krogers stupid hippy isle

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

recent circumstances have made me decide to make some major changes to my diet. amongst other things organic stuff, whole wheet pasta and the like came highly recommended.

i have a question about the hippy isle at supermarkets though. i went into it. i felt a little uncomfortable amongst the myrid of no meet sloppy joe mix and seaweed, but i found what i was looking for in the likes of whole grain egg noodles and some brown rice. as i looked around i noticed that almost every product in this section had organic slapped all over it. keep in mind this is krogers. my concern was that they just slap that lable over the same old **** to trick stupid hippies.

is there some way to tell or is there a brand that is better about that than others? maybe im over concerned but when they slap and "extreme" lable on corn nuts it makes me wonder about these things.

[IronFist]

Originally posted by GunnedDownAtrocity
maybe im over concerned but when they slap and "extreme" lable on corn nuts it makes me wonder about these things.

lmao!!! Are you making reference to the Maddox article?

[Ford Prefect]

Organic depends... It can mean a few things and claims are not regulated by the FDA yet.

Natural... All Natural... basically means that it only has chemicals in it that are on the FDA's GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe) chemical list. The funny thing is that the FDA allows the food companies to give them proof that these chemicals are safe and doesn't check into many claims at all. Anytime you see "all natural", "natural flavors", etc this is usually what it means. By law, the manufacturer only has to specify "natural" rather than the actual chemical on the GRAS list. Imagine what the crap that they can't get on the GRAS list does to you!

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

lmao!!! Are you making reference to the Maddox article?

yes i am. that was a funny rant. he's been pretty hit and miss lately though.

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

ford ... do you have any referances on how to better educate myself on what im looking for when i see organic?

i already notice a small difference from the changes i have made to my diet and would like to run with it.

thus far i started eating tons of fruit in the morning, i'm learning to cook (made my first pot of homemade chicken noodle soup), i make sure to get at least some vetables in me several times a week, and picked up some whole wheat pasta and brown rice.

i just don't want to get suckered into paying 2 bucks more for "organic" chicken base or something.

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

as an aside i know i can make my own chicken base (though i did use some this time cause i really don't know what the hell i'm doing), but was just using it as an example as i remember seeing it in that section.

i just bought the regular chicken base though cause i thought organic chicken base sounded stupid.

[Ford Prefect]

Can't think of anything off the top of my head, GDA. I've just read a lot of articles concerning "organic" and "natural" foods. Organic is legislated different on a state-by-state basis and most states have no regulation at all. The FDA is working on being able to regulate it, but that is most likely years off.

Basically "organic" for meat means that the animal was raised in natural conditions rather than being couped up in boxes and being fed corn-feed and animal parts. Now of course, organic can mean being raised in a box but being fed hay rather than corn. You may also see pasteur-grazed organic, which is basaically people trying to seperate themselves from the plain "organic" label and this means the animal was allow to roam freely and graze grass. Also, no fertilizers or pesticides can be used on the pasteur and no hormones or other chemicals on the animals.

Organic for fruit means grown with no pesticides, fertilizers, or other chemicals.

If you eat organic beef, you are guaranteed to be free from mad cow desease since it is usually passed to cows through the crappy feed that 99.99% of the cows get. Grazing animals is really the best way to go. Meat was considered nature's multivitamin because what the animal eats ends up in their meat. Grazing on grass and plants will give you a lot of vitamins and minerals along with the meat. Same can be said with whatever crap feed and hormones are pumped into cows. It's kind of scarey what the average person ingests.

Other than organic meat/fruits, try to stay with non-processed foods. If you can't shoot it or pick it off a plant, then try not to eat it.

[FatherDog]

What organic means, in regards to vegetables and grains, is that it was grown without the use of artificial fertilizers or pesticides (that's basic... actually there's a very long list of things that you are and aren't allowed to use in production of organic crops). In regards to animal products, it's supposed to mean that the animal in question was raised on organic feed (see previous def.) and without the use of antibiotics.

Ford's right that the claim organic isn't regulated by the FDA. It is regulated by the USDA, however -
http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/standards/FullRegTextOnly.html

http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/standards.html