Ethical eating at Disneyland?

[Smokering]

So, here's the thing. I just watched Food, Inc, read The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defemse of Food, and otherwise educated myself on the evils of the American food system.

So I was wondering - is there anywhere in the parks that serves whole foods, ethical foods, that type of stuff? Is there anywhere that would do grass-fed steak, free-range eggs etc? Or would we have to eat outside the park (and if so, where??)?

For snacks, I was thinking of hitting up a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's as soon as we got to the US, and buying a bunch of vaguely healthy snacks. But we'll need meals too, and I'd really like to eat some meals in the park for the atmosphere.

I'm not an absolute stickler for organics, locally grown things etc, but I'd like to avoid the biggies - HFCS, CAFO meat and cage eggs? Think I'll starve?

 

[skiingfast]

Yeah, you'll probably starve.

I've worked in the cattle industry before and just happened to watch the sureal Food Inc., last week. I hope the book is better because I know more about beef from calving to the grill than do the screen writers of that movie.

Careful buying organic food, some cause higher rates of cancer than do herbicides.

Seriously though if you want to find a trader Joe it's a little hard, they just don't have a lot of stores. Whole foods is much more common. Also common grocery stores have lots of options for your needs. For local grown foods it is not well known but a Super Walmart is your best bet in the US.

 

[Disney Dreams]

...For snacks, I was thinking of hitting up a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's as soon as we got to the US, and buying a bunch of vaguely healthy snacks....

...Seriously though if you want to find a trader Joe it's a little hard, they just don't have a lot of stores....

I don't know much about "ethical eating" as you call it, but I thought I'd help you out on the Trader Joe's.

There is one about 5 miles from Disneyland, a very short car / taxi ride. It's located at the Mall of Orange. Their address is 2114 N. Tustin St. Orange, CA. Their phone number is 714-283-5697.

- Dreams

 

[rentayenta]

Yeah, you'll probably starve.

Trader Joe's rocks!


Smokering, good luck on your ethical eating journey, I would love to read about your adventures with food in Disneyland after your trip.

 

[bumbershoot]

There's no organic foods in the parks.

The fruit, however, is something we make exceptions for b/c it tastes so good. We normally NEVER eat apples, grapes, or strawberries that are conventionally grown, but at DLR we do. They are *almost* always worth it (though strawberries in December are rarely a good idea).

We are vegetarian, and can generally find something nice to eat. If things say they are vegetarian, they are. They make rice and beans without lard, so as to please as many people as possible. Ingredient lists are available at all counter services and bakeries.

Most of the snack foods have HFCS, corn syrup, or corn syrup solids. We cannot have any of those. Uncrustables have the first two. Dole Whips have the third listed there. Marshmallow-based treats of course are completely out b/c what IS a marshmallow but gelatin and corn syrup (unless you're making it from scratch with agar agar and some other form of syrup (DH and DS can have other syrups, just not corn-based, for whatever reason)). Heck, even most mainstream vanillas have either corn syrup or even HFCS in them! So even some desserts without anything scary can end up causing a reaction in my household, if we go down to what brand of vanillla it had...

YOu're going to have to go knowing all of this. Knowing that you'll be reading ingredient labels, etc.

Oh, it comes to mind...Ben and Jerry's has used extra-growth-hormone free milk for ages right? But they have HFCS or corn syrup in many of their flavors, and not just the marshmallow-containing flavors.

I find Trader Joes to be really UNreliable, and I have to constantly read labels there. They throw rennet into weird places, and can't be totally trusted on the HFCS front either. Thank goodness for their return policy.

Frankly I'd rather go to Vons/Safeway and get their O Organics or even just their Eating Right brands, than go to TJs (though TJs has some incredible hummus!).

I wouldn't read something called an omnivore dilemma, as I haven't been an omnivore since I was 19 or so...and we work to avoid lots of processed foods anyway, so I don't watch the stuff about the food industry. We live by basic food rules that got a little more complicated when we realized the corn syrup problem in our household (even Mickey Bars have corn syrup in the *ice cream*, not in the chocolate shell!) (chocolate covered bananas, however, have been fine for us ingredient-wise).

I wish you luck!

 

[Saskiwi]

Kia ora fellow Dis-Kiwi!
Phew - you picked the wrong time to eat ethically eh? Honestly, a trip to the US is just a big ol' plunge into junk food - I try to buy and eat clean and green at home, but when you are travelling with kids and living in hotels (ie without a kitchen) it is a nightmare.

