farmer's market here. Most are organic growers, and it's fresh fruit and veggies that we can get..... I love it!

Some sellers even make their own organic fudge, bread and other goods!

[SinkingFast]

I don't know if this is a Nationwide thing or if we're a test market, but,......... Wal-Mart is bringing in whole lines of Organic foods. Fresh produce and such. They've been advertising hot and heavy on TV here and I've seen signs in the store as well.

The prices for Organic foods are much more reasonable at Wally World than at other grocery stores, from what I've seen.

Maybe a way to help you get what you want without breaking the bank??!!

As others have said, be sure and check before you buy so you know what you're getting.

[miss puff]

Thanks SF. We have a walmart here, I will have to check them out. They probably would be the cheapest of the places.