Organic vs. Standard produce

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #30 on: November 20, 2007, 10:35:46 AM » by Lovin'myHoneyinVT

Quote from: cecac on November 17, 2007, 05:37:27 PM

Maybe doing a two week challenge might be good. I could figure out what I spend per week on regular produce, then go ahead and see how much produce I could get organic for the same price. I might be pleasantly surprised.
Still thinking Grin

,
Cara

Cara, I know the reason for Organic is also in how it treats the earth and the animals when it is being produced. Those chemicals are not good for the earth or sustainable.

We did the Maker's Diet (wrong thread, I know HB) and he recommends only Organic and unprocessed foods for Forty days. My husband was having stomach problems with digesting any meat except ground turkey. After the diet, we have continued with the program about 90% and definitely see a difference. He is fine eating anything healthy (bacon definitely gets him though). The diet IS kosher which our family doesn't subscribe to but did during the forty days. The boys have pork on occasion but I never buy it and so the only time he gets it is when we go to the restaurant.

I think the Organic is a great thing but not if it is a stressor. I have been buying bulk organic rice and that is a great filler. Whenever I can, I buy veggies and fruits in bulk and store them. It cuts the cost almost in half! It took awhile, but I have a good variety now. HTH, Lovin'

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #31 on: November 20, 2007, 11:20:24 AM » by cecac

Thank you Lovin',

This is very interesting that going completely organic for 40 days cured symptoms like that. I'm glad you shared.

I agree with you about bulk. As I have time, gradually, I was going to look into bulk beans, white rice (my mom says it's cheaper than brown), etc. I can order those by the 25 lb bag and that's a time saver. We can get oats and course ground corn grits that doubles as cornmeal, so I guess my dh is okay with that extra spending. My having this discussion here has also made me realize that my dh is okay with a bit more spending.

My mom actually gave me some hints on produce in our area. She gets out more than I do, so I was going to also try to scout out the ideas she's given me, gradually.

Apples are still a problem, though, like everyone is saying. Except when they go on sale, and I don't think that is very often, but I may be wrong.

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #32 on: November 20, 2007, 12:03:14 PM » by Lovin'myHoneyinVT

Are there any apple farms in the area? you can buy "utility" apples at bulk rates...they have blemishes or are not pretty enough to sell in the store. I buy drops for applesauce and utility for just eating or dried apples.

Isn't brown rice "better" nutritionally? I heard that but haven't researched it. Kinda seems like white bread versus brown bread.

Lovin'

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #33 on: November 20, 2007, 12:50:57 PM » by cecac

Quote from: Lovin'myHoneyinVT on November 20, 2007, 12:03:14 PM

Apples aren't generally grown here. Undecided

. Too much rock and cedar I guess.

I admit I do like white rice better Cheesy

. And according to my mom the organic white is cheaper than organic brown. Also, white cooks up so much faster. We actually don't eat rice as much as we could because of that (okay, I'm whining here) 45 minutes cook time. But I guess that's why I stay on WTM, you all keep me honest. Grin

Likely white rice does spike blood sugar way faster than brown, but I'm guessing. The thing that gets me about this is that the Chinese people, who I thought were fairly healthy eating all that fish, veggies, and rice, only eat white. I'm wondering what's the deal there? See, I wonder if some of this stuff isn't as bad as some other stuff. For instance, LOL, the other day at Costco I saw someone with ORGANIC toaster pastries in their basket.

Okay, I'm poking fun, but after this thread I really chuckled at those organic pastry poppers. I just wanted to run over and buy a dozen boxes. Grin

I mean, after all, they are organic.

« Last Edit: November 20, 2007, 01:01:11 PM by cecac »
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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #34 on: November 24, 2007, 12:32:18 PM » by healthybratt

Quote from: crystal on November 17, 2007, 02:02:19 PM

I can't believe that you pay that much for regular apples, though. It is apple season. We are paying .79 max! Mostly .69 and under. Of course, that is for regular, not organic.