We had a chat with our 2 before our trip and said, "Right, you are going to be eating some junk over the next 2 weeks. It's not good for you, some of it might be fun, but it's how a lot of people in America eat and it's causing them a lot of problems." Not wanting to offend anyone, but both of them were blown away by the size of the average person (and we're not skinny minnies or overly fit either!) - and after the novelty wore off, even the kids got sick of being offered giant sodas with every meal!

We just embraced the local food scene as part of the "cultural difference" between home and the US. We ate at fast food places, marvelled at the crazy stuff in supermarkets (marshmalllow fluff!) and let them choose some trashy cereal to try. Also, we didn't want to miss out on some of the great US food experiences that we had loved on past trips: real BBQ, Mexican food, and (ahem) Cinnabons!

So, as you will have gathered, your options in the parks are going to be limited! We took our own lunches and snacks in most days - but even that was problematic -e.g. I found it hard to get wholemeal bread that wasn't sweet! I bought some packs of those pre-peeled baby carrots and some hopefully spray-free apples.

My advice would be to take a deep breath and let standards slide while you are on holiday - you really appreciate the taste of 'real' food once you get home again!

 

[bumbershoot]

Oh I didn't notice you are from NZ! DH just loved the food he had while there!!!! He actually loves the food he gets in any country away from the US. No one feeds their people the junk this country does...you are so fortunate!

Saskiwi, no offense from us, even though both DH and I carry extra weight. We're shocked at it too (and by our own selves, since we really don't eat that much, and eat nice foods, too), and the soda thing just blows us away. Whenever DH is on an int'l trip, he makes a point to drink a soda (just one per trip), since the cane sugar in your sodas tastes so much more delicious than our junk!

 

[Monkey Monkey]

There is also a Henry's Farmers Market (natural foods store) in Fullerton:
http://www.henrysmarkets.com/

and Sprouts Farmers Market in Tustin and Orange:
http://sprouts.com/home.php

 

[chisnpeke]

Become a vegetarian (or just for the time you spend at DLR)

Seriously, I don't understand why more people aren't vegetarians. People are just too addicted to meat and it's not particularly good for you anyway, especially if it is embedded with chemicals.

Chipotle, who I believe made the video Food, Inc., has free range meat. I really honestly don't know of any other chain restaurants that do but I'm sure there are some out there in California.

I wish you good luck in finding good things to eat. Disneyland is great. Have a magical trip!

 

[chisnpeke]

Yeah, you'll probably starve.

I've worked in the cattle industry before and just happened to watch the sureal Food Inc., last week. I hope the book is better because I know more about beef from calving to the grill than do the screen writers of that movie.

Careful buying organic food, some cause higher rates of cancer than do herbicides.

Seriously though if you want to find a trader Joe it's a little hard, they just don't have a lot of stores. Whole foods is much more common. Also common grocery stores have lots of options for your needs. For local grown foods it is not well known but a Super Walmart is your best bet in the US.

In the last three to four years the "eating healthy and organic" has really grown around here and you see those sections in pretty much every Kroger around here. I think the California brand of Kroger is Ralph's.

 

[Smokering]

Thanks guys! I appreciate the info on supermarkets and such in the USA - we don't have Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Wal-Mart, Safeway, Kroger, Ralphs etc in NZ, so it's all kinda foreign territory!

I do plan to let our standards slip a little. I want to try a Dole Whip, HFCS or no HFCS! We don't have any actual allergies or food intolerances, so it's purely a choice.ethics/lifestyle thing. Well, that and I don't fancy waiting in a queue with a hyped-up-on-sugar three-year-old!

So none of the restaurants do free-range, grass-fed meat? Not even in somewhere fancy like the Blue Bayou? I was under the impression that NZ beef and lamb were exported to the US and showed up as quite a delicacy in fancy restaurants... but that doesn't necessarily include Disney ones, I guess.

We'll skip sodas with meals as I don't like 'em anyway. I should try to choose a hotel with a fridge, I guess! For all its food flaws America does seem to have a huge range of healthyish/organic packaged foods compared to NZ, which is handy as I'll hardly have time to whip up soaked-grain wholemeal bread and chickpea stew in a hotel kitchen in LA.... At least some states sell raw milk or non-homogenised milk, which you can't get legally here. Also raw cheese, which I can't wait to try!

