Looking to eat more organically, please help!

stormieweather

My approach is slightly different, whatever processed foods I eat, are organic. So if I want canned Ravioli, it has to be organic...stuff like ketchup or cereal or pancake mix or crackers, lunch meat, cheese, etc. My fresh foods I buy from a farmers market. The idea for me, is to ensure that any processed foods I eat contain no preservatives, artificial ingredients or pesticides. It costs a LOT more, but then, I avoid most all processed foods anyway. The price is a small deterrant to buying the "easy" route (boxed, canned). But if I choose to do so anyway, the ingredients will be as safe as possible.

jojoworks

Good luck with your efforts to eat healthy and organic. I am a HUGE fan of organic food for many reasons, but I want to caution you on ONE thing:

You can buy ORGANIC junk food that is just as crappie as conventional junk food. Sugar and salt are still what they are regardless of whether is made from organic ingredients or not. So don't sit down to eat a big bag of potato chips thinking you've made a good choice just since they're organic. The food you choose to eat still has to make sense on a "good for you" scale.

again, good luck and happy eating!

fitnesspirateninja

Get a veggie box. Or go to your local farmer's market. You can find them here:
http://www.localharvest.org/

The problem with CSA veggies boxes is that they require a "buy-in." I found a farmer who just sells me a box on weeks that I want them. Also, if you are a picky eater, you might not be happy with a veggie box because you don't decide what goes in them. But I like trying new things and I love that I can talk to the person who grew my food. Everything was grown within 20 miles of my house!

Farmer's markets are probably the best option for you if you don't have a veggie box option that you like. I know a lot shut down in winter, but you might find some that are still open.

I have never even heard of a veggie box! lol! Sounds interesting though! haha Sadly, the farmers markets closest to me are closed!

Thanks so much for the info!

Sorry, I forgot that we are totally spoiled with the weather here. Some towns in the Bay Area do farmer's markets year round (I think ours closes next weekend or something like that). Also, I live in farm country so there's no shortage of farmers. I do love the veggie box - the closest farmer's market is 25 miles away. I don't know if I could afford to to the "buy in" and "pay upfront" boxes, though. Weekly is all I can handle.

superhippiechik

do an online search for kale chips. They're pretty tasty and very healthy.

Make your own ! Coat lightly with extra virgin olive oil and bake at 350 until crisp and then sprinkle with sea satl. Viola`!

ccgisme

We jokingly refer to Whole Foods as Whole Paycheck. Since your farmer's markets are closed, consider Trader Joe's (or Trader Giotto's if you perfer )

BoresEasily

There is a great debate over whether organic actually has any benefits. One good article can be found here:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/real_food/article6731910.ece

I think it is more important to eat a healthy diet than spend all your money on organic - especially as organic can be more expensive and often smaller in size.

Whoever said there was? The reason people buy organically is because the food is cleaner not because it has added benefits. That is undeniably the dumbest most wasteful study ever created. Here's the reason one eats organic as was laid out to me recently. If you're given two of the same vegetables or pieces of fruit and someone sprays pesticide on one, which one are you going to choose?

Grokette

Get a veggie box. Or go to your local farmer's market. You can find them here:
http://www.localharvest.org/

The problem with CSA veggies boxes is that they require a "buy-in." I found a farmer who just sells me a box on weeks that I want them. Also, if you are a picky eater, you might not be happy with a veggie box because you don't decide what goes in them. But I like trying new things and I love that I can talk to the person who grew my food. Everything was grown within 20 miles of my house!

Farmer's markets are probably the best option for you if you don't have a veggie box option that you like. I know a lot shut down in winter, but you might find some that are still open.

Yes, buying local and in season is ALWAYS the best option. It creates a local and sustainable economy and environment. The food is more nutritional because it is local and picked a lot fresher than it being shipped.

And that includes shopping at places like whole foods who does sell organic, but how much of the vitamins and minerals are lost due to the shipping process.

Grokette

There is a great debate over whether organic actually has any benefits. One good article can be found here:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/real_food/article6731910.ece

I think it is more important to eat a healthy diet than spend all your money on organic - especially as organic can be more expensive and often smaller in size.

The thing is organic fruits and veggies are smaller and CLOSER to the real size they should be.