We had a frost after the first blooms of spring arrived. The apple crop really suffered this year.

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #35 on: November 26, 2007, 11:46:35 AM » by Lovin'myHoneyinVT

I only looked at one or two sources, but makes sense about the brown rice. It has 3 g fat versus .6 grams in white and that is the only negative I could find. It also only stores 6-12 months as the fatty acids go rancid as it oxidizes. If you could use a suck and seal to pull out most air, it would last longer.
Lovin'

In term of whole grains, Brown rice is definitely the preferred choice because it's easily digested by our body as compared to other grain products (eg: wheat) and some people are allergic to wheat without knowing it (Gluten intolerant ) . As we all know , there are two main types of rice , namely the brown rice and white rice .The milling process that removes the bran layer of brown rice is what making the shiny and beautiful white rice. Unfortunately , the removal of such layer comes at a price , a nutritional loss that makes white rice less desirable for true health seekers. The following chart shows the nutritional difference between white rice and brown rice. As can be seen, the difference in minerals, vitamin and fiber is obvious .

   Brown Rice (one cup)    White Rice (one cup)
Calories
     232      223
Protein
     4.88 g      4.10 g
Carbohydrate
     49.7 g      49.6 g
Fat
     1.17 g      0.205 g
Dietary Fiber
     3.32 g      0.74 g
Thiamin (B1)
     0.176 g      0.223 g
Riboflavin (B2)
     0.039 mg       0.021 mg
Niacin (B3)
     2.730 mg       2.050 mg
Vitamin B6
     0.294 mg      0.103 mg
Folacin
     10 mcg      4.1 mcg
Vitamin E
     1.4 mg      0.462 mg
Magnesium
     72.2 mg      22.6 mg
Phosphorus
     142 mg      57.4 mg
Potassium
     137 mg      57.4 mg
Selenium
     26 mg      19 mg
Zinc
     1.05 mg      0.841 mg

Data obtained from http://www.drlam.com/opinion/brown_rice_vs_white_rice.cfm

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #36 on: November 26, 2007, 12:44:13 PM » by cecac

Wow Lovin', guess some of those nutrients really do drop in the white rice.

Thank you for the research. I haven't gotten to the HFS yet, but I at least did buy organic mixed greens from Costco the other day, and we can get spinach there. I need to see about organic rices. I already get organic corn grits for 99 cents a pound and organic oats for 99 cents a pound.

So, there is that question again, you can fill kids up on grain way quicker than on produce. Huh

Ya know, we haven't been eating as much fruit lately, I may just keep the fruit consumption down and save some money there, which I could put into veggies. I'm thinking that, dollar for dollar, I likely can get more veggies organic than I could fruit. Undecided

I have kept an eye on stuff, and I'd say that celery, carrots, and cabbage are definitely doable. I'm not sure about potatoes Angry

, and apples definitely are expensive, as are green bell peppers.

For those who eat a lot of apples--what about switching to carrots? You might come out cheaper.....

Cara

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #37 on: December 01, 2007, 12:48:25 PM » by cecac

Just thought I'd check in with results on one HFS, here in Austin, about organic produce.

I can get green & purple cabbage at 99 cents per pound. I get 5 pounds of carrots for $4, and I think celery was somewhere around $1.29 for the whole stalk. Spaghetti squash was 99 cents a pound.

Apples were in the $1.49-$1.99 price range.

I didn't see potatoes.

I bought the cabbages, celery, spuash, and organic bananas to freeze and put in smoothies (79 cents per pound).

I am going to try and alter things to where we can eat organic more of the time. I can buy organic spring mixes and baby spinach at Costco, along with frozen green beans and corn.

We will be able to eat a lot of cut veggies, coleslaw, and simple salads. It was tempting to buy the apples non-organic, they were 77 cents per pounds. Potatoes are another problem.

I have to admit I don't know if we can do without the potatoes, so they may have to be one thing we don't change. Undecided

Apples, too.

Another interesting note: Organic barley is $1.19 pound, the organic brown rice was quite a bit higher.