How far away from either the LA airport or Disneyland are Fullerton, Tustin and Orange? I'm not sure of our schedule yet. We could take a day before we go to Disneyland to buy supplies and de-jet-lag a bit. (To the other Kiwis in this thread - how zonked were you for the first few days of your trip? We'll be there for probably 10 days, four of which will be at DL, and we want to spend a night or two in San Diego for the zoo and wildlife park. Any recommendations? Two free days before Disneyland? Three?)

Phew - you picked the wrong time to eat ethically eh?

Tell me about it! At first I thought I could just ignore it entirely for the duration of the trip, but now it's bugging me more. I do intend to try a few items of total junk, though - I've never had a Twinkie, a Dorito or a butterscotch chip, and I intend to find out what they taste like!

 

[carolinamama]

This is the Trader Joe's I plan on hitting the day we fly in:

2114 N. Tustin St.
Orange, CA 92865


It's not really that far from DLR - about 3 miles. From what I've found (online, admittedly), Whole Foods is further from DLR than TJs as the closest two are in Long Beach and Tustin (10 - 12 miles away).

I'm a big fan of TJ's. Every store has its own set of issues, but I actually drive each month to one that's an hour away just to load up, and I fill in the gaps at the Whole Foods just down the street from here. But that's just me!

You are absolutely not missing anything in the Twinkie department! As for raw milk, it is actually illegal here in my state, but I know some people who have their own secret suppliers. The big thing with meat around here is to find locally raised meat. I'm an east coaster, and we have small beef and poultry farms all over the place. I know all of my natural living friends like to keep it ALL local - produce, meat, everything.

 

[aussiegirls]

I can't help with the ethical eating but I can help with the jet-lag question. We came from Australia and to be honest none of us had any jet-lag when we got there or when we returned home (I went to work and kids went to school the day after we got back).

I was really scared of jet lag to be honest and I read about a thing called Jet-Ease (or No Jet Lag depending on which country you are buying it in). They are purely homeopathic little tablets that you take every few hours and on take off and landing. I was really sceptical about these but I figured that seeing as they were homeopathic it wouldn't really hurt so I gave them a go. So I really can't say if it was them that did the trick or if we were all just really lucky but as I said, none of us had jet lag at all.

I will def use them when we travel overseas again, even if it was all just in my mind


xxx

 

[sillyjodes]

It seems like a lot of places serve Colorado lamb now, instead of your much tastier NZ lamb.
I think you'll have luck finding organic/local food at Napa Rose, but it's pricey. I haven't eaten there myself for that reason.
We usually pick up packaged organic carrots, a bag of organic apples, and organic string cheese to snack on in the park. Nearly all large US grocery stores have these.
Trader Joes and Whole foods both carry a fair amount of conventional produce, so check labels carefully.
You may want to check out La Brea (SP?) in downtown disney. I seem to remember some organic stuff on their menu, but could be mistaken.
Honestly, we just took our first trip to WDW, after several to DLR, and I was starving. At DLR, I can nearly always get a yummy salad with lots of veggies and some protein, albeit conventional. Most of the food at WDW was very processed, except for the table service places that are eternally booked. I was so thankful for the few good meals were able to have at a couple places in Epcot.
Best of luck and remember you are visiting CA, so there's a ton of organic food around, you just need to go get it!
Jodie

 

[nunzia]

This is the Trader Joe's I plan on hitting the day we fly in:

2114 N. Tustin St.
Orange, CA 92865


It's not really that far from DLR - about 3 miles. From what I've found (online, admittedly), Whole Foods is further from DLR than TJs as the closest two are in Long Beach and Tustin (10 - 12 miles away).

I'm a big fan of TJ's. Every store has its own set of issues, but I actually drive each month to one that's an hour away just to load up, and I fill in the gaps at the Whole Foods just down the street from here. But that's just me!

You are absolutely not missing anything in the Twinkie department! As for raw milk, it is actually illegal here in my state, but I know some people who have their own secret suppliers. The big thing with meat around here is to find locally raised meat. I'm an east coaster, and we have small beef and poultry farms all over the place. I know all of my natural living friends like to keep it ALL local - produce, meat, everything.

When I was a kid they were great! Now, they really taste awful..
..and I'm sure local is so much better than corporate..but I sometimes wonder how great our local is..how long does atomic bomb debris last in the soil anyway?

 

[Saskiwi]

Thanks guys! I appreciate the info on supermarkets and such in the USA - we don't have Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Wal-Mart, Safeway, Kroger, Ralphs etc in NZ, so it's all kinda foreign territory!

