Organic food...

[Tacori E-ring]

I am curious what you buy organic and why? As of right now I only buy organic whole milk and yogurt for DD but wonder if I should start buying more.

 

[neatfreak]

I buy organic milk and try to buy organic produce *if* it is produce where I will eat the skins and is hard to wash, i.e., grapes. In the summer I buy a lot more organic items because of the farmer''s markets too. I also try and buy free range eggs and meat products (when I buy meat).

Otherwise I think organic is just not worth the price for me right now. If I had endless money it would be a different story.

 

[JulieN]

I have lots of choices for milk: organic small farm (somewhat local,) organic national giant, local regular, organic national brand generic, and regular national generic.

Small farms over national giants always win for me, due to taste. Organic vs conventional is not as important (you don't need to have organic cows/milk to have good tasting milk.)

Other than milk, I buy organic produce mostly because of availability. I have great farmers' markets available, just about every 1.5-2 miles there's one, and 4 Whole Foods that are in my usual stomping grounds. Lots of things I want that won't be in supermarkets will be organic by default, like cavolo nero, heirloom tomatoes, micro carrots, etc.

For me, taste is paramount. If the one that tastes better is the organic, I'll buy that one. Otherwise, I won't.

 

[puffy]

i get DS organic milk, yogurt, pasta, rice, and cheese for sure. other things don''t have to be, but sometimes they are.
veggies and fruits sometimes are but they don''t have to be. and i don''t mind paying a bit more for it cause honestly, it''s not that much more.

 

[WishfulThinking]

I wish I could buy more organic food. When I was a little kid and my parents were doing better financially we ate a lot of organic food. Since then money has been tight, and now that I'm a college student I don't have much extra money to spare. I always get free-range eggs because I swear I can taste the difference. I also buy food at local markets whenever I can. Even if I can't buy organic I try to buy local stuff for environmental reasons and to support smaller farmers who are having a hard time because of economic downturns.

I have also been reading about the difficulties that very small farms face in selling certified organic products, and take that into account when I buy. There is a coalition of farmers around here who grow organically but do not have the funds to get certified and recertified to sell officially "organic" food according to FDA regulations, even though the stuff they sell is organically grown. I have no problem buying from them, but I guess it does take a leap of faith to take them at their word. It helps that I know some of them and they're honest people.

ETA: I also think buying certain types of organic food has different benefits for different reasons. For example, I have particular hangups about hormones in my food, so try to avoid non-organic meat [for me that means eating almost no meat] and milk. Genetically modified food also creeps me out big time because of the lack of research about it.

 

[Pandora II]

I don''t worry too much about organic or non-organic, but I always buy free-range eggs, poultry and tend to buy meat from small farms where they are raised ethically. I don''t buy anything that is GM.

Otherwise taste is everything for me.

I did notice a big difference when I moved back to the UK from Italy - 80% of Italian produce is organic and it did taste a lot better than the majority of supermarket stuff.

 

[movie zombie]

as much as i can and almost anything that is available. eggs, milk, eggnog, yogurt, veggies, fruits, herbs, etc. i even buy our meat directly from a free range ranch that i''ve visited and feeds the organic culls from the farmers market to their chickens and hogs.

movie zombie

 

[musey]

I always, as a rule, buy organic milk because it tastes better, the expiration date is always further away, and I do not like what I read about hormones in milk and their affect on women.

I'll buy other organic things, not for any intelligent reason, but that's the only one I have a rule about.

I also buy organic eggs and chicken, because the other things I like in my eggs (free range, brown) and chicken (free range again) usually have organic on the label too

 

[canuk-gal]

Date: 1/12/2009 7:41:35 PM
Author: movie zombie
as much as i can and almost anything that is available. eggs, milk, eggnog, yogurt, veggies, fruits, herbs, etc. i even buy our meat directly from a free range ranch that i''ve visited and feeds the organic culls from the farmers market to their chickens and hogs.

movie zombie

HI:

Ditto to products. Ducks too--oh so lean. Many farmers markets locally that are certified organic...I have even bought maple syrup....I try as far as possible as I like to support local markets.

cheers--Sharon

 

[PrincessDijon]

Date: 1/12/2009 9:06:16 PM
Author: musey
I always, as a rule, buy organic milk because it tastes better, the expiration date is always further away, and I do not like what I read about hormones in milk and their affect on women.


I''ll buy other organic things, not for any intelligent reason, but that''s the only one I have a rule about.


I also buy organic eggs and chicken, because the other things I like in my eggs (free range, brown) and chicken (free range again) usually have organic on the label too

Ditto on the milk...I so thought it was me when I noticed that they had longer time til expiration... Plus it does have a cleaner taste.

