In the last few months I’ve been spending more time looking at ingredients in foods I buy and more time in the organic produce section. I’ve heard that some foods should be exclusively bought organic, as they are the most commonly contaminated or treated with pesticides. At the business meeting I attend one day last year the chef talked about what foods to buy organically: apples, strawberries, grapes (Chilean), cucumbers, green beans, bell peppers, spinach, cherries (US), spinach, peaches, cantaloupe(Mexico), celery and apricots. I try, but don’t always do as well as I’d like. It’s the effort that counts and the more I try the better I’ll get.
I have also taken a look at what we eat a lot of here. We eat a lot of homemade yogurt, made by yours truly. Butter is a big one as well; I cook with it and use it on bread and boiled or steamed veggies. Proteins like poultry and steak for Rick.
A week ago I decided to buy organic butter. Oh it was so good. It tasted differently, but was still good. Organic Valley
was the brand. I also bought organic half and half and whole milk of that brand to make my yogurt. I just made it so I’m not sure how it will taste. I’ll let you know.
I’ve been fighting with myself about eating meat for some time now. I don’t want to become a complete vegetarian. I don’t have the time or devotion to put into eating healthy as a vegetarian. I’m just trying not to think about what it is that I am eating.
When I went to my favorite grocery store Central Market I took a closer look at my chicken options. I’m not a huge fan of chicken but right now I’d prefer it to steak. I buy a couple of different brands, or did. Foster and this other brand Mary’s something. Taking a closer look I found that it wasMary’s organic free range chickens and I preferred it to Foster. The flavor was so much better.
I’ve been reading up on regulations surrounding animals raised for food. It is appalling to find out that some things have no regulations. But as far as free range organic chicken meat goes, there are regulations that must be followed by the farmers. So I’m sticking with that. I saw an Oprah show
where her “resident” reporter Lisa Ling did a piece on this subject. I didn’t get to see the whole show. I did however see the part showing the chickens that were not free range. It was deplorable. There were up to 6 chickens to a tiny cage in a small building where they were stacked upon themselves and had little if any natural lighting. Seeing that, in good conscious I will no longer be able to eat regular chicken.
I’ve learned a lot and will continue to make food decisions that will be healthier for us and better for the environment. Think about it, organic may be slightly more expensive but it’s so much better for mind and body.
