Poe4soul Thu Mar 20, 2014 2:49 pm
Kiwigolfer wrote:I try to eat healthy non processed food but I don't eat organic. I'm with FD in that I am skeptical of the foods claiming to be organic. How stringently are they monitored? Do they just need to tick a couple of boxes entitling them to call themselves 'organic' therefore justifying their exorbitant prices? It reminds me of the NZ Heart Foundation tick on many of our foods that are nothing but processed, unhealthy junk (like crackers) but they get the Heart Foundation tick because they are low fat! Ridiculous yet you see uninformed imbeciles buying this stuff thinking it's healthy. Plus there isn't exactly have a wide range or slection of organic produce available. I guess I'll just have to take my chances with the fresh fruit and veges available at my local green grocer. As for meat I am not aware of any corn fed beef in our market. As far as I know all our beef and lamb is grass fed but I could be wrong. I know when I dine out in Aussie if the beef is corn fed it is stated on the menu. In some cases it is considered desirable because it leads to more marbled, fatty steak which is more tender and succulent to eat. Not necessarily healthier though.
I'm probably just spoiled. Portland has many good options for organic food. I'm also not sure about the "organic" cert but I'm certain that eating pesticides and herbicides is not the best thing for you.
The majority of our meat here in the US is corn/soy fed. The cows live all but the first six months of their life in feedyards walking, eating, and shitting in small yards. It's not done because of the marbling, although it is better on that grain/antibiotic diet. It's done because they can get a cow to market 75% faster. Plus corn and soy are highly subsidised. Meat from feedyards in the US market is easily subsidised 50%, or more. This is part of our fat society we've made. Burgers, meat, processed food are all on the dole.
Most countries laws are better than the US at informing their citizens about what is in their food products. In the US, corporations have more power than the citizens. So, origin of the food, rather it's GMO, etc. doesn't have to be disclosed. It wasn't until recently that even if a food is found to be contaminated, the Fed's didn't have the power to issue a mandatory recall. It took peoples, and childrens, deaths to get this law changed.
Do you have Community Supported Agriculture Coalitions, CSA's, in NZ? We have many in the Portland area. You basically are a member of the farm and get a portion of the proceeds. Each month you get a box of vegetables. Not all are certified organic but they all are better than mass production farms. Plus the food is freshly harvested prior to delivery.