Cara

« Last Edit: December 01, 2007, 03:43:24 PM by cecac »
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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #38 on: December 03, 2007, 09:12:15 AM » by Ami H.

Another thing that you might look for in your area is a natural foods buying club. We belong to United Natural Foods and they bring it right to our smallish local town. I have lived in this general area most all my life and never knew it existed. I heard about it through a friend. Their website is www.unitedbuyingclubs.com They don't have fresh produce though. I do buy cases of organic frozen veggies through them. There is another buying club called Azure. They have fresh veggies that are in season, but don't deliver very close to me. You have to watch prices and detirmine if it is really worth buying it in bulk or not. Some things are and some are not. Also, it is very tempting to buy things labeled ORGANIC like toaster pastries or chips. Sometimes we go ahead and do it and sometimes I tell myself "No." But, I feel that if I am going to be so tempted to eat it (I have a thing for salty chips on occassion. Embarrassed

) then I may as well bypass all of those nasty preservatives and msg. etc and just get the minimum of nasties. As one chip company calls themselves, it is a "Lesser Evil." But, I have to keep it in check. As we do in all things. I like it when I look at the back of the bag and it says something like "potatoes, sunflower oil, and salt." That way even though I realize that I am just eating empty calories, but no extras. I have also noticed that it has helped me wean my family off of the junk with less threat of mutiny. Then eventually when the sweetened cereal went away and was replaced by better whole foods, they did better with it.

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #39 on: December 03, 2007, 10:10:01 AM » by Maria/NHM

Quote from: cecac on December 01, 2007, 12:48:25 PM

Just thought I'd check in with results on one HFS, here in Austin, about organic produce.

Apples were in the $1.49-$1.99 price range.

I didn't see potatoes.

I bought the cabbages, celery, spuash, and organic bananas to freeze and put in smoothies (79 cents per pound).

Cara

Wow! Good prices! Regular apples are 1.99 a lb and organic are usually 2.40 a lb. Organic cabbage is 1.29 a lb here. We eat a lot of raw cabbage and carrots ( 5 lbs for 5.99 organic) since they are the best priced organic veggies I can find.

Albertsons has quite a selection of organic produce. I have found them to be better priced that Safeway or the HFS. I don't plan recipes every week. I just pick the food that is the best buy that week and find something I can make from what I have bought.

Sometimes I have to buy more nonorganic than I'd like. Hubby likes me too keep quite a bit of fresh fruit in the house and it can get so expensive. He's starting to want me to buy organic though. This morning he looked at his omelet and said "these aren't the type of tomato's that are treated with gas are they" ? He was so happy when I told him they were organic Cheesy

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #40 on: December 04, 2007, 09:01:08 PM » by healthybratt

Quote from: Roehrmomma on December 04, 2007, 09:01:33 AM

this is not a co-op but it is a cool site to help you find farmers and such.There were several in our area.Hope it helps you to.

http://www.localharvest.org/

Em

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #41 on: December 14, 2007, 11:47:26 AM » by healthybratt

Quote from: its_me518 on December 13, 2007, 06:14:15 PM

K, what do you all know about eggs?? Huh

Is there really a LOT of garbage in the NON organic/natural ones?? I can only get the "bad" ones on WIC and am now thinking its probably not worth getting them at all and just buy the organic/natural ones?? What do you think?? Huh

As a courtesy to the member who started this thread and those participating in the conversation, please attempt to stay on topic as much as possible.

If the conversation triggers a new subject of interest, please search the forum for a more appropriate thread for the discussion. When one cannot be found, start a new one.

Farm and/or Organic Eggs vs. Standard Store Bought Eggs

If you'd like to have a more personal conversation that would otherwise derail the topic, please take advantage of your ability as a forum member to send personal messages.

Thanks.

