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Archive for September 12th, 2010

The “Organic” Label Doesn’t Mean Healthy!

The definition of “organic” is vague and otherwise blurred in many areas of the food industry. 

Highly processed organic foods, containing synthetic chemicals and additives, are common and allowed by federal law, even at Whole Foods Supermarkets where they market the natural food and product experience to their customers in proverbial bucket-loads. 

In many cases, we’re simply paying more for the organic label and the “feel good experience” of doing what we think is right for us, our families and the health of our community… when in reality, we’re simply wasting our money on fancy marketing. 

For example, organic milk products are considered “organic” if the dairy producing cattle are fed an organic diet of corn.  The problem is that cattle shouldn’t be eating corn – they should be eating natural grasses.  Corn simply leads to malnutrition, sick animals and more problems for our diet and ecosystem. 

However, organic produce is still a good idea!  The soil is much richer and more nutrient, pesticides and fungicides are normally not permitted by law when cultivating the produce and the organic food grown is of a higher nutritient quality as well.

Organic doesn’t mean healthy… so carefully spend your money on quality products.  Otherwise, we’re going to have a bunch of unhealthy organic proccessed food, full of more chemicals and additives, to choose from in the future.

Side note 1:  Organic foods are trucked in from copious distances by diesel and refrigeration; soiling the organic label even more.  Buying local is more important in many cases than buying organic if the environment or your local community is especially important to you.

Side note 2:  Organic cuts of red meat, butter, cheese, whole milk and other various foods made of full-fat animal products, are no more healthy for you than conventional items.

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It’s a Healthy Mystery!

To reduce a naturally grown vegetable or fruit to a reductionist scientific way of thinking, where we tease out one particular vitamin, mineral or antioxidant and attempt to bottle it as a healthy alternative to eating produce, is superficial thinking and wrong-headed.   Life requires, in many instances, a sense of mystery and acceptance of what we don’t know and sometimes can’t know.  Believe me when I tell you… current food technology has no idea what makes a fruit or vegetable so healthy for our physiology; so don’t succumb to oversimplifications and fancy bottles, pamphlets and marketing campaigns – simply eat the real thing!

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