posted June 27, 2010 09:05 AM         

I focus on soft skin fruit / veg for organic. Pesticides are less likely to be ingested with the skin protection of say, a banana or an orange. Organic bananas can be 59 cents #. Regular bananas with that nice zipper skin come in @ 19 cents, with little risk of ingestion.

Pears, nectarines, berries etc. mostly organic purchases, ditto for produce from local farms where I have asked what they are using... [that took a phone call, as workers could not answer the questions.

Trader Joes is my store of choice as most of the packaged goods are free of such. And the TJ brand is GE free.

from the website=>

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Our customers can be assured that all products in Trader Joe's private label are sourced from non-genetically modified ingredients. Our efforts began in 2001, when we determined that, given a choice, our customers would prefer to eat foods and beverages made without the use of genetically engineered ingredients. Our process has been to identify any product containing ingredients that could potentially be derived from genetically engineered crops and work with our suppliers to replace offending ingredients with acceptable alternatives.

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posted June 28, 2010 06:33 AM         

They are the same thing to me...

I hate free range eggs because they smell more like eggs :/

I have paid $20 for a free range chicken as opposed to a $5 normal chicken and there was no difference to me..

In regards to pesticides don't they wash off with water?

posted June 28, 2010 08:48 AM         

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I try to eat as much organic as possible. Drinking freshliy made organic vegetable juice every day satisfies my cravings, keeps me alert and feeling light and healthy. Juicing satiates me so much that I have to remind myself to eat solid food. I've noticed a change in my outlook too. I have become more positive and hopeful since I've been juicing every day. Valus gets all the credit for that.

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posted June 28, 2010 09:16 AM         

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In particular this booklet examines six myths:

myth Organic foods are no healthier than non-organic foods.
reality Wrong: food produced organically contains fewer contaminants. Some scientific studies have shown that there are more nutrients in organically produced food.

myth Organic farming increases the risk of food poisoning.
reality False: organic farming can actually reduce the risk.

myth Organic farming uses pesticides that damage the environment.
reality Untrue: Organic farming systems rely upon prevention rather than cure, minimising the need for pesticides.

myth Consumers are paying too much for organic food.
reality Not so: crop rotations, organic animal feed and welfare standards, the use of good husbandry instead of agri-chemicals, and the preservation of natural habitats all result in organic food costing more to produce. Non-organic food appears to be cheaper but in fact consumers pay for it three times over – first over the counter, second via taxation (to fund agricultural subsidies) and third to remedy the environmental pollution (or disasters like BSE) caused by intensive farming practices.

myth Organic food cannot feed a hungry world.
reality False: intensive farming destroys the fertility of the land and is unsustainable. Organic methods help labour-rich but cash-poor communities to produce food sustainably.

myth Organic farming is unkind to animals.
reality Far from it: animal welfare and the freedom to behave naturally is central to organic livestock standards.

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This trend has developed for a number of reasons :

• Loss of trust in non-organic food products after a long line of food scares.

• Desire to avoid pesticide residues in food.

• Desire to eat food produced without the use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).

• Demand for the highest possible standards of animal welfare.

• Demand for environmental protection and enhancement.

• Desire to protect the environment from GMO contamination.

• Confidence in the external inspection programme and legal standards for production covering all organic
production and processing.

• Health and safety of farm and food workers worldwide.

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posted June 28, 2010 09:31 AM         

My grandparents are in very poor health,
and, by my standards, have been for decades.

That's on my mother's side.
On my father's, they're both dead.

They didn't even make it to 80,
and my grandfather battled diabetes
for most of those years.

posted June 28, 2010 09:50 AM         

i do not in anyway disagree that organic vegetarian or vegan lifestyle is WAY healthier and cures certain diseases, in fact i know a man that for 10 years cured his cancer chasing vegatables. then he said he was weary of chasing and consuming large amounts of vegetables and stopped, and his cancer came back and he died shortly thereafter. this was almost 10 years ago now he is gone. it was a friend of mines dad. so, i don't disagree in anyway to the claim of better health with organic food and healthy lifestyle, I just think some things are just meant to be. like...you can't kill a man who was born to hang.
i mean, if i chase and eat only uncooked organic vegatables and next week i get hit in the eye with a bolt from the washing machine that kills me, what good did it really do? if i am going to die anyway, and i like chocolate, will it really make much difference?

posted June 28, 2010 10:20 AM         

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you can't kill a man who was born to hang.

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No man is born to hang, but some
are born into cultures that hang them.

It's a twelfth house matter,
not for everyone to understand.

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i mean, if i chase and eat only uncooked organic vegatables and next week i get hit in the eye with a bolt from the washing machine that kills me, what good did it really do? if i am going to die anyway, and i like chocolate, will it really make much difference?

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I hear you, but isn't this the classic argument for instant gratification, and haven't we seen, time and again, where this argument leads? Especially in America, where it's become a way of life? Suppose you are not struck by lightning. And if you are, so be it, but I'd rather have spent my time aspiring to greatness and doing my part to get there, even if I never make it. I think that the love of chocolate and rich foods is passed down through generations, and it can be broken. I'm already finding those things distasteful, and developing my taste for simple, natural, real food. I don't "chase" vegetables, I make use of them.

