How much organic stuff in your life?

[eve]

Yes trendy girl, fruit, veges, and grain that are certified organic or biodynamic, certainly use animal products in the soil (unless they are veganically grown which is very rare).

[Korn]

http://www.veganorganic.net/
http://www.vegdot.org/story/2002/7/23/03244/5103

[eve]

Thank you for those urls Korn - I knew that there were veganorganic places somewhere in England, but that's all. I wonder how widespread is their influence.

[Kathers]

I knew that there were veganorganic places somewhere in England, but that's all. I wonder how widespread is their influence.[/QUOTE]

I would guess that unfortunate as it is their influence won't have spread far

[veganblue]

Hey Banana - it may be possible that there is an organic food co-op in a nearby area of Melbourne that *may* give you the organics you are after and not cost the earth. I know we have them here in Adelaide but we are pretty lucky on the whole food front and organic adherents. Not sure hwta it is like in your area - if I find anything I will post it.

[veganblue]

St.Kilda Organic Food Co-operative (http://www.skof.passionwebservices.com/)
Veg Out Community Gardens (http://www.vegout.asn.au/market.php)
Friend of the Earth : Melbourne (http://www.melbourne.foe.org.au/food/)
Organic Outlets listing (http://www.bfa.com.au/Pages/buyingorganics.htm)

[animalsvoice]

I don't know cause I wonder if that's what we use to call ecological in Swedish... Does anyone know? :rolleyes:

[Korn]

Yes, organic means ekologiskt.

[eve]

Banana, if your blood sugar is high, wouldn't you be wise to avoid wheat (organic or not)? And maple syrup won't do your blood sugar any favours! I like the unhulled tahini, and have a little every day. :) - Your health food store must have thought all her christmases came at once when you walked in!

[Mystic]

I have just started increasing my organic intake - mainly because my boyfriend is working in a quarry, which has a high amount of silica dust. In Australia, there are no laws for protection against this disease-causing substance so I have to make sure that he eats well, especially since I won't be able to cook much when I go back to uni in a couple of weeks.

It does taste better (especially the tomatoes and mangos). I just had an organic avocado and tomato toasted sandwich, and this morning I had organic oatmeal (nature's path) with an organic banana.

Sometimes I get carried away with all or nothing - My goal is to try to eat organic where possible, but don't beat myself up over it. I mean, there is life besides food right?

[Roxy]

That's exactly what I do Banana......try and eat organic wherever possible but it isn't always possible for me and I don't beat myself up about that.

BTW - sometimes when I'm not all that financial, I just can't afford to buy EVERYTHING organic, so conventional just has to do at times like that :o

[Mystic]

Well then I am going to use you as an example! So do you buy things that aren't organic just coz you like them, or do you avoid them completely?

[Roxy]

Well, it differs. For example, I won't buy soy milk unless it's organic. If I can't get organic soy milk I skip it all together.

But, around where I live, it's hard to get organic bread, unless I drive miles and miles (which I can't justify, just for a loaf of bread), so in that case, yes, I will by a conventional version.

Fruit and veg......I buy organic only.

Does that answer the question?

[Mystic]

I guess so - I buy (or have been buying) organic fruit and veg where possible, organic bread, grains, beans and convenience foods (oatmeal, canned stuff like baked beans and other convenience foods). I won't buy non-organic dried fruit coz I think I am allergic to sulphur.

What do you do when you go out? Do you feel bad for eating non-organic or do you not worry about it? Or do you only go to organic places? Sorry - I just don't want to get obsessed :D

[Roxy]

There aren't any organic restaurants around here, so unless I want to be completely anti-social I eat non-organic foods in those situations. :o

[chakra]

I strive to be as organic as I possibly can, but living and working, it isn't completely possible. I don't skimp to save money though.

[dreama]

If I can get it Organic I will but when that's not possible I eat non organic food.

My pets have organic meat as there is less cruelty involved.

[PinkFluffyCloud]

I buy Organic fruit and veg but it is often wrapped in plastic (which I HATE, and believe it suffocates the food and makes it sweat), and shipped in from Timbuktu. So sometimes I wonder quite how much good it does me, but when I eat non-Organic I keep thinking about all the residues sliding into my intestines. :(

[FR]

Most of the stuff I buy is organic (food and opersonaly hygeine). I do eat out once a week for lunch at a vegetarian Indian restaraunt and they do not serve organic food (I assume).

[littleTigercub]

We are part of a box scheme which is just great. Since last year, every fourtnight (once a week is too much and to expensive for the two of us) we get a heaped box of fruit and veg which is just great!

Apart from the huge difference in taste (carrots! oranges!) there is also the variety. In supermarkets, we would always buy the same things and not bother with the stuff we did not know what to do with.

