Do you try to buy mostly organic or all-natural foods?

[bookgirl]

I try to buy things with the least amount of HFCS or artificial flavors or additives, I always look at "natural" products more than organic. Organic food that is processed is a waste. Once you process something any benefit from the organic growing methods are lost.

I do not as a rule buy organic produce, it's not any better for you, it just doesn't have some of the pesticides (though there are a certain amount of "natural" pesticides that can also cause problems, and there is very little research about the effect of those), but costs like three times as much. I do my best to get local farmers market items and try to buy the best available fruits and produce that are in my budget. If I had a bigger budget I would look more into organics but at this time no.

I do buy hormone free meat and dairy whenever possible as the cost of those items are not totally out of line with mainstream items.

 

[2bearsmom]

yeah, I meant the Kraft/store brand marshmallows have the dye in them, I haven't tried the ones from Whole Foods/Trader Joes but will buy them the next time we go...my dogs go crazy for a marshmallow, wonder how much the'd love the "real" ones? ha ha ha

I also buy Ricemellow creme http://www.suzannes-specialties.com/ I started out buying it when my youngest was allergic to eggs and couldn't have the regular marshmallow cream. It's expensive but lasts forever since we use it sparingly.

 

[2bearsmom]

When I can't get organic fuji apples I buy them from a local grocer that gets them from local orchards. They may not be pesticide-free, but they are local and wax-free and taste so much better than a waxed apple from Washington state! Once I read that there are like 50 some pesticides used on green beans, I only buy organic. We also never buy farm raised fish.

 

[AshleyW]

Graham Crackers!! What is up with that?!?! I always have to go to Whole Foods for my graham crackers, but I do buy the Back to Nature brand.


I'm waiting for Coke to go back to real sugar. Pepsi brought a real sugar product back to their line, but it will only mean that I won't feel as guilty when I indulge in my one coke a month limit.


I also worry about all the food colors. Going back to marshmallows... grocery store brands, I believe, have food coloring. Makes no sense to me.

If you live near a Sam's Club or Costco, they should have Coke from Mexico right now! I know Sam's does, and Costco usually has it for the holidays, too. It's made with real sugar instead of HFCS. I've noticed that some smaller grocery stores around here have it in their "ethnic foods" section, too.

As far as organic goes.. I don't really bother. General groceries, I buy whatever's cheapest, which is usually store brand (Target) stuff. I don't worry about organic veggies, either. We do get most of our meat from a local butcher though, and it's all pretty healthy.

 

[DSNY4ever]

We buy organic whenever possible. We do it more for environmental reasons, anything to stop more pesticides going into the earth, air, water etc. But of course I don't want to eat pesticides either so it is an all around plus in my book, and I prefer to give our money to farmers/companies that are at least working toward a healthier planet. I also prefer to give my money to local farmers when possible.

 

[NikitaZee]

We stick to organic meat and eggs. If they don't have the organic at the store, we don't buy that day. Fruits and veggies, I'm not as vigilant - I'll buy it if I can, but don't insist on it.

 

[Angelhalo]

With meat being the only real exception, I buy whatever I like and whatever is cheapest or looks fresher. I buy my meat at the Fresh Market or EarthFare because their meat dept is so nice there. The majority of their meats are organic. Other than meat, I don't specifically seek out organic foods because they are usually much more expensive.

 

[ogreenlee]

we went to an apple orchard in ellijay, georgia just to take pictures.

we did buy a bag of apples, and you can see the thick layer of pesticides on the apples.

i couldn't eat them b/c it made me sick to think about. i've never seen so much pesticide.

i also make sure to buy organic rice (especially if you get your rice from asia) b/c they are loaded with pesticides. it's one of those things you want to make sure you buy organic, along with strawberries.

 

[themilesfamily]

We regularly buy organic:

Apples
Carrots
Celery
Milk
Eggs
Fruit Juice
Hamburger Meat

 

[SAHDad]

I pretty much never buy organic, except by accident. I used to work in the produce department of a grocery store, and handling the organic produce pretty much convinced me that I would never eat. YMMV, but I am not that worried about pesticides, hormones, etc.

 

[2binak]

I pretty much never buy organic, except by accident. I used to work in the produce department of a grocery store, and handling the organic produce pretty much convinced me that I would never eat. YMMV, but I am not that worried about pesticides, hormones, etc.

What makes the handling of the organic produce so bad that you wouldn't eat it? I don't understand. Could you ellaborate please?

 

[robinb]

My neighbors and I were at the bus stop last week and the discussion of girls hitting puberty at an earlier age popped up.

The discussion then went to hormones in milk, then onto chemicals in food.

I do think that Bovine Growth Hormone is a problem and I try to buy dairy without rBGH. That means that I buy a lot of organic dairy.