I don't want to eat plants that have been genetically modified or engineered. And I sure as H*** don't want to eat bug spray and waxes they rub on the fruits and veggies. I want to eat them grown in the ground as NATURE intended.

As someone else mentioned, the cheapest and most cost effective way to eat local and organic is to learn to use what is in season or start freezing, canning and drying foods during the summer when they are in season.

aigéan

My approach is slightly different, whatever processed foods I eat, are organic. So if I want canned Ravioli, it has to be organic...stuff like ketchup or cereal or pancake mix or crackers, lunch meat, cheese, etc. My fresh foods I buy from a farmers market. The idea for me, is to ensure that any processed foods I eat contain no preservatives, artificial ingredients or pesticides. It costs a LOT more, but then, I avoid most all processed foods anyway. The price is a small deterrant to buying the "easy" route (boxed, canned). But if I choose to do so anyway, the ingredients will be as safe as possible.

That's a great idea! I'd love to cut out processed foods from my diet, but sometimes it's just so difficult! I really need to start making better choices. And I don't have a lot of money so I guess I'll just have to do what I can for now, but thanks so much for the idea!

aigéan

There is a great debate over whether organic actually has any benefits. One good article can be found here:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/real_food/article6731910.ece

I think it is more important to eat a healthy diet than spend all your money on organic - especially as organic can be more expensive and often smaller in size.

Whoever said there was? The reason people buy organically is because the food is cleaner not because it has added benefits. That is undeniably the dumbest most wasteful study ever created. Here's the reason one eats organic as was laid out to me recently. If you're given two of the same vegetables or pieces of fruit and someone sprays pesticide on one, which one are you going to choose?

AMEN !!!

aigéan

We jokingly refer to Whole Foods as Whole Paycheck. Since your farmer's markets are closed, consider Trader Joe's (or Trader Giotto's if you perfer )

haha, thanks! There's a Trader Joe's a few miles from me!

BoresEasily

I can finally attest to the claim that you don't taste the spinach in the smoothie and I used A LOT of spinach! I put the spinach in first, frozen banana on top, frozen blueberries, and 2 cups of milk. I'm going to try it with water and crushed ice and without blueberries tomorrow I think. It was yummy!

kayemme

There is a great debate over whether organic actually has any benefits. One good article can be found here:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/real_food/article6731910.ece

I think it is more important to eat a healthy diet than spend all your money on organic - especially as organic can be more expensive and often smaller in size.

Whoever said there was? The reason people buy organically is because the food is cleaner not because it has added benefits. That is undeniably the dumbest most wasteful study ever created. Here's the reason one eats organic as was laid out to me recently. If you're given two of the same vegetables or pieces of fruit and someone sprays pesticide on one, which one are you going to choose?

AMEN !!!

perpetuating a lie. organic is smaller because that's how the item in question was meant to be. have you ever eaten a wild blueberry? they're absolutely not the same thing as the ones people buy in stores.

i know it's hard to wrap the american mindset around spending more and receiving what appears to be less, but truly organic food (not necessarily by label) is more beneficial to the body as well as more beneficial to the earth. you're gonna pay the difference either way: do you want to pay it to the doctor or to your farmer?

kayemme

i might add that my bf & i eat a seasonal, organic diet (not including dining out, which we don't do very often, but have spurts because dining out kind of begets dining out) for about $50/wk combined. we don't buy meat, though, which cuts our food bill down considerably.

eating well is absolutely not expensive when looked at from a birdseye view - organic seasonal food is quite reasonable and sometimes even less expensive than their supermarket competition.

not everyone has access to farmer's markets year round like we do (providence, ri) but the more people frequent farmer's markets the more likely a winter market will pop up in your town.

to find farmer's markets in your area, check this map put out by the usda http://apps.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/default.aspx you might be surprised as to what is actually available in your area!

also i just read an article about a guy who is growing radicchio all winter long w/o a hoophouse! i think he might have even been in a zone 6 or lower... (maine maybe?)

aigéan

I can finally attest to the claim that you don't taste the spinach in the smoothie and I used A LOT of spinach! I put the spinach in first, frozen banana on top, frozen blueberries, and 2 cups of milk. I'm going to try it with water and crushed ice and without blueberries tomorrow I think. It was yummy!

Sounds good! Was it very sweet? I can't drink extra sweet juice/smoothies, makes me feel terrible!