But if you get it delivered to your door you think about how to prepare things and it made us try and cook things we would not think of having before - for example, I developed a real faible for avocados which I previously avoided due to the high fat content, plus we prepared a variety of root veggies in a variety of ways which we probably never would have thought of "actively" buying!

We are really happy with the box scheme and the only reason why we reduced it from 1x weekly was that we could not use all the things! My husband is working shifts and when he is not in at night I tend to live on salads and sandwiches rather than cooking a proper meal for myself.

littleTigercub

[Mystic]

I buy things because I like them, not because they are organic/non-organic. I believe their is propaganda in both sides of the story, so I just buy/eat/use whatever I like. For example, I love a particular organic pasta sauce, these organic sourdough rolls and there is this organic hummus which is absolutely divine. I buy rice dream enriched, which I think is organic - or at least partially, but only because it is the only rice milk that is fortified with B12. But for other stuff, like fruit and veg, I just scrub them well. As for grains and beans, I just buy the conventional. Tastes the same to me. Same with dried fruit (except maybe dried mango - organic dried mango is D-VINE!!!!) I hate organic unsulphured dried apricots, but I love the bright orange conventional ones!

Wow - I wrote this in August last year and boy have I changed! Since my boyfriend has been working in a concrete quarry (January), we have been slowly increasing our organic intake and I would say that now, most of the time, close to 80 or even 90% of what we buy is organic! We spend a lot of money on it too - this does concern me, but then I think that we will be healthier for it, and especially since my bone density scan results, I am more inspired to eat well.

Another inspiring story is that my Uncle (well, I call him Uncle, but he is really just an old family friend), was diagnosed with incurable liver cancer over Christmas. A previous family of 'indulgers', enjoying traditional fatty Jewish cuisine (New York Style - very 'the Nanny'), they could all have afforded to drop some kilos, especially him - He had one of those pregnant bellies :D .
Anyway, no wonder he got sick! Since then, he has started exercising, dropped red meat (only eats organic fish and chicken :eek: ) - which is at least something, and has gone completely organic. I don't know if he has dairy or not and I think he has spelt instead of wheat.

Well his 'incurable' cancer is appearing to be curing itself!

I am now fascinated with the relationship between diet and cancer. Imagine if he scrapped ALL flesh!

My boyfriend, at first was skeptical about organics, but now he prefers it and respects it's nutritional superiority. It took me time as well.

What I want to know is why oncoligists tell cancer patients after they are diagnosed to completely boycott conventional food - why not tell everyone? That way less people would get cancer in the first place. The oncologist told my Mum to eat organic whole foods, but she thought it was a load of crap, as did I - perhaps she may be here still had she have listened?

I am not 100% organic and I doubt I ever will be. Being vegan is difficult socially, and being organic AND vegan is virtually impossible if you want any sort of a social life. So what I eat at home (and take to work) is almost all organic (if it is a reasonable price) and when I go out I don't fret. Life is too short. Take care of yourself but have fun too ;)

[DianeVegan]

VEGNEWS magazine has many articles on organic food this May/June issue. The top 12 most pesticide-contaminated foods (try to eat these organic if possible) listed are:

Apples
Bell peppers
Celery
Cherries
Grapes
Nectarines
Peaches
Pears
Potatoes
Red raspberries
Spinach
Strawberries

This is a U.S. publication so the list may be slightly different in other countries. My understanding is that these fruits and vegetables actually absorb chemicals with water so scrubbing and peeling won't make a huge difference.

And the least contaminated (don't worry too much if you can't buy these organic) are:

Asparagus
Avocados
Bananas
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Corn (sweet)
Kiwi
Mangos
Onions
Papaya
Pineapples
Peas (sweet)

[kriz]

I eat 95% organic. Fresh fruit and veggies that I buy are always organic. If not, I don't see any point of eating them at all, they're poisonous to me. Price wise I don't really notice much of a difference between organic and conventional items, at least not in health food chains such as Whole Foods and Wild Oats. Regular supermarkets tend to be VERY expensive. Trader Joe's is also affordable. :)

[DianeVegan]

I agree with you about Trader Joe's, Kriz. I don't know what is happening in California, but here in Connecticut my local TJ's is stocking organic frozen spinach and broccoli from.......CHINA. I questioned the manager about the reason for this (and had to explain that some customers are going organic for the environment, not just personal health) and he said demand for organics is so high that they are having a difficult time filling the need. I never occurred to him that it might take a whole lot of fossil fuels to transport frozen food half-way around the world.

I guess the good news is that more farmers will go organic to fill the demand.

[Seaside]

Posted by kriz:

Price wise I don't really notice much of a difference between organic and conventional items, at least not in health food chains such as Whole Foods and Wild Oats.
I agree. I love Whole Foods markets! They seem to buy locally for all kinds of products, not just produce. :)