Lets go to Whole Foods January 10, 2012

It was our first day we vowed to eat healthier – first step was the grocery store. Since we had Will, Adam and I usually take shifts going grocery shopping, but this time Adam wanted all of us to go (even though little 4 month old Will wouldn’t be much help picking out groceries). I was shocked and he said,”Let’s go to Whole Foods”.

Healthy Pollock Salmon topped with cream of mushroom soup with a side of spinach marinated in olive oil and minced garlic

I always thought Whole Foods was a little pricy, I went there once before but that was years ago. I’ve always wanted to give it another shot because I heard that’s the place to go if you want to shop organic. As soon as we got there, I began comparing prices to the local grocery store we go to, Bakers (owned my the Kroger Company). Whole Foods’ produce was about the same price if not pricier, but their selection was more enticing. The price of their organic tomatoes matched the price of regular tomatoes at our local store – $2.99 per pound. I’ll take it! We found some reasonable items – I couldn’t have been happier when I saw the Luna bars for 0.89 each!  Once we reached the bread and pasta isles, that was a different story. I couldn’t find bread for under $3 and the pasta was outrageous too! It was all organic or wheat and gluten-free, so that is why it was a little up there. We held off on buying these items and waited until we could hit up or local grocery store. Besides that, I was impressed with their produce, fish, and vegetarian items.

Whole Foods is a great store if you are vegan or vegetarian, or just want to be the all-organic queen. If you are just wanting to go grocery shopping, I suggest buying select items from Whole Foods (like their organic veggies and fruits), and stick to your local store for the rest. Buying local foods while they are in season can save a ton of money also.  It’s easy to over-spend at Whole Foods because it is so appealing to the eye – as soon as I walked in the store, I wanted to dance around and spend some bucks! It’s colorful, they play great music, and hell, there’s even a wine bar where you can have a few drinks to just get happier and spend some more money! Just be selective and really think about what you’re buying (if you’re the happy drunk who likes to buy random people shots at the bar, I would suggest laying off the beer and wine while shopping :b). Overall, I was happy with our grocery bill – we managed to spend about $158 on everything which isn’t bad.

By the time we were done shopping and put our little one to bed, it was past 9pm and our bellies were begging for dinner.  We didn’t care how late it was, we were going to whip up something good and healthy for sure! Adam grabbed the Salmon, garlic and spinach we bought at Whole Foods and made this awesome meal! He seasoned the Salmon with canola oil and some spices he grabbed out of the cupboard, then cooked the spinach with oil and garlic in a frying pan. So delicious! Dinner was served at 10pm – this was our day 1 of eating healthy!

Organic Foods in Your Grocery Bag February 9, 2010

Google Images

Organic foods have spread a positive wave across America. People buy organic foods for environmental, personal, and health reasons. It’s a great movement for humans, plants and animals as a whole; organic foods typically are grown without the use of bad pesticides, and the farm-grazing chickens and cows  are free from injected hormones, steroids, and antibiotics…or are they?

Organic foods are classified to be free from bad pesticides, preservatives, and the meat products are not given hormones, steroids, or antibiotics. They also need to be grown a certain way. However, it’s important to know how organically grown your food is. Many organic foods are not 100% organic. Under USDA standards,  certain pesticides and pest-control  biochemicals are ok to use; the “EPA concluded no risks to humans are expected from the use of SOE as a pesticide active ingredient,”(ams.usda.gov). So there are standards where farmers can still label their products as USDA organic when they are only 70-95% organic. If you check out usda.gov, you can read more on organic food regulations.  If the USDA regulates this, it must be safe, right? Not necessarily. There are some holes in the USDA organic food standards where farmers can manuver around the rules.  Having knowledge of the organic farm your food comes from is important. Some studies have shown that , “Pesticides that are applied to conventionally grown crops have been linked to disorders in the central nervous system and other illnesses, as well as serious environmental problems like contaminated groundwater and reproductive failure, mutations and even extinction of birds and other animals.  Scientists worry that hormones which have been fed to beef and dairy cattle can ultimately affect child development,” (Diane MacEachern-“Big Green Purse”). It has been known that some organic farmers classify themselves as organic farmers, but they are not.

After I did a little research,  I found that organic product labels in some grocery stores can be misleading.  It’s easy to reach for food labels that explain perfectly where your eggs and milk come from.  In the book Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, he bought organic, unpasteurized milk from Whole Foods Market. The label on the milk  read that the cows “live free from unnecessary fear and distress”. Pollan traveled to the farm his milk came from and found out the milk wasn’t from a farm, it was from a factory farm. He saw ”distressed”  cows living in conditions that were not free, while machines pumped milk out of them. This caught my attention. Many people don’t think twice when reading a label like that. Why would they? You want to trust the food manufacturer right? How can they be allowed to put false information on the labels?   Some of the fancy organic labels are just used as marketing tools. Technically the label is correct, the milk is from a farm, but the label fails to specify what kind  of farm. Sure your eggs came from a chicken raised on a farm, but where is this farm anyway? How were the chickens really treated? When I think of a farm, I think of the sun-shining among large, grass-grazing hills for animals to roam on. The labels are misleading.   Like Pollan said, the food he thought he was buying straight from the farm wasn’t even from a farm at all. Be familiar with your local organic farmers. Check with your local grocery stores where you shop.