~hb

« Last Edit: July 25, 2008, 03:18:05 PM by healthybratt »
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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #42 on: February 22, 2008, 09:45:41 PM » by naturalgirl

My mom buys organic from a local grocery store here. They don't sell much on the shelf, but are more than willing to order for you. We have to buy a minimum of like say four bags carrots in order to get carrots, but the good side of it is that they don't cost quite as much as if you get them off the shelf, and store pretty well too. A list of things that might be available are:

Potatoes
Apples
Lettuce
Celery
Baby romaine
Spinach
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Peaches (seasonal)
Strawberries, fresh (seasonal)

In the frozen section,

Strawberries
Mixed berries
Blueberries
Potatoes (hash browns)
Peas
Broccoli
Corn

If you are even considering organic, just having an honest talk with the produce or frozen section manager will help you. (Watch out if they are over zelous sales people though Roll Eyes

...my rule of thumb when buying things is to walk out of the store and think about it for at least 3 days. Works most of the time

)They can tell you what they have on their lists, how much you have to order, and the general price range.

For those who are just starting out in the "organic land", keep your ears open! We have had so many leads to good things because others see our organic produce, and eather want to buy with us or have something that they raise that they would be willing to sell to you at a cheap price. Friendliness pays off Grin

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #43 on: April 06, 2008, 07:05:57 PM » by Blessed Mama

I'm a newbie to the whole organic deal but I've started by stocking up on frozen veggies and berries, when they are on sale and I have a coupon for it and they have savings through my saver's or preferred shopper card. Buy one get one free sales combined with manufacturer's coupons are a great way to save on those frozen goods. Prices for the fresh goodies is still pretty outrageous around here. I'm checking into the CSA and I can't wait until the local farmers market opens again.

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #44 on: July 11, 2008, 11:21:26 PM » by CountyCork

Question - washing will remove exterior pesticide residue, but what about the pesticides and chemicals in the soil that go into the plant through the roots, or that come in through the leaves, etc? Don't chemicals actually get into the plant, and therefore can't be washed out?
Just wondering.

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #45 on: July 12, 2008, 09:03:50 AM » by joyful_mommy03

Seems to me all you can do about that is pick the veggies that hold the least amt of pesticides. I get a newsletter from whfoods (stands for "worlds healthiest foods") and they had a list recently of the most contaminated and least contaminated foods. I couldn't find the link, so I'll just post what I received in my emailbox ...

Because this week's Food of the Week, bell peppers, is among the list of what has become known as the "Dirty Dozen," I was reminded that it has been quite a while since I shared this list with you. Developed by the Environmental Working Group, the Dirty Dozen is a list of fruits and vegetables most highly contaminated with pesticide residues. When you are unable to purchase all your produce organically-grown, this list is a great tool to help you minimize your intake of pesticide residues by avoiding those foods highest on the list.

The Environmental Working Group's simulation of consumers eating high and low pesticide diets showed that it is possible to decrease exposure to pesticides by 90% by avoiding those foods that are the most highly contaminated and selecting those that are the least contaminated.

The Dirty Dozen - 12 Most Contaminated Fruits and Vegetables:

Food Pesticide Load
Peaches 100 (highest)
Apples 89
Sweet Bell Peppers 86
Celery 85
Nectarines 84
Strawberries 82
Cherries 75
Pears 65
Grapes (imported) 65
Spinach 60
Lettuce 59
Potatoes 58

The Environmental Working Group also developed a list of the 12 Least Contaminated Fruits and Vegetables:

Food Pesticide Load
Onions 1 (lowest)
Avocados 1
Pineapples 7
Mango 9
Asparagus 11
Sweet Peas 11
Kiwi 14
Bananas 16
Cabbage 17
Broccoli 18
Papaya 21

Don't forget to try our Recipe of the Week. It is easy to prepare and a perfect way to add more nutrition to your summer meals for a minimal number of calories. And this week's Breakthrough News will tell you more about why pinto beans are a good choice for a healthy heart.

Here's to another great week of Healthy Eating!

