March 25th, 2005 - Food thoughts
Over the last few days, I’ve run into descriptions of the food industry that have really turned my stomach. I’m reading a book, In Praise of Slowness, and we watched the documentary SuperSize Me. Somehow, my husband was able to actually buy Mcdonald’s food and watch the movie while eating. The next day, we ate out at Culver’s then I watched the end of it (he had finished it after I went to bed). I felt sick to my stomach.
And Culver’s, I think, isn’t as bad as the national chains. It’s locally founded and I actually know the founder (he’s an alum of the university for which I work). Their food doesn’t appear to be as fat-filled as McDonald’s and BK, but I’m not actually certain. Their burger’s certainly look better and fresher! I rarely have a burger, anyway.
Anyway, the combination of these two influences has convinced me to try organic meat, and maybe other products as well. I don’t really like meat much and wouldn’t eat it at all if I had to cook it. But my husband is willing to cook it–he’d be a carnivore I think if we let him. But I shy away from buying meat because of the high prices. Now that I know a bit more about where it comes from as well…I think I’ll have an even harder time buying it at Pick ‘n’ Save or Festival.
BUT, I’ve long had an interest in a local farm, Cattleana Ranch, that sells grass fed Galloway beef (they also carry pork, eggs, and chicken). It’s far more expensive than the grocery store, so we’ve never tried it. But this Saturday, we’re going up to the natural food store in Neenah, which carries their products. You can also go to the Ranch, but it’s only open one Saturday a month. I like local, small farms, so I think I can feel good about this meat. It should also taste better!
I noticed organic/cageless eggs the other day at the store; we commented on them, but they cost 3x as much. And we usually go thru 12-24 eggs in a week. I think today’s purchase of 24 (buy 1/get 1 free) may be the last regular eggs, too.
Cost is a huge factor to me, but so is environmental impact. Now I have to figure out their relative worth. At the moment, I’m leaning towards spending more on groceries to have better food.
March 25th, 2005 at 7:42 pm EST
I NEVER turn my heat above 64%. At night it goes off and only goes on in the am unless it is too cold or if I am going to take a shower. Even so, the gas bill is very high. Nonetheless, when I go into many homes I am way too warm; I suspect that the cooler temps are more healthful, although I can’t prove it.
March 31st, 2005 at 4:56 pm EST
We tried organic beef and didn’t like it. However, organic turkey tastes really good! We’re probably a little too used to grain fed beef and the grass fed had a noticeably different flavor.
April 1st, 2005 at 11:10 am EST
One more comment on the organics. I tried organic milk, which was heavenly — I think it was made by Organic Valley (www.organicvalley.com), and it was apparently “ultra-pasteurized”, which was supposed to make the milk stay fresh longer. It tased great…
But, a 1/2 gallon was $4. Ouch! We only bought it a few times and realized it was just much too much, especially as we started to drink more milk and less soda.
Same deal with the eggs, I did buy organic cage free for a short while, but then went back to regular eggs b/c of price. If prices come down to more reasonable levels, I’d certainly go back to the organics.