When I do have the money, I hit up whole foods ( I got a gift card for the holidays)....The organic fruits are so much more colorful and vibrant!!!

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 1/12/2009 9:06:16 PM
Author: musey
I always, as a rule, buy organic milk because it tastes better, the expiration date is always further away, and I do not like what I read about hormones in milk and their affect on women.

Ditto the milk always and sometimes the veggies.

 

[qtiekiki]

Date: 1/12/2009 9:06:16 PM
Author: musey
I always, as a rule, buy organic milk because it tastes better, the expiration date is always further away, and I do not like what I read about hormones in milk and their affect on women.


I''ll buy other organic things, not for any intelligent reason, but that''s the only one I have a rule about.


I also buy organic eggs and chicken, because the other things I like in my eggs (free range, brown) and chicken (free range again) usually have organic on the label too

Tritto on the milk. The taste difference is especially noticeable in fat-free milk.

I am not big on organic foods; taste is more important. But I think I''ll buy more organic for Meena.

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 1/12/2009 9:50:04 PM
Author: Skippy123

Date: 1/12/2009 9:06:16 PM
Author: musey
I always, as a rule, buy organic milk because it tastes better, the expiration date is always further away, and I do not like what I read about hormones in milk and their affect on women.

Ditto the milk always and sometimes the veggies.

Me too. The milk does taste better. And try to buy organic fruits, and some veggies. It depends.... I love free range chicken.

 

[movie zombie]

Date: 1/12/2009 9:28:34 PM
Author: canuk-gal

Date: 1/12/2009 7:41:35 PM
Author: movie zombie
as much as i can and almost anything that is available. eggs, milk, eggnog, yogurt, veggies, fruits, herbs, etc. i even buy our meat directly from a free range ranch that i''ve visited and feeds the organic culls from the farmers market to their chickens and hogs.

movie zombie

HI:

Ditto to products. Ducks too--oh so lean. Many farmers markets locally that are certified organic...I have even bought maple syrup....I try as far as possible as I like to support local markets.

cheers--Sharon

high carat gold AND organic foods! i wonder what else we''d have in common........

i buy lamb straight from a different ranch which i''ve also visited. my organic maple syrup came from trader joe''s. however, the honey comes from the farmers'' market. its nice to be able to cook with the seasons and even better yet that our $ stays local.

movie zombie

ps i detest foods that are laced with additives, preservatives, coloring agents, you name it.

 

[Jas12]

I buy whatever i can organic--from fruits and veg to crackers and eggs. We don''t eat dairy, but if i use it for something (like a recipe) i will get organic.
As for why, i just don''t want the nasty stuff added to food going into my body. Organic farming is far from controversy free, but i still feel better eating it over ''regular'' foods.

 

[Eva17]

anything and everything that is available. it is more mainstream now and not that much more $ by me.

my oldest is 21 and have been buying organic since he was born. anything that the kids consume a lot of is always organic. so sometimes we have to stick with what is in season.

 

[Harriet]

Including the cuppies?

 

[Eva17]

they would have organic eggs, sugar, flour butter or oil if required.

the peach muffins were organic

 

[pennquaker09]

Practically everything. I get most of our groceries from Whole Foods. Our milk and cheese are always organic.

 

[mia1181]

DH and I try to eat as much organic as we can, but it can get expensive so we're not eating as much as we'd like to. I LOVE my organic skim milk though, yum! It's thicker, tastes better and lasts longer.

For my charges, diary is most important, then fruit and vegetables. But some other foods I try to get organic are any kinds of snacks or things like Mac & Cheese. I like Annie's (I think that's the name) mac &cheese and they make other snacky type foods.

To answer your question of why... I don't like to eat (or feed the kids) extra stuff like food dyes or artificial preservatives. I figure, if you can get it without the added stuff, then why would you choose to eat the chemicals? I know there are a lot of people that think food dyes cause cancer, or allergic reactions and while I don't know if that is true, it's not worth the risk just to make my food look better. I don't care what it looks like as long as it tastes good! So yeah "my" girls eat Horizon organic yogurt tubes, they aren't as pretty as "gogurt" but they taste the same!

 

[Bia]

We always buy organic milk (but neither of us drinks a lot of milk), yogurt, ice cream...really anything dairy. Meat, poultry, fish and eggs, as a rule, are also hormone-free, cage-free, wild and organic.

We love the summer because NY has great farmer's markets--produce is cheap and just outstanding!

Other than that, we don't worry too much. We love Whole Foods but honestly, its just too expensive. I can't leave that place without spending $300...and thats just for a weeks worth of food (for two people? come on...). Now we shop at Trader Joe's, which for the most part, has everything we need. When the produce is sucky (although it is getting better), we go to Stop & Shop or A&P.