George

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #46 on: July 12, 2008, 11:17:43 AM » by cecac

Well, I'm glad you brought this back up joyfulmommy03--I've slipped!! Roll Eyes

Okay it is totally NOT FAIR that bell peppers and celery are on the high end. Here we are trying to eat more organic beans & rice to bring down prices on our food bill, and I just love to put bell pepper in the beans.

I need to jump back on this bandwagon.

Quote from: naturalgirl on February 22, 2008, 09:45:41 PM

...my rule of thumb when buying things is to walk out of the store and think about it for at least 3 days. Works most of the time

Thank you so much naturalgirl. This is very practical and I hadn't thought of having a little chat with both my local grocery store produce people and the health food store produce people. Actually, we used to buy non-organic carrots alot at the grocery store (I mean, 50 pounds a week) for juicing, so we have a working relationship with those people.

Another idea to "do" with this one is see if I can get a working deal going for organics, and then also see if I can have a few friends who will buy with me, so that we can go on ahead and make the most of my bulkier purchases. Lettuce, for instance, will likely have to be bought by the box. Well, that's at least 12 heads, maybe 24 or so. If I had 4-5 families who want organic lettuce every week, then I can get a standing order going with the store and we can all have organic lettuce, cheaper.

We've done that before with a co-op. My mom did all the organizing that time, but I learned how thru her. Might be something I need to look into to get those prices down. Particularly, I wouldn't mind having that for green peppers, celery, carrots, and lettuce. Maybe even apples.

Cara

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #47 on: July 12, 2008, 11:34:48 AM » by cecac

Quote from: CountyCork on July 11, 2008, 11:21:26 PM

I would wonder about that too. This is the type thing that makes me think about what is actually better for my family. Should I drop most produce or not?

I will say that if I wanted to get real, real strict (don't want to get too much that way right now) I could go with onions for cooking, coleslaw, and organic bananas. Period. Shocked

Oh, and maybe I could get a deal on potatoes.

If you'll notice the list of low pesticides, white cabbage, onions, broccli are on there, so I wouldn't necessarily need to go organic on those anyway.

Here is another thread I started about cooked food vs. raw food from the standpoint of budget. The reason I bring this up is because if you honestly think that the pesticides in the soil are really derailing the whole organic produce situation, then I would wonder if it is a better monetary deal/health deal to think about eating more cooked foods.

We just spent quite a bit on organic beans (4 types), brown rice, and corn grits. We eat them a lot and I think it is bringing our budget down, but I'm not sure yet. We are having to establish our habits a bit more and continue to cut what we buy on a weekly basis.

So I would wonder about organic dried foods/rice vs. organic produce. Somehow I would think that if your question is indeed a true situation, then beans might be better than eating the actual leaves of a fresh plant. Huh

http://www.welltellme.com/discuss/index.php/topic,19032.0.html

Cara

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #48 on: July 12, 2008, 04:47:28 PM » by mommie

Now I'm wondering if any of you wise ladies know about this. I know that with our mass production of foods here no one stops to take a break and let the land rest! So our soil is being so drained of nutrients our food just doesn't have what it used to have...BUT I thought I read somewhere that organic farmers give the soil that rest that they need ?? ? Is that correct? Would it vary by farmer or what exactly does the certified organic label mean??? Thanks for posting on the dirty dozen!! I just don't know what to do about our food lately! I like the link of your raw food whole food ida cecac! thanx

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #49 on: July 12, 2008, 05:09:54 PM » by Whiterock

I don't think it's part of organic certification to give the land a rest period. So it would probably vary by farmer.

WR

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #50 on: July 12, 2008, 07:07:19 PM » by cecac

Good point, chrissyjoy. Had forgotten about the mineral content of the soil. According to my chiro/OMD, the soils of America are completely deficient. So, that's another thought about cost and what are we really getting?

However, I don't actually know about that because I've done some reading on iodine. Wouldn't we all be majorly deficient if there wasn't some iodine content in the produce from the soil? Wouldn't the majority of us have goiters, or scurvy, etc?

