How much organic stuff in your life?

[kriz]

Organic broccoli from China!! :eek: Sounds very worrisome to me. It reminds me of the hummers and huge SUV's parked in the Whole Foods parking lot. Ridiculously contradictive. I should just go more often to my local farmers market. We have a very good one in Santa Monica. I'll send my husband there on Wednesday morning (he needs to get more involved in creating a healthy lifestyle for us...). Organic produce is rather expensive there, but very tasty. LA chiefs like to buy their greens at the Farmers Market because of the superior taste. :) Not only would i buy organic but also LOCALLY grown, and that is important to me.

[RockyRaccoon]

My local green grocers has started occasionally selling organic potatoes, carrots, swedes and mushrooms, but it's not a regular supply. I think he's testing the water. I've made my voice heard and I hope he gets enough demand. Other than that I have a choice - support my local shops but do without organic, or, if i want organic, see my money going to Tesco. I've found it quite a dilemma.

Thanks for the list Dianecrna. I'll try and buy the risky produce organically from Tesco, but still support my local shops by buying the least contaminated stuff in the greengrocers.

I've just found out about the Real Food Market which sets up every Sunday morning in town and sells fresh local and organic produce, so I'll buy what I can here once a week.

[DianeVegan]

I agree with the idea that local is just as important as organic. If it's a small farm then it almost certainly uses sustainable practices as well (and keeps the farmland from being developed into ever more homes). And buying local forces you to eat in season. We'll be doing a lot of canning and freezing here in the next few months while things are in season. My grandmothers may have been onto something :rolleyes:

[veganblue]

http://www.storewars.org/flash/index.html

Spread the seeds of the Organic rebellion.

I had to share this one - it's pretty clever. :D :D :D

"That's not a moon, that's melon! That fruit threatens us all". Obi Wan Canolli.

[Seaside]

Posted by veganblue:

"That's not a moon, that's melon! That fruit threatens us all". Obi One Canolli.
:D Thanks veganblue! I liked Tofu D2!

[DianeVegan]

Thanks for the link, Veganblue.

"Stretch out with your peelings"

[herbwormwood]

I buy mostly organic, but if I want, say, a tropical fruit that the store doesn't have available in organic, I'll buy a fair trade one, anyway, because tropical fruits don't have as much insecticides. I don't think any of the poll answers fits my situation. I buy organic when available, regardless of cost.

I read a report about bananas and the people cultivating the bananas got very ill from the chemicals used on the bananas.

http://www.newint.org/issue317/facts.htm

And for pineapples...http://www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/pn29/pn29p6.htm

on Del Monte's Kenyan grown pineapples...

I also buy organic when it is available, but it is only available, limited quantities, in certain shops and sometimes it is in poor condition. The fresh stuff is so expensive it sometimes spends to long on the shelf and wilts fairly badly.

[Hemlock]

We can't afford organic all the time as it's so expensive so this year we have decided to grow our own veg from jan to december and harvest the seeds for next year's crops. That way we can be sure no pesticides go into them.
We have Gwydion's planting guide: The definitive moon-planting manual. It tells you what seeds to plant each month and when, crop rotation, natural pesticides etc. We are gradually hoping to become self sufficient.
It's quite weird because the other day we realised that we don't actually need our fridge or freezer. We eat mostly fresh food and our main stock of food is dried or tinned, we simply don't buy frozen food.
Our fridge currently has vegan margerine in it and some onions and half finished sauce jars. There is one packet of frozen spinach in the freezer. I've been thinking of cleaning it out and keeping it switched off!!!
January is the month for planting broad beans and spinach straight into the ground.

[DianeVegan]

Good for you,Hemlock!:)

[Jane M]

I live in an apartment and was growing fresh herbs and tomatoes on the balcony (it's quite roomy and sunny) but then the land lord sprayed the outdoors for ants...arrrrgghhh....so I couldn't eat the produce. So much on helping the food budget by growing it myself.

Usually I buy organic. I find that the farmer's market is cheaper than a grocery store but it is seasonal. If I want fresh veggies and fruit I have to pay more but I tell myself I am worth it. Really the only exception I make is avacados....I am addicted to them. I have a hard time finding organic ones though.

[cedarblue]

We can't afford organic all the time as it's so expensive so this year we have decided to grow our own veg from jan to december and harvest the seeds for next year's crops. That way we can be sure no pesticides go into them.
We have Gwydion's planting guide: The definitive moon-planting manual. It tells you what seeds to plant each month and when, crop rotation, natural pesticides etc. We are gradually hoping to become self sufficient.
It's quite weird because the other day we realised that we don't actually need our fridge or freezer. We eat mostly fresh food and our main stock of food is dried or tinned, we simply don't buy frozen food.
Our fridge currently has vegan margerine in it and some onions and half finished sauce jars. There is one packet of frozen spinach in the freezer. I've been thinking of cleaning it out and keeping it switched off!!!
January is the month for planting broad beans and spinach straight into the ground.

sometimes food has more nutritional value from frozen instead of canned. it has to be processed in a specific time unlike canned food, so the frozen has more nutrients retained.

