Eating Organic - What"s in Your Food?
The way you view food comes at least, in part, from where you came from.
I was raised on my grandfather's farm where there was plenty of farm raised beef, chicken, fresh eggs, deer & elk meat, and fresh churned butter.
Summer was the time for harvesting fresh vegetables.
I can remember picking fresh grown asparagus, mushrooms, currents, gooseberries and strawberries.
We didn't use chemicals in our gardens, but we did use compost, egg shells, and coffee grounds.
As I grew into an adult, it dawned on me that my grocery store foods didn't have that same 'farm raised' taste that I remembered.
This was due in large part to conventional farming methods and the incorporation of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.
I didn't realize the differences until I started to purchase organic fruits and vegetables.
What a difference! The organic foods I was now purchasing had better taste and lasted longer, but they also had characteristics that I remembered as a child.
Milk had an expiration date three times longer than non-organic milk, potatoes had thicker skins, eggs had harder, firmer shells.
Fruits didn't spoil as quickly.
Now days shoppers have plenty of choices in foods - we are able to purchase berries, asparagus and other off-season fruits and vegetables year round.
Have you ever taken a look at where they come from? Many fruits and vegetables are imported from Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, and other countries.
How safe are they? Just because they look appetizing doesn't mean they're pesticide free.
Many countries do not have tight restrictions on pesticide, herbicide and fertilizer use.
Given the choice, would we rather put food into their bodies that contain chemicals instead of consuming organically grown foods? Popularity and demand for safe foods have actually driven down the cost of organic certified foods.
When I was raising my children, I could not have afforded to 'buy organic', and although organic meats still tend to be a bit expensive, most products are comparable in price to conventional foods.
More and more chain stores have their own brands of organic certified foods - from Costco to Safeway.
That's good news for organic shoppers! We are finally being listened to, and if these stores track our shopping preferences (which they do by means of 'shopper discount' cards), they are realizing that the public is not only looking for safer foods, we are demanding it! If we trust our governmental agencies to protect us from contaminants in our foods, we are foolish.
Count the number of food recalls in the past years, and you'll realize that chemical companies and government agencies are often the best of friends.
Remember the Jack In The Box E-coli outbreak? What about the findings of salmonella, e-coli and other pathogens found in spinach, onions, tomatoes and other foods? Most recently is the beef recall originating from a California meat packing company.
This was beef provided to our schools, to our children.
Who was ensuring this meat was safe to eat? They found 'downer cows' that were slaughtered and went into our food supply, but they found this information 2 years after this beef was sold and consumed.
My neighbor teases me about eating organic foods.
When we enter into conversation about eating 'organic', he'll say with a wink, 'they're wormy'! Is that what the general public thinks about organic? I have to laugh at the notion.
Organic gardeners and growers know that everything starts with the soil, and everything in the soil goes into the plants that we consume.
What's in your soil? What's in your food?
I was raised on my grandfather's farm where there was plenty of farm raised beef, chicken, fresh eggs, deer & elk meat, and fresh churned butter.
Summer was the time for harvesting fresh vegetables.
I can remember picking fresh grown asparagus, mushrooms, currents, gooseberries and strawberries.
We didn't use chemicals in our gardens, but we did use compost, egg shells, and coffee grounds.
As I grew into an adult, it dawned on me that my grocery store foods didn't have that same 'farm raised' taste that I remembered.
This was due in large part to conventional farming methods and the incorporation of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.
I didn't realize the differences until I started to purchase organic fruits and vegetables.
What a difference! The organic foods I was now purchasing had better taste and lasted longer, but they also had characteristics that I remembered as a child.
Milk had an expiration date three times longer than non-organic milk, potatoes had thicker skins, eggs had harder, firmer shells.
Fruits didn't spoil as quickly.
Now days shoppers have plenty of choices in foods - we are able to purchase berries, asparagus and other off-season fruits and vegetables year round.
Have you ever taken a look at where they come from? Many fruits and vegetables are imported from Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, and other countries.
How safe are they? Just because they look appetizing doesn't mean they're pesticide free.
Many countries do not have tight restrictions on pesticide, herbicide and fertilizer use.
Given the choice, would we rather put food into their bodies that contain chemicals instead of consuming organically grown foods? Popularity and demand for safe foods have actually driven down the cost of organic certified foods.
When I was raising my children, I could not have afforded to 'buy organic', and although organic meats still tend to be a bit expensive, most products are comparable in price to conventional foods.
More and more chain stores have their own brands of organic certified foods - from Costco to Safeway.
That's good news for organic shoppers! We are finally being listened to, and if these stores track our shopping preferences (which they do by means of 'shopper discount' cards), they are realizing that the public is not only looking for safer foods, we are demanding it! If we trust our governmental agencies to protect us from contaminants in our foods, we are foolish.
Count the number of food recalls in the past years, and you'll realize that chemical companies and government agencies are often the best of friends.
Remember the Jack In The Box E-coli outbreak? What about the findings of salmonella, e-coli and other pathogens found in spinach, onions, tomatoes and other foods? Most recently is the beef recall originating from a California meat packing company.
This was beef provided to our schools, to our children.
Who was ensuring this meat was safe to eat? They found 'downer cows' that were slaughtered and went into our food supply, but they found this information 2 years after this beef was sold and consumed.
My neighbor teases me about eating organic foods.
When we enter into conversation about eating 'organic', he'll say with a wink, 'they're wormy'! Is that what the general public thinks about organic? I have to laugh at the notion.
Organic gardeners and growers know that everything starts with the soil, and everything in the soil goes into the plants that we consume.
What's in your soil? What's in your food?