Which again leads me to this thought: We may very well get what we need in whole foods, whether cooked or raw. Huh

Maybe?

And also, if the soil is being enriched (I would assume not chemically if the produce is labeled organic) then that is a good thing. Is my assumption correct?

Another interesting thing: A lady at church told me that she's done research on vitamin content in canned foods (not sure if store bought or home canned). Believe it or not, there is just as much vitamin content in canned than in raw produce. Shocked

She also brought the point up that even if it's organic, if you didn't buy it down the street from the farmer, fresh picked, you have lost some of the nutrients you're paying for. She is paying more for farm fresh/organic but eating less produce. She thinks that is better than buying organic in the store.

Okay, I wanna know!! So tomorrow I'm going to get my church friend to link us all up on this one. I want to read about that. Hopefully her research was internet based.

« Last Edit: July 12, 2008, 07:11:21 PM by cecac »
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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #51 on: July 12, 2008, 08:07:33 PM » by LKS

Many farmers will plant a high nutrient 'cover' crop in the winter. This crop is designed to put nutrients back in the soil in a natural way. If you are buying locally or from a co=op maybe you can ask about the farming practices. There are many ways to enrich the soil w/out chemicals & many farmers do so. Lots use chemicals too so asking is your best bet.

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #52 on: July 12, 2008, 08:47:35 PM » by hi_itsgwen

Yup! The place that I buy raw milk from seeds their fields with clover during the winter, and then tills it under after it blooms in the spring. From this, they get clover honey, naturally enriched soil, and very healthy cows! Farming can be a beautiful balance.

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #53 on: July 12, 2008, 10:25:32 PM » by mommie

so maybe I need to start going to the farmer's markets...but how can i trust they are organic...just hope they are honest I guess cause none of them are certified organic...than you ladies talk about wheeling and dealing w/ the produce people...like are you talking small local grocers w/ no organic anyways or are you just nervy and go up to the guy in walmarts produce department and ask for a bulk deal on something they already have ( i don't think walmart has organic but i couldn't think of any other grocery store everyone has) or do you only do it if they don't have anything or what...alll my groceries sell organic here for like double the cost of regular...my friend just paid 10/# for organic cherries Shocked

No organic cherry eating around here!!! costco is great for frozen fruit and veggies organic ... which my " midwife " mentioned that frozen is sometimes better than "fresh" cause they freeze it while there are more nutrients in it (sooner rather than after the long wait it takes to get to us) I've never seen frozen apples though. Oh I wish I could grow my own food!! h

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #54 on: July 12, 2008, 11:21:34 PM » by hi_itsgwen

It's always nice to get friendly with the produce guy at the grocery store. I think they notice when people are friendly and ask them friendly questions...my produce guy loves that I respect his expertise on fruits and veggies

I have lots of pals at the local grocery store that help me out, but I've not (yet) asked them about ordering anything organic for me.

I've heard that food that is grown locally is a better bet for cutting out some of the chemicals for long transport and storage.

It's fun to go have an adventure at the farmers market. My Mom and Dad would load all of us into the 1970's van (no seats or seatbelts in the back and a shag carpeted interior...yeah Baby!) with our wagon. We'd walk the market and load things into the wagon.

Find a local farmer with good prices, and that likes to talk. Be sure to ask if they grew the produce locally. Some at our market import truckloads from Mexico. Some of the most popular locally grown stuff is gone at 4 AM when the market opens. Locally grown stuff may not be 'certified organic' but they should tell you what they do for pesticides and fertilizers. And then you can check that out when you get home.

I'm just making some changes in this arena as well. I have read several sites that list the pesticide residue from washed fruits and veggies...which ones have the most pesticide and which have the least. I keep a little cheat sheet with my shopping list to help me remember it all. Wink

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #55 on: July 14, 2008, 07:42:59 AM » by joyful jean

Quote from: Ami H. on December 03, 2007, 09:12:15 AM

Another thing that you might look for in your area is a natural foods buying club. We belong to United Natural Foods and they bring it right to our smallish local town.

