eating organic

[iceygirl]

i know that dairy and meats are most important, and that some veggies and fruits are more crucial than others in buying organic

this is fairly new to me, but have been integrating and making the change to truely healthy and safer eating

any literature, recipes, conversations here are welcome. i dont really have any particular questions or issues, but am excited about all of this and just wanted to see what anyone else has to say. i know from reading some of the cooking threads that a lot of you seem to be health concious eaters.

right now we are just eating pretty basic. fresh fruits and veggies (i didnt know frozen veggies arent that great until recently), nuts, and only organic meats. im soley getting organic meats and dairy, and some other things. it is a lot more expensive, but we dont have any desire to eat out anywhere anymore, so its a savings eating at home and i guess we can afford it anyway.
i guess the most difficult thing has been making myself eat things that i really dont like at all, but know are good for me (im really only thinking about walnuts while typing this sentence). i guess they arent that bad when i eat them in the same bite as a piece of fruit.

[ms.peachy]

I would say that root vegetable are also very important - potatoes, turnips, carrots, etc. If you can get them organic, then do. If you get non-organic ones, you must peel them; but with orgainc you do not have to, which means you retain far more nutrients - the 'skins' are packed with vitamins and minerals when they come from good soil, but with non-organic the problem is the skins will retain not just the good stuff but all of the bad stuff as well.

Lettuces too, get organic lettuces whenever possible. Whole heads, not the pre-washed bags - far better. Stay away from non-organic bagged salads altogether.

[iceygirl]

the town i live in doesnt have a whole lot of options for organic shoppers

after the decision of this transition, we havent eaten potatoes at all. i am hoping that in the summer there will be more of a variety in the produce where i shop, either that, or i can find someplace around here that caters more toward this way of eating.

[Mr. Boomin'Granny]

Well from living with cosmo i too have started to eat/buy/consume more organic foods. I once thought that organic meant it didn't taste good. I was wrong. Organic means it most likely will and does taste better. Cosmo bought conventional bananas recently and they didnt have the good taste that the normal organic ones do.

I buy only organic dairy and meat. My work's cafe uses organic meat and produce so that's covered for lunch mostly. I normally eat non-red meat mosly now. The only red meat i will eat at home is buffalo, which is better than cow meat, even organic cow meat.

I'm sure cosmo will come in here and explain more, but more power too you. (y)

[cosmo105]

i always eat as much organic food as is possible and available, and i don't mind spending a little extra (or even a lot extra) when the choice is there. from my research, it's most important to get small things with a big edible surface area - namely, berries - organically grown. strawberries are the most contaminated produce out there. and get a good natural produce wash, preferably with grapefruit seed extract.

dairy and meat are both very important, as the lovely steger has said. and don't worry much about potatoes, they're crap for you anyway. very few nutrients. instead go with sweet potatoes, or, even better, yams. mmm baked yams.

also - steam! don't boil! experiment a lot, and go for as fresh as possible with as little actual cooking as possible (except, that is, for meat and such ;)). if you eat fish, go for wild-caught.

a good rule of thumb for veggies in general - the brigheter and deeper the color, the more nutrients. dark, leafy green vegetables like spinach, kale, and lettuces (not fucking iceberg though) have tons of iron and b vitamins and antioxidants. and, of course, yellow, orange, and red bell peppers (mmm i'm getting hungry) and squash and parsley and apples and avocados! shit yes avocados! and tomatoes and watercress and carrots and beets and sprouts.

ooh! sprouts! sprouts are an awesome source of nutrition, and not just alfalfa. i love broccoli, lentil, garbanzo, and onion...and you can buy organic sprout packets but it's much cheaper to get a sprouter or sprouting jar and grow them yourself. think a chia pet without the hippo. chia sprouts are good too. ;)

anyway. good luck with eating organic, seriously. it's not easy to find them everywhere, but it's a rapidly expanding market, and even grocery stores are compelled to carry organic wares on their shelves. if i had the money, i'd invest in organic produce and companies. it's a good choice to make, and more and more people are going that way lately.

i sounded like an industry spokesperson right then. sorry. :o

[Documad]

I would like to follow cosmo around for a week and watch her shop and eat. Seriously.

[jabumbo]

i went into whole foods over the weekend for the first time, and my god...i could have spent $100 on fruit in that place. everything looked so good.

my problem now is that i am on such a budget, that it is hard for me to spend the extra money for it. although before, i never relaly thought about things like meats and dairy products.

i ended up getting some lettuce, mushrooms, yogurt, and the best looking cooking onions i have ever seen in my life. i got so use to those raddy little junkers you normally get, these things just looked amazing.

i was sad that the oranges were a dollar a piece because i really wanted some. i ended up going to the regular gocery store and getting 8 for $2. i had to pass up quality for quantity

[cosmo105]

I would like to follow cosmo around for a week and watch her shop and eat. Seriously.
heh. i try, but a lot of the time i get lazy. i'll buy a frozen medley from trader joe's and sautee that and eat it over some microwaved frozen brown rice :o

and about once or twice a month i allow myself del taco. del scorcho <3

[iceygirl]

My work's cafe uses organic meat and produce so that's covered for lunch mostly.


wow, that is really nice.

well a couple weeks ago i was up in toledo and found a really nice huge store that has a ton of options there. it is a far drive and we rarely venture up there, but it is nice to know its there. been just doing only organic meat and dairy for awhile now, and if we dont have money in our budget for meat, we just dont eat meat for a few days. i honestly had no idea of the difference in taste, texture, etc of organic foods, but it is so worth the money. that is what people bitch about organic eating mostly, but even if you dont eat organic, eating healthy is expensive. ive come to the conclusion that the people that bitch about the cost are probably spending 80 a week on groceries buying kraft, chefboyardee, hot pockets and twinkies.

so yeah, its expensive, time consuming, but besides eating healthy (yay!) we have honest to god been eating the best meals ive ever had in my life. i would like to reasearch doing some sort of cleanses, but havent had time to look into it yet. also going to get into the next reiki 1 class that a friend of mines sister (who is a reiki master) does at a college and in her home.

[TonsOfFun]

Yay, grats on eating organic everyone! Everything should be organic and although it is more expensive, the more people buy it the cheaper it will become because larger food companies bow to consumer pressure - and every little does help.

I sell organic foods and they are becoming cheaper. You can get organic clothes to. The best option is to buy Fairtrade Organic items. That was, as well as you knowing your food hasn't been played with, you also know the farmers have got a decent amount of cash for their work. FairTrade not freetrade!

Word of warning, some fudgers (although the majority or vendors are reputable) will try and pass stuff off as organic that isn't - seems to happen with meat a lot. Just so they can charge more. Everything Organic has a certification - for example UK4 : LMS/1/97 is the main one most of my foods has on it. Any vendor should either display this or have this code to hand to certify it is organic. And if you are suspect at anytime then the vendor shouldn't mind giving it to you because it helps the whole organic community and the sellers of it (yeah, help me!). But like I say, I would say at least 98% of organic vendors are reputable tho. Or I hope they are.

So, buy as much organic as possible, buy buy buy!

[iceygirl]

after drinking organic milk, other milk tastes like a milk flavored beverage.

and eggs! what a difference. non organic eggs are scary. the yolks never want to break. weird.

[monkey]

organic eggs from vegetarian fed hens are super delicious. they have omega3s, which is great since i dont eat fish. and they have a truly amazing taste.

[iceygirl]

im trying organic strawberries for the first time tonight.

im expecting amazingness