I also but organic eggs because I think they taste better.

Most of my veggies are organic since I buy a Community Shared Agriculture box every other week. It has whatever is in season at a not-so-local WI farm. Last week I got onions, sweet potatoes, various root vegetables, cabbage, ect. I have one more box coming of the same kind of stuff in a week and then I get more boxes in the spring. I buy non-organic veggies in the winter because it's harder to get organic non-seasonal veggies ... and WAY too expensive. I'm willing to pay a bit more, but not 3-times more. I just try to wash things well.

I still buy a lot of non-organic meats, however I have begun to buy ground meat from butchers instead of at the grocery store. For instance, Cargill has ANOTHER recall on their hands this week because they do not test their suppliers. Last time it was ecoli and this time it is salmonella. I think organic meat will be my next venture.

 

[ogreenlee]

joe scarborough used my theory this morning. this is the same theory i proposed to the neighbors who thought i was crazy.

if you follow the good teachings of the bible, then you'll be a better person for having done so. if it ends up that there isn't a god and no heaven, you will still have been a good person. if it ends up that you're right, well aren't you glad you didn't choose to live the other way?

that's my theory on organic and natural foods, especially for my child. what if all that regular grocery store stuff causes cancer at an earlier age? what if it causes diabetes or heart disease? what if the chemicals caused cancer in your stomach or liver? i'm going to wage on the side of caution.

 

[FireDancer]

I buy natural almost exclusively but whether or not it is organic depends on what I ab getting. I try to get as much produce as I can locally from farmers markets but that isn't always an option.

I am a label reader and I avoid anything that has science projects in it like artificial sweeteners or HFC. I tr to avoid sugar whenever possible and try to get food that is as unprocessed as possible. I buy a lot of fruit and vegetables and try to avoid canned foods. I also try to eat food as raw as I can. I do cook some vegetables but I do so as little as I can depending on what it is and what dish I am making.

 

[disfan07]

We buy organic meat. Thats the only thing that we always buy organic.

I am allergic to peanuts, eggs and sodium benzoate (a preservative).
What has shocked me is that unless it is 100% organic, a lot of the stuff still has sodium benzoate in it. Buying "all natural" is more important than buying organic IMO.

But, i also dont agree with the HFCS debate. I dont think that it is bad in moderation. I figured that I have had 3 different nutritionists and none of them have had any objections to me enjoying my cokes w/ HFCS, or my occasional treat with it. I think that like with anyhting else, moderatio is the key.

 

[Planogirl]

I buy organic if it's reasonable but I won't pay the high prices I see so often. My solution is to buy things that are as natural as possible and to limit meat intake. I also avoid HFCS and rarely cook with salt since so many things have way too much salt added.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

I happen to have an AWESOME Whole Foods near me, but it isn't called Whole Foods. It's Harry's Farmer's Market, but were bought out by Whole Foods. They are much bigger than the regular Whole Foods, and carry a lot more. They are expensive, though... but their veggie/fruit section is very big and contains a lot of local produce as well as organic.

Oh I miss Harry's!!!! That is the one thing I miss about living in GA.

I agree. This is basically what I do...although my eggs are so organic, they come from my backyard (we have chickens!)

We also have a milkman who delivers local organic hormone free milk. To me, those and meat are the biggies.

Same here. We have a regional or national (not sure which) egg farm here in town so I buy those. They are free range chickens too.
And our milk is delivered from 2 towns over, which is growth hormone free. If I run out of that milk I buy Farmers cow because it comes from 2 local farms, one here in town and one in the next town over. They also sell eggs so I buy those on occasion too.

I try to buy organic or all natural when I can. The grocery store has gotten better at carrying these items and we usually hit Trader Joe's and Whole Foods about once a month. They are an hour away so we try not to go there unless we are near by.
During the summer and fall we buy as many fruits and veggies as possible at the local fruit stand, at least what we can't or don't grow.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

We buy local and/or organic whenever possible. Good for us and the local producers.

 

[npmommie]

I agree. This is basically what I do...although my eggs are so organic, they come from my backyard (we have chickens!)

We also have a milkman who delivers local organic hormone free milk. To me, those and meat are the biggies.

Is Rick your milkman?
we have a milkman too!

We buy local and/or organic whenever possible. Good for us and the local producers.

this is what we do too, I try to buy local, whether its organic or not.........I don't eat meat but hubby does, so I buy from a local grass fed farm.
with winter here there are no more farmers markets for local produce........so next year I plan to freeze and can a lot of local veggies.


I second the recommendation to watch Food Inc if you can. It is very eye opening!

 

[honugirl]

I never buy organic unless I pick up the wrong item. I'm trying to preserve myself for the future.