Archive for Organic Foods
You Can Afford Clean, Healthy Food
Posted by: | CommentsThere has been a lot said about organic foods being too expensive and good, clean foods from local farmers at the farmers market costing too much. Well, it’s not really true for many reasons including our health costs, our subsidized AgBiz, our waste of 40% of all we grow in this country, and the hidden costs to us and our planet from all the chemicals used, transportation costs, etc. Now I may be talking to the choir here so I want to focus on how to do it instead of a discussion on any of the other side issues.
There was a time in my life when there were five children at home and one small income. My intent was to give my children the healthiest foods we could afford because we also had no healthcare. So I began by implementing a buying priority system for the family. Here was the question: What do we need to have to eat in order to be as healthy as possible? Where can I cut things out of the budget to save money? I’ll tackle the first question in this blog. Second question, next blog.
The order of the questions was vital to me, actually. How did I boil it down to the absolute necessities for strong bodies? We need vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes and some dairy (or the equivalent). The best of each of these is whole and does not have an ingredient label, or the list is very short and doesn’t contain items we can’t understand or pronounce. This changes the grocery list, the menus I used, and the amount of money that is spent at the store.
First get it on sale! I looked at all the grocery sales and only picked those things that fit into the whole plain foods category. Most grocery stores have sales on organic foods now, and list them. Organic has become so popular that they are found at the discount grocery stores as well. I went to three grocery stores almost every time I shopped – and still do!
Buy in season! This means we are buying the freshest food for less. Last week, organic strawberries were 2/$5.00. Depending on which store you went to the container was either one pound or 1/2 pound…for the same price. I got enough to make a batch of jam which will last me for the rest of the year after giving half of the batch to my granddaughter since she helped me make it.
Put food by. Organic asparagus for $1.99 a pound? Freeze a pound or two. I’ve gotten local, free-range minimally processed whole chickens for $1.99/lb. And how much do you pay for cut up AgBiz chicken??? I can cut it up for that savings! After any big national holiday there are always sales of the ‘main meat’ – ham, turkey, roast beef, corned beef – get it then and eat a meal then freeze the rest in portions. We also spent years as vegetarians because meat is a big ticket item. It is also not essential to a good diet, which makes it a luxury item.
Make your menu from what is in season and on sale, not the other way around. Since I worked full time, I made an enormous meal on Saturday and another on Sunday. The left-overs from these two meals made new meals all week long. When you cook rice, potatoes, and/or pasta make enough for at least one more meal. Don’t get any prepared side dishes, they are very easy to make yourself.
Have meals be a time when the whole family gets together and participates. Kids learn to cook, Mom gets help, everyone gets to talk about their day or whatever is on their mind, and a loving community around food is born. Go to Slow Food events as a family. The movement that started in Italy has gone international and is a great resource for local good eats and finding a larger family type community around food.
Remove packaged snacks from the shopping list. Have a container of cut up fruits and another of veggies ready to go. Make popcorn. Have dried fruits and nuts on hand. Let the older kids make their own snacks out of peanut butter, coconut, dried fruits, and nuts. Roll them into balls and put them in the freezer.
And the last bit for today – have specific things for the kids (and grown-ups) to eat! Portion control is key to maintaining a good food budget and a slim waist line. Never allow ‘free foraging’ in the pantry or ‘fridge! Let your family know you have this for snacks and that for a meal. If s/he eats the food for a meal, don’t go buy more, make do and let them connect money with food with being responsible!
More on saving money while eating well next time! Chao!
Next Step for Clean Food
Posted by: | CommentsLet’s look at another way to make healthy changes in the way we eat. This time we are going to focus on what is essential in our diet, and which items are just plain dangerous. What things do we need to have as a part of our meals and how does this look when we get to the grocery store?
If we reduce the grocery list to the bare essentials it could look like this: vegetables, fruit, protein, grains, seeds, nuts, and dairy. Paper products, cleaning products, and personal hygiene products are not foods, so they are a separate expense, and just for the moment we will take them off the grocery list.
When we get back to basics, the handiest way to get there is to use a menu. You don’t have to make them up yourself; you can find endless menus on line. The advantage of making them up yourself is taking into consideration your families likes and dislikes, needs and eating patterns. Some people need 6 small meals a day – more like a series of snacks – and another person likes 3 meals a day. You get the idea. Another thought…eat less of everything to reduce your food bill. In America, we are sending 40% of the food we grow to the landfill! So waste not; want not!
Let’s get into why I buy foods that fill a specific criterion. Let’s take one typical breakfast as an example. I am a person who needs protein and good fats in the morning or I am fading away by 10 am. Some days I have an egg (free range, vegetarian feed, no antibiotics), with mushrooms or green onions and cheese (no rBST), a piece of organic whole grain toast and butter with a little local, raw honey. Why the specific types of each ingredient? Read on…
Eggs from factory farms are not good for you. The hens are stressed so their eggs have high LDL cholesterol, and also antibiotics. The free range hens that are fed a diet high in grains, or better yet can forage outside, and don’t need antibiotics because they are not packed together tightly, give us eggs that are much lower in LDL cholesterol and much higher in HDL (or good) cholesterol. Stressed, unhealthy hens = unhealthy eggs. The original research on eggs being high in ‘bad’ cholesterol came from factory farms.
Let’s look at bread now. Bread never used to have ingredients we couldn’t grow and couldn’t pronounce. Most breads had whole ground grains, yeast or starter, water, salt, and maybe an oil. It was that simple. It was made fresh and sold fresh, so no preservatives were needed. We can still get bread like that. However there is one more problem now. If the ingredient list contain any corn products, any soy products, and/or any canola oil, (and is not organic) you are eating a Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) which contains pesticides in every cell. I can find bread that is ‘clean’ and not organic in most supermarkets; however it is just as cost effective to buy organic bread on sale and freeze it. Are you getting the idea? Local raw honey is good for me and helps protect me from local pollen allergies if I have a teaspoon or so a day.
If we simply cut out the foods that, as Michael Pollan says, are “food-like substances”, we will decrease our food bills even if all the other foods we buy are clean and/or organic and more expensive. We will also decrease our medical bills. Here is a list of the “dirty dozen” foods no one should buy unless they are organic because of pesticide residue: Apples, Bell Peppers, Celery, Cherries, Imported Grapes, Nectarines, Peaches, Pears, Potatoes, Raspberries, Spinach, and Strawberries. If it is too expensive, buy on sale or have as a treat. If you want more information on these and other best green practices go to www.GreenAmericaToday.org or other similar websites.
So the key concepts to changing the way we eat might be summed up this way: simplify; buy and eat whole foods; learn how to cook them; read the labels and avoid GMO’s; and beware of all the toxins in prepared foods! (www.care2.com/causes/study-finds-arsenic-in-baby-formula-and-cereal-bars.html)