[Jacqui]

I still find the organic/biodynamic thing a bit confusing.
There was a link on another thread to a biodynamic site that listed animal organs used. Anyway I decided not to buy biodynamic food after reading that. My problem is that the stores near me are all organic/biodynamic, is this the norm everywhere? Can you have an organic/biodynamic farm, or is it one or the other?
I questioned the owner of one store and she was quite helpful and gave me a book to look at, but I got that look, like I had green skin and three eyes, and she had never heard of animal organs being used.
If the produce is still in its original boxes (a lot is) you can see where it is from and if it has the 'demeter' (biodynamic) sign on it, but if they are in baskets they are not always labeled. :confused: :confused:
Anyway, I have planted a veg garden and will grow as much as I can.

[Hemlock]

sometimes food has more nutritional value from frozen instead of canned. it has to be processed in a specific time unlike canned food, so the frozen has more nutrients retained.

Canned spinach Brrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Mostly the canned stuff is beans like chickpeas, baked beans, chopped tomatoes and that sort of thing - never vegetables after the spinach horror:) Also dried soya mince does the job as well as frozen.

[DianeVegan]

Jacqui,

I also get confused by all the names given to food production methods. If you are worried about animal products then veganic is the only "vegan" method of farming. Even conventional farmers use animal products in the soil - there's a lot of bone meal and manure out there due to the huge animal farming industry. Unless you produce the food yourself or buy veganic then the sad fact is that some animal products most likely were used.:(

[Hemlock]

There was a horrific article in the papers this morning to say that a lot of supermarket veg can be as much as a year old!!!!!:eek:Although most is a few months old.
They use preservatives on the produce and growth inhibitors which means it can be stored indefinitely. How can year old potatoes and tomatoes possibly retain adequate nutrients?
At least I know my local farm shop sells only freshly picked produce!
Our home grown sprouts were nothing like supermarket veg, they were very small, a bit snail chewed and had an amazing strong flavour.

[herbwormwood]

I still find the organic/biodynamic thing a bit confusing.
There was a link on another thread to a biodynamic site that listed animal organs used. Anyway I decided not to buy biodynamic food after reading that. My problem is that the stores near me are all organic/biodynamic, is this the norm everywhere? Can you have an organic/biodynamic farm, or is it one or the other?
I questioned the owner of one store and she was quite helpful and gave me a book to look at, but I got that look, like I had green skin and three eyes, and she had never heard of animal organs being used.
If the produce is still in its original boxes (a lot is) you can see where it is from and if it has the 'demeter' (biodynamic) sign on it, but if they are in baskets they are not always labeled. :confused: :confused:
Anyway, I have planted a veg garden and will grow as much as I can.
It is not the norm to have organic and biodynamic stores. It must be something about where you live. Yes, there are some animal parts used in biodynamic agriculture, but so are there is conventional non organic agriculture and organic agriculture. Conventional agriculture uses a lot of animal products in the fertiliser particularly, but organic agriculture uses manure, which is non vegan. There is also blood and bone meal which I don't think is excluded in organic. The only way to avoid the use of animal products in agriculture is to buy from vegan organic growers or to grow your own. But even then, small animals and insects could be accidentally killed. So don't be too hard on yourself.

[Gorilla]

i've found it almost impossible to find any food that is certified vegan-organic. :confused: (other than stuff i've grown myself of course!)

[Jacqui]

Thanks, Diane & Herbwormwood for the replies.:)
There doesn't seem to be any vegan organic where I live, so I'll just have to grow what I can and buy the rest organic.

[herbwormwood]

i've found it almost impossible to find any food that is certified vegan-organic. :confused: (other than stuff i've grown myself of course!)

Check out http://www.veganorganic.net/

I don't think there is a vegan organic cetificate yet. You would have to know the farm was vegan organic.

[Gorilla]

thanks, i already knew about the Vegan Organic website (i have one of their cookbooks). According to their site there is a stock-free organic symbol, but i've never seen it anywhere, and they don't seem to have a list of approved farms on their website. the shops i buy fruit and veg from can't tell me if their suppliers are vegan organic farms, and i don't know of any vegan organic farm shops or box schemes around here.

[Lyns]

I agree with stickydate, I buy what I like. I love organic red apples, but I tried buying organic avocados on several occassions and they were all brown and mushy. Another problem I have with buying organic is that you can only get it in huge packets and I can't eat it all on my own. Usually I buy single fruits, what I can eat in a day or two, and I don't even need packaging.

[Tigerlily]

I have noticed that all the organic veggies and fruits here come in unnecessary, unrecyclable plastic baggies and wrappings.

[Pob]

Some stuff here comes in compostable plastic (tomatoes and courgettes from Sainsbury) but plenty of others are in plastic :( Would be much simpler if you could buy it loose.

[Tigerlily]

I know.

Fruits and veggies are generally expensive here (living on an island in the Atlantic waters) but organic stuff is too much for my budget. There's no way I'm going to spend 7 dollars on a couple of tomatoes.

[Gorilla]

at least i can buy organic fruit and veg loose if i go to a wholefood store or even a couple of greengrocers locally. i hate the fact that supermarket organic food is so over-packaged, i think it's to stop people passing organic produce off as regular produce because the supermarkets make such a huge mark-up on organic. i also fail to see how it's cheaper for them to fly organic produce halfway across the world, than to buy from a local supplier.