Their website is www.unitedbuyingclubs.com They don't have fresh produce though. I do buy cases of organic frozen veggies through them.

I too belong to united natural foods, but we can get fresh organic produce (from Albertson's) delievered with our United Natural Foods order. I believe you just go to Albertson's website and set up an account with your Natural Foods account and it all gets delievered together. The billing is seperate, but worth it. We only get it once a month, but at least I can get "cheaper" bulk organic prices than buying from the local grocery store. We then split the produce among our members who want organic produce. Sometimes I can get organic gala apples for as cheap as .33/lb Shocked

That is when I stock up and buy an entire case for myself to freeze and dry them. We normally buy carrots, potatoes, lettuce, apples, and broccoli. Then if there are any specials we order them too. It is such a blessing.

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #56 on: July 23, 2008, 05:24:50 PM » by mommie

so united doesn't have a buying club by me and my grocer only wants to give me 10% off the 3/lb apples when buying by the 40# case! You've got to be kidding! Also Tomatoes, didn't see a # on those? Anyone know the scoop on wether they should be organic or not a big deal?
thanks ladies.
C

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #57 on: July 23, 2008, 10:38:38 PM » by hi_itsgwen

The beauty of a free market economy is that he could swiftly become your ex-grocer. I would ask him to write down his best prices on the foods you would like to order in bulk so that you can 'shop around'...and then do it!

You may also want to think about starting a co-op if you know other health and dollar conscious families. I'm looking for one in my area as well.

http://www.sustainabletable.org/blog/archives/2006/10/the_dirty_dozen.html

The Dirty Dozen, in order of most toxic to least:
Peaches
Apples
Sweet bell peppers
Celery
Nectarines
Strawberries
Cherries
Pears
Imported grapes
Spinach
Lettuce
Potatoes

The list was compiled based on the findings of FDA and USDA tests conducted between 2000 and 2004. The EWG (Environmental Working Group) claims that consumers who avoid eating fruits and veggies on the "Dirty Dozen" list can reduce their exposure to pesticides by nearly 90%.\

This site has more info...scroll down to the colored table to see the red, yellow and green zones. You can also print out a free wallet sized chart for shopping reference!

http://www.grinningplanet.com/2006/update-2005-05-24/pesticides-in-food.htm

I don't know what they've started using, but I can taste and feel a burning sensation on treated veggies and fruits. Undecided

-Gwen

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #58 on: July 25, 2008, 09:59:37 AM » by mommie

anyone have a list for the grains/nuts? Thx for all you helpful info Gwen! So a new store came into town called Fresh and Easy. They have a few organics, but they always discount 1/2 price whatever is dated that day. So I go in and look at the dates on the organic apples (they sell them in a container w/ 4 apples per container) and than come back on that date and buy ALL the apples, than dh peels them while reading the news on line (we don't have a tv) and I steam them and freeze whatever we don't use right away. so I get 4 organic apples for around 1.25 not bad. So based on those lists I think I'll stick to organic apples, pears lettuce, carrots and spinach (I can get the apples and lettuce cheap at Fresh and Easy and the carrots and spinach cheap at costco) and than do regular on the blueberries, bananas and tomotoes and we're pretty much set. I also get organic corn, string beans and sweet peas at costco cause they're so cheap although I see that those are not "necessary" on the organic list. But they're so much YUMMIER organic! I'm trying to figure out how apples are on the worst list but apple sauce is on the not so bad list...maybe just cause they peel it??? thx for all your help ladies!

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Re: Organic vs. Standard produce
« Reply #59 on: July 25, 2008, 04:28:57 PM » by ArmyWife

The Environmental Working Group's simulation of consumers eating high and low pesticide diets showed that it is possible to decrease exposure to pesticides by 90% by avoiding those foods that are the most highly contaminated and selecting those that are the least contaminated.

The Dirty Dozen - 12 Most Contaminated Fruits and Vegetables:

For the full list of 43 fruits and veggies, go to http://www.foodnews.org

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