AZURE WISH
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 804
posted
These questions are to help me figure out where to get organic foods (which is necessary for my health due to mcs ) as well as help a friend who is interested in starting a small organic farm. Thank You
For those who buy organic –
1. What is the produce (fruit,vegatables, herbs) you prefer to buy fresh?
2. Do you buy this often?
3. Where do you buy it?
4. What is the fruit, vegetable, whole herb (plant product) fresh or processed that you have the most difficult time finding?
5. When you can find it where do you purchase it from?
6. Does anyone know any organizations, websites, etc that provide info, resources, or other help for Small organic farmers?
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- For a start, Google:
your location, "CSA farmers" organic
your location, "Farmers Markets" organic
When you find some of the key organizations, contact the folks who run them.
For grocery stores near you, try for locally owned where possible before any kind of chain like Whole Foods. For a start, Google:
your location or ZIP code, "organic food" markets "locally owned"
then you can drop off or add terms to refine your search. Right now, though your farmer market websites should list the vendors and which ones are organic.
Sometimes, those very vendors have the CSA option of buying a box a week from them to pick up throughout the year at key drop locations. -
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
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- As for which ones, nearly everything other than nuts I want to be organic. Yes, it may cost more (but often not). Still, I'm not ingesting the harsh chemicals that are not good for me. I may have to eat less and get very creative but it is so very important to me.
Anyone with a compromised liver (and that includes anyone and everyone with lyme) should not be ingesting chemicals in their foods.
You cannot wash off most of these chemicals as they are in the very fiber of the food, even in bananas, inside. Bananas and potatoes, and grapes are some of the most chemically laden of all typical crops.
"Certified" organic matters. And there are also some farms that are "transitional" in that their soil has not yet had the time or work to be certified organic but they are somewhere close with the soil and, in their practices, nearly identical. -
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
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- Back to nuts. While organic nuts are most often just exorbitant, and not quite the same as produce that really drinks in the chemicals and water, it's still vital to search their "upbringing" and treatment all along the shipping route.
Peanuts, though, do sit in the ground and soak up like produce, so peanuts should always be organic. Yet, peanuts are often a problem for those with mold issues. There is one variety that is better in this regard, though. Starts with a "V"
Nuts should be fresh, from as close to home as possible. If shipped internationally (or even domestically), they may be sprayed so we need to know our supplier. -
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
You might also go right to Trader Joe's official website and enter your zip code.
As for Trader Joe's they have a lot of organic foods. However, if you buy produce, don't stock up on it, it tends to spoil faster that the organic produce I get from a local organically minded store where most of what I buy is locally or regionally sourced.
I try to buy foods from no farther than one state away from me to cut down on greenhouse gases of transport.
FROZEN PRODUCE, here, though are a bargain. Many organic vegetables and fruits (although some are from other continents and that adds to global pollution with transport).
Try to find packages that are not a block or chunks of ice, though, where the contents are loose so you know they've not partially thawed and then froze again.
They have WILD Caught salmon, too. -
[ 07-12-2015, 03:25 PM: Message edited by: Keebler ]
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- Your friend might want to explore the method (and maybe even contact the farmer &/or NYT's Mark Bittman) featured at 2:30 into this video. VERY nice idea.
By University of California - A New York Times Video - July 9, 2015
at 2:30, see a very special farm - half the plants are grown as food for the edible plants -
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Judie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 38323
posted
Here's the dirty dozen and clean 15 for fruits and vegetables (foods with pesticides):
posted
Yes as much as I wish I could buy everything organic, I simply cannot due to medical expenses. I buy meats and the dirty dozen organic. Where I live the farmer's market is unfortunately very expensive otherwise that is a good option if you have the energy to get out.
If you can afford to buy things organic, that's great! Check out local farmers like Keebler said Sometimes they even have programs where they deliver produce to your door which is super awesome if you are particularly low in energy.
Good luck!
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- The bulk aisle in some stores will have organic foods in the mix, too. But those are best reserved for things like dry beans that will be rinsed well before soaking and cooking. Rinse well BEFORE soaking, though. Do not use the rinse water to soak the beans overnight.
Because wheat flour is often just flying around in the stock room where they fill the bins, most other bin / bulk foods can be very risky for those with celiac and those who need to avoid gluten.
Best to avoid cans due to the lining of petro chemicals (even if BPA free). Glass is good. Dried, too.
lower costs on some staple foods (beans, quinoa, wild rice, stevia, sea salt, spices, garden herbs, etc.) can be found at
I figured out that a nice serving of organic black beans and organic black rice costs me about 50 cents (plus whatever oil I add and maybe any chicken broth that I may have made to make it more flavorful).
Kidney beans, red rice, etc. so many variations of this are most of my meals with carrots, kale, etc.
My rice / veggie steamer is put to work out on my deck in this summer heat, and I cook beans only at night after the sun goes down. Generally, then for days can eat cold meals with greens as a salad. If freezing, store cooked beans away from cooked dark rice in separate glass jars. And cool in fridge before placing in freezer.
Onions, garlic are vital to get organic and just make them stretch. They can be sautéed, then cooled and frozen in little clumps or ice cube trays.
Carrots bought in a five pound bag are less expensive and will last about a month if kept in a nice burp-able bin.
Org. chard or kale at the market is usually about $2.50 for a bunch (2-4 servings). -
[ 07-12-2015, 08:18 PM: Message edited by: Keebler ]
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- For those of a "certain age" or students / veterans, many grocers have one day a week where they offer a flat discount on total purchase (often Wed.) and other days where things may be discounted (often weekends).
Be sure to look at the store's flyer and subscribe to their newsletters, too, for other specials that do often include real foods like produce, proteins and oils. -
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
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- Just ran across this in today's news at BBC:
If easing up on avoiding gluten or risking buying from bulk food bins, a good photo to see first, scroll about 2/3 of the way down
Healthy villi (left) and stunted ones in a coeliac sufferer
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Sometimes they even have programs where they deliver produce to your door which is super awesome if you are particularly low in energy.
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