I do plan to let our standards slip a little. I want to try a Dole Whip, HFCS or no HFCS! We don't have any actual allergies or food intolerances, so it's purely a choice.ethics/lifestyle thing. Well, that and I don't fancy waiting in a queue with a hyped-up-on-sugar three-year-old!

So none of the restaurants do free-range, grass-fed meat? Not even in somewhere fancy like the Blue Bayou? I was under the impression that NZ beef and lamb were exported to the US and showed up as quite a delicacy in fancy restaurants... but that doesn't necessarily include Disney ones, I guess.

We'll skip sodas with meals as I don't like 'em anyway. I should try to choose a hotel with a fridge, I guess! For all its food flaws America does seem to have a huge range of healthyish/organic packaged foods compared to NZ, which is handy as I'll hardly have time to whip up soaked-grain wholemeal bread and chickpea stew in a hotel kitchen in LA.... At least some states sell raw milk or non-homogenised milk, which you can't get legally here. Also raw cheese, which I can't wait to try!

How far away from either the LA airport or Disneyland are Fullerton, Tustin and Orange? I'm not sure of our schedule yet. We could take a day before we go to Disneyland to buy supplies and de-jet-lag a bit. (To the other Kiwis in this thread - how zonked were you for the first few days of your trip? We'll be there for probably 10 days, four of which will be at DL, and we want to spend a night or two in San Diego for the zoo and wildlife park. Any recommendations? Two free days before Disneyland? Three?)


Tell me about it! At first I thought I could just ignore it entirely for the duration of the trip, but now it's bugging me more. I do intend to try a few items of total junk, though - I've never had a Twinkie, a Dorito or a butterscotch chip, and I intend to find out what they taste like!

Doritos are in NZ now, so you can save your $US on that one!
I would pick a Cinnabon over a Twinkie anyday - Twinkie's were a big disappointment..but Cinnabons - mmmmmm. Giant, warm, sticky cinnamon buns with cream cheese frosting...stores are usually in a mall. There's one in The Block at Orange, - in fact probably most malls near DLR!

As for jetlag, we checked into Hojos around 1pm after our flight and picking up the hire car. Had a nap, went out for an early dinner and early night, then were up at 5.30 next morning for our Magic Morning and first day at DL - the kids were fine - I think we were all running on adrenalin!

There might be some tips for you in my trip report -check it out if you're interested, here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2153693

 

[Think I'm Tink]

A Twinkie is one of those things you have to try. Once. I had never had one until a trip to the USA and I believe I threw most of it away. I had such high hopes for it too. But if you notice in Wall-E, the little cockroach and a Twinkie are the only "perishable" things left on Earth. And I don't know if you eat chocolate on your ethical diet but if you are used to "real" Cadbury's chocolate, don't try the American version. I threw most of that away too.

However I won't rag on American food completely. It's part of the experience of a vacation in the USA and there are some foods that I love eating. Make sure you try a Mickey shaped pretzel (I have to ask for one with very little salt). Dole Whips are to die for! I always have to eat at a Ruby Tuesdays when I go to the states - they have a good salad bar and some really tasty entrees. And their fruity iced tea is delicious -- there's pieces of real fruit in it and it comes with free refills which I take advantage of. I agree about the Cinnabons, and try a Krispy Kreme doughnut (it's vacation after all, you have to give it a shot). If you can find it, try real BBQ. I love McDonald's sweet tea and wish we could get it here in Canada (although if we could, I'd weigh 700 pounds and not have a tooth left in my head so I guess it's actually better this way). I don't know if it's available in California but IBC root beer is about the best I've tasted.

 

[carolinamama]

try a Krispy Kreme doughnut (it's vacation after all, you have to give it a shot).

Krispy Kreme was born and is still based in my town. I grew up on those suckers, and boy, that's still one of my weaknesses. Those are definitely worth a try!

Are there any Jason's Delis out in CA? I think they're TX based, but they're expanding. That's one of the few chains I know that has a commitment to organics. Not everything is organic, but there are options. Plus, no HFCS except in sodas, and they have a huge salad bar.

 

[liesel]

I noticed when we ordered kids meals at Pacific Wharf in DCA for our kids that the milk and apple slices that came with it were organic. However, the kids meals at the farmer's market (which is very close by) were not. I also think its a good idea to stock up on some healthy snacks in the hotel and to take into the park. It really helps balance out the occasional indulgence.

 

[VallCopen]

So when are you going smokering???? We will be staying in a 2 bedroom Villa in July for 9 days and would trade use of our kitchen for a night for a home cooked NZ meal. You all made NZ food sound so good I now want to go and give it a try.