I forgot to mention that we don't buy anything with artificial perservatives. Especially if it has food coloring (artificial dyes) or what have you. The reason? I guess, for us, it makes sense to eat as holistically as possible and only consume products that do not have artificial chemicals in them.

 

[elrohwen]

I don''t really focus on buying organic products, but I do focus on buying locally grown products. I also look for free range meat and egg products.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Date: 1/12/2009 5:42:54 PM
Author: neatfreak
I buy organic milk and try to buy organic produce *if* it is produce where I will eat the skins and is hard to wash, i.e., grapes. In the summer I buy a lot more organic items because of the farmer''s markets too. I also try and buy free range eggs and meat products (when I buy meat).


Otherwise I think organic is just not worth the price for me right now. If I had endless money it would be a different story.

I have heard the same thing about produce. If there is no peel that organic is better. I am the same position where I can''t buy EVERYTHING organic so I have to make choices. Seems like people focus on dairy, eggs and meat.

 

[cara]

I regularly buy organic milk, but am somewhat random in choosing when to buy organic produce vs. regular. Some combination of availability and price differential go into it, I'm sure. But for those that want to make more informed choices:

Here is a nytimes posting on 5 recommended organic food choices. In particular, potatoes make the list as they contain pesticides even after peeling.

And here is a more extensive guide on the pesticide load in non-organic items after normal preparation (washing, peeling, etc.) Guess I don't need to splurge on organic onions!

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

I don''t care about the food I buy being certified as organic, but I do buy from small local producers as far as possible, because (where I live) they tend to use traditional farming methods, such as fewer or no chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Most of the local firms are too small to be able to afford Soil Association Organic Certification (needed before you can sell ''organic'' produce in the uk) as it is expensive and very demanding. I''d rather buy a potato from the farm next door to me (even though it can''t be labelled as organic) than an imported organic certified potato from a supermarket, stored for goodness knows how long, tasting of nothing much.

I don''t shop in supermarkets, their food just isn''t good enough. I love farmers'' markets and home produce. We keep hens and grow a lot of fruit and veg. I try to use heritage seeds, to keep old varieties of produce alive. I also try to make as much food as possible from scratch, avoid anything that comes from a factory. Well, that''s the theory anyway, in reality we phone out for pizza from time to time lol.

Jen

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Cara, THAT really helps! Thank you!

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 1/13/2009 12:33:26 PM
Author: cara
I regularly buy organic milk, but am somewhat random in choosing when to buy organic produce vs. regular. Some combination of availability and price differential go into it, I''m sure. But for those that want to make more informed choices:

Here is a nytimes posting on 5 recommended organic food choices. In particular, potatoes make the list as they contain pesticides even after peeling.

And here is a more extensive guide on the pesticide load in non-organic items after normal preparation (washing, peeling, etc.) Guess I don''t need to splurge on organic onions!

Cara, thank for the info!

Though I was a little concerned about the NY Times article ... mostly because it implies that the only things our kids are eating are potatoes, peanut butter, and ketchup. I mean, I love all three, but even when i was a kid I don''t think I got a significant portion of my veggies from either potatoes or ketchup. It''s just a little sad that kids are eating so much packaged food. But that''s another topic for another day!

The chart in the second link is fantastic though! I will absolutely go over it with my top veggie/fruit purchases in mind.

 

[cara]

Yeah, the nytimes article was def. making some assumptions about what parents are feeding their kids when making their bang-for-buck list. But... I love potatoes and ketchup, and peanut butter so I can't exactly complain!

Random side note, I was in Argentina recently, exhaustively and fruitlessly searching for peanut butter to make PB&J sanwiches for hiking lunches, but apparently it is an American item. Or at least not an Argentine item. My hubby was just as happy with dulche le leche, but I am not that big a sweet tooth sadly.

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 1/13/2009 3:04:01 PM
Author: cara
Random side note, I was in Argentina recently, exhaustively and fruitlessly searching for peanut butter to make PB&J sanwiches for hiking lunches, but apparently it is an American item. Or at least not an Argentine item. My hubby was just as happy with dulche le leche, but I am not that big a sweet tooth sadly.

Yeah, it''s hard to find in a lot of places. When I was living in Italy I used to have my mother send me jars in the mail!

 

[purselover]

Date: 1/13/2009 1:41:02 AM
Author: pennquaker09
Practically everything. I get most of our groceries from Whole Foods. Our milk and cheese are always organic.

I almost exclusively shop at Whole Foods too so it''s easy to pick out organic foods, it just makes sense to choose organic over non when it''s right there