How much organic food do you eat?

[MoonShadows]

Other than what you grow in your garden, and I do hope you are growing organically, how much organic food do you eat?

We are growing a 100% organic, heirloom, non GMO garden and even changed our chickens over to organic feed and free ranging. I can't remember the last time we used anything unnatural on our property to combat pests, weeds, etc.

We try to buy organic food whenever we can, depending on availability. We do it not only for health reasons, but for taste reasons as well. There is no doubt that organic food tastes much better than food that is grown with chemicals, whether it be meat, grains, fruits or vegetables.

It really bothers me when I see all the processed, chemically treated and GMO food in the stores, and people are buying tons of it, not to mention a culture addicted to fast and processed foods. We are killing ourselves.

 

[hoodat]

A lot of food is actually grown organically without being labeled as such because of all the hoops you have to jump through to get certified. I try to buy my fresh vegetables organic to avoid poison sprayed by the farms. Other than that I settle for the non GMO label. Most non GMO food actually is organic.

 

[Nyboy]

I read somewhere organic is most important in root crops like beets and carrots. Something about the root storing toxins.

 

[baymule]

Sadly, not a lot, lately. Just moved, new garden. But there is a good farmers market locally. I go to the only certified Guernsey raw milk dairy in Texas for milk, cheese and yogurt. It is beyond good! Can also buy grass fed beef locally.

Already growing on our place is sassafras (for tea) hickory nuts, wild persimmons and my beloved dandelions. I scattered two zip lock quart bags of dandelion seed last fall, so if they were already here, now there's more.

I have plans on a fruit orchard of various kinds, berries, and grapes that I will plant this fall. It will take awhile but at least in the meantime I can buy good food locally.

 

[Carol Dee]

As much as possible. Son has chickens so we get all out eggs from him. We have a VERY large garden. Each summer we put up all the excess produce we can for winter consumption. Like Bay we have a farmer near that sells grass feed beef. Being lactose intolerant I don't worry about the dairy stuff.

 

[Just-Moxie]

Chickens. Eggs. Garden veggies and herbs. I use compost, home made...no pesticides.

 

[Carol Dee]

@MoonShadows That is one COOL Stone garage!

 

[so lucky]

I am finding that Walmart is carrying a lot of organic food now. Walmart wouldn't be my first choice, of course, but since they have run all the Mom & Pop stores into the ground, not a lot of choice here. But I can find organic ketchup, canned veggies, and several fresh produce items. Our only natural food store is way too expensive, but I buy there when I need to.
I haven't had to use much in the line of pesticides in the garden, and I do have organic products to use if needed.
The chickens are not fed organic food, but get kitchen scraps and all the worms and bugs they can find.
Honestly, I would like to say that organic food tastes so much better, but I don't find much difference.
Our collective taste buds are so burnt out, being bombarded by artificial flavors, food manufacturers are now making the flavors "bold" "sizzling" "spicy" etc. Probably why people are so enchanted with super hot peppers now.

 

[baymule]

Forgot, I have chickens and eggs. I buy non GMO feed for them.

 

[Beekissed]

Most of the food we eat is "unofficially" organic, as we raise it ourselves and can it up here. Even the flour used for our bread was stored in the 70s, before there was GMO on the scene, though I don't know nor care if it was grown organically.

I don't get too wrapped up in sorting between organic or inorganically grown as I don't really trust any food grown commercially...even if labeled organic, so just try to eat what we have here and not worry about the food we buy from the store...a person can go crazy trying to read labels and limit themselves to things that are not readily available for purchase. We've always eaten healthy, home grown foods and we never use chemicals in the food animals or on the food we grow or in the soils, so I guess that's as organic as it gets here.

I also don't worry too much about GMO and such in the chicken feed...they forage here for most of their feed and the grains are just a small supplement. They are milled fresh locally and they are affordable...don't care much past that about the source of the grains.

Unless a person takes that all the way across their lives and avoids anything unnatural at all in their medicines, soaps, detergents they launder in, the things they drink and wear, anything they apply topically to their skin and even the water in which they shower...if it's town water, it's got unnatural chemicals in it and your skin is absorbing it. Unless they take it all the way, eating organic foods and making that a sticking point is like gagging on a gnat and swallowing a mule.

We do the best we can to eat healthy foods and don't sweat it if we ingest some that are considered unnatural or inorganic. That's about the best a person can do in this world unless they get truly fanatic about it and that ain't about to happen here.