Deblyn Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 How easy is it in the US/Canada to get organic fruit, veg, meat, etc? Do any of you buy it in preference to "conventional" items? ------------------ Quote Link to comment
Guest Guest Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 It's in lots of the grocery stores these days. It's much more expensive though, and at least in IA I am often unhappy with the size/quality for the cost so I don't buy organic. I'd like to be able to afford it but I can't justify it with 6 mouths to feed! ------------------ Quote Link to comment
Guest Guest Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 Dittos to Becca-Anne... it's too expensive. That said, I have never had better chicken than the ones we raised ourselves. The "Cornish Cross" grow so quickly that their feathers never *quite* catch up to their skin (they look kind of "sparse"). You can butcher them at 6 weeks and have nice-sized birds with no worries about "caponing" (is that what they call it?) the males. Or you can let them grow and you'll have *bigger* birds! *However*, they grow so quickly that they are prone to feet & leg problems, and that is rather hard to deal with when you feel they're suffering. DH & I won't allow that, but then there goes some $$. And there is a family nearby who does poultry butchering for a reasonable price, so I don't have that extra work all at once. There is also a country butcher shop that sells quarters, halves, and whole beef & pork, and they only use organic animals. When we have the money, that's where I like to get meat. All too often, though, it's off to the supermarket for the "sales". I haven't as much recently, but I used to do a lot of canning so that I knew exactly what was in my kids' food. We have a farmers' auction nearby, so it's easy to get farm-raised fruits & veggies. I think I live in a good area of the country. We have a lot of selection from the farms or from the stores, plus the option of raising our own and letting someone else do the butchering. ------------------ [This message has been edited by Cat (edited January 14, 2003).] Quote Link to comment
Goose Liver Posted January 15, 2003 Share Posted January 15, 2003 Hey lowlie organic produce is available in Canada as well, but it is much more expensive and not very nice looking for the most part. ------------------ Quote Link to comment
Guest Guest Posted January 15, 2003 Share Posted January 15, 2003 I always buy organic when the price is close to the other but that's not very often. I can most of our vegetables, some fruits, juices and jellies and all my gardens are organic so that kind of helps. I hate herbicides and pesticides of any kind but now with the West Nile Virus I don't know if it's better to spray or chance getting the virus. Of course, living in this huge farmland area all the farmers spray for everything in their fields so I suppose it really doesn't matter. ------------------ Quote Link to comment
Guest Guest Posted January 15, 2003 Share Posted January 15, 2003 I also don't buy organic for the same reason as everyone else...I have a friend that does, though, and I must say, it has caused things to be tense sometimes...we are great friends, but she will eat nothing that has pork, food coloring, artificial anything, or isn't organic. Needless to say I haven't had her over to eat in a while! She even carries her own water around everywhere. The problem is that I feel guilty when I'm around her...but we really can't afford it! So we normally end up at her house...oh well. How 'bout you, Lowlie, what do you buy? ------------------ Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, and His love endures forever! Quote Link to comment
Deblyn Posted January 16, 2003 Author Share Posted January 16, 2003 I believe that organic food should be made available at reasonable price to everyone. Farming policies must change, and countries become more self-sufficient and follow sustainable agricultural practices in the long run for the sake of the future of verything on the planet. We are fortunate in that most of the big supermarkets supply an excellent range of organic stuff - fruit, veg, juice, bread, butter, crisps (chips), baked goods, meat, eggs, just about everything you could want. We are blessed with many small retailers, including farms hops and pick your own places where organics are available. What fruit and veg I don't grow (I've been gardening organically for 16 years now) I try to get from my friend's farm shop, where we are also able to buy local organic milk and cream, and bread baked in wood - fired ovens; he also sells local crafts, such as baskets, charcoal, etc. Other stuff I buy in bulk from a wholesale food co-op type thing that I run; it works out a lot cheaper, and is handy if you use a lot of baking ingredients, and you can buy flour in sacks, etc. I am aware of the money issue concerning buying organic. We are lucky enough to be able to afford to do so. I do find, though, that in the supermarkets you can quite often pick it up fairly cheaply when it has been reduced; it is reduced in price because the price to begin with was higher, so less people buy it. I buy organic meat, because we have one carnivore (hubby) and one semi-carnivore (Ethan); Bethany is a vegetarian, and I am somewhere between vegetarian and vegan. I think there should be a lot more work done politically on this issue to change the food we eat. As usual, though, it all boils down to money, greed, and party political donations - same as most things these days. This post makes me sounc quite saintly, but I'm not really; i have my regular lapses like everyone else. Something else I have realised; since I've been on the net and visited sites like this, is how different US/Canada shopping and food etc is to that over here. Never a dull moment! ------------------ Quote Link to comment
Guest Guest Posted January 17, 2003 Share Posted January 17, 2003 Lowlie, what's a vegan? One day I hope to have my own garden, and I will probably have it organic as well. I'd like to do my own canning from my own garden, too. I look forward to it a lot, but feel like it will be a while! ------------------ Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, and His love endures forever! Quote Link to comment
twilap Posted January 19, 2003 Share Posted January 19, 2003 I try and buy organic if it isn't too expensive for the produce. If it is too expensive, I use a fruit/veggie wash to help get the wax, pesticides off. We also purchase Range Free, grass-fed beef from Texas. It's more expensive but we are doing it for health reasons and don't feel we have much a choice. It tastes good and is lean. I love Free-range chicken too! They are bigger and better tasting....just so expensive. Hopefully we will start seeing a change in the trends in the U.S. so that it is readily available and not quite so expensive. Quote Link to comment
Guest Guest Posted January 20, 2003 Share Posted January 20, 2003 Vegetarian - one that eats animal by-products like milk, cheese, eggs, butter, etc. Vegan - does not eat anything but plants ok to kill a plant! plants have feelings too!, why I saw a plant bleed once! (ROFL!!!) Quote Link to comment
Guest Guest Posted January 20, 2003 Share Posted January 20, 2003 Thanks, Westbrook! ------------------ Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, and His love endures forever! Quote Link to comment
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