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however, that being said, i think you are doing a good thing showing how MUCH of a difference it can make in someones life to make good food choices. i personally feel holding grudges and resentments is just as detrimental or cancerous to your health as any food choice made.

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posted June 28, 2010 11:18 AM         

my father died at 52. some might call this a tragedy. a talented, smart, compassionate man, he also suffered from high blood pressure and a very short-fused temper. but my point is this - this was a man who NEVER WANTED to be "an old man". thus he ate, drank, smoked and drugged himself to support the lifestyle HE chose. and died young according to his own stated wishes. not only did he escape the old age he feared, but he died SUDDENLY ie he did not lose one minute to worrying about his health or "sacrificing" his (i readily admit) love of luxury....

posted June 28, 2010 12:15 PM         

I forget to even eat meals half the time unless someone is looking at me hungry, like aren't you going to make something or eat anything? or aren't you stopping for lunch...well why stop for lunch if I am not hungry? ...

so to me it would seem like a LOT of time planning, finding, purchasing and what not to cultivate that lifestyle. It would require a lot of time and energy. I get rather absorbed in whatever I am doing and many times a bowl of oatmeal, cereal or brussel sprouts...before bed is my dinner because i forget to eat and don't realize I am hungry until get ready for bed. the worse time to eat of course, but it works for me. daily planned meals is like too much structure or pressure for me, unless it's what i'm "into doing" that day. so, I think adhereing to that diet certainly does take a lot of time and energy chasing veggies.

that being said. chocolate is my friend. as long as i dont eat so much i turn into an oppa-loompa. maybe it is instant gratification, i would prefer to call it quality of life. yes...of course... pepsi is bad for you, and not something i reach for very often, but once a month to have an ice cold fizzy pepsi, is good to me.

i am just lucky, I guess, that i love vegetables and many times that is what i reach for anyway. i hate restrictions and rules though, so if i told myself i can't have something, that would be exactly what i want. even though i don't drink much pepsi, if I told myself, no more pepsi..EVER..., i would crave it so bad I would want it every minute.

posted June 28, 2010 12:37 PM         

That lifestyle is wrong for many reasons, and how it relates to personal interest is just the tip of the iceberg. Since it's the part most people can see, I tend to focus my arguments there. But a responsible person has to consider others, including animals and the environment. Your father's fear of old age is typical, although, in his case, rather extreme. And it clearly was "fed" to him by a sick society, in which old age generally is experienced as a horror. People with healthy lifestyles, however, don't fall apart slowly. They tend to be active and happy right up to "the end". It's only the unhealthy diet that leads to serious degeneration and sickness in old age. I'm sorry your father died so young. It must have been hard for you.

cpn,

I'm sorry it's so difficult to find organic food in your area. A lot of us are doing our best to change that, so, hopefully, it will be much easier for you soon. Or you might want to think of moving to a less toxic environment someday. I find that, if I'm not greedy, there's plenty of variety and options available around here.

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to me it would seem like a LOT of time planning, finding, purchasing and what not to cultivate that lifestyle. It would require a lot of time and energy.

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I've found the opposite. I spend much less time cooking (because I tend to just cut it up and juice it, and the cooked meals I eat are very simple), and less time cleaning, because raw foods rinse right off. I don't spend more time planning or purchasing, though I do spend some more time looking for the good stuff. But, then, it's time I'm happy to spend, because it's a priority. And even if it did require more energy -- you have plenty of energy when you eat this way.

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i am just lucky, I guess, that i love vegetables and many times that is what i reach for anyway.

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That's good.

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i hate restrictions and rules though, so if i told myself i can't have something, that would be exactly what i want.

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Yeah, I know what that's like. Boy, do I ever.
Try having Uranus exactly on your Midheaven.

Did you know a 20oz. bottle of Pepsi contains
the equivalent of 15 teaspoons of sugar --
and in the form of high-fructose corn syrup?

posted June 28, 2010 01:10 PM         

organic food is wonderful, wish it would magically apprear everytime i get hungry.

posted June 28, 2010 01:32 PM         

i am not knocking you or your cause. just trying to point out that not everybody WANTS what you consider optimal. whether this is caused by a sick society or not it is a fact.

another case in point - keith richards, who may LOOK old but he has lived 10 lives to most peoples' 1/2...and come through healthy and strong despite the wrinkles (largely jamaican in origin)...because, as he says, he took the time to get to know himself and what he could and couldn't handle. would he be healthier if he followed his wife's lifestyle (lots of fruit and veg, exercise and laughter - and an indomitably positive loving attitude)? maybe, maybe not. actually i think he has ALWAYS had a positive, ready to laugh attitude, and just as importantly he KNEW what he wanted and went for it.

posted June 28, 2010 01:37 PM         

i met a tobacco farmer once. her father started the farm and things were growing and going well until the govt came in and insisted that he could only use a certain number of square feet or acres for growing and that the plants must be planted to certain specifications. these specifications included what her father considered crowding the plants, and made it necessary to feed them chemical fertilizer (provided by the government!) to compensate for crowding the roots. thus was our modern version of tobacco forced into being.

this was followed by the hypocrisy of govt warning about the dangers of cigarette smoking - largely caused by their policies which were probably largely caused by the successful implanting of dow chemicals people inside the government...and so it goes on and on...