I'm going organic in Burlington area - any advice? (Rutland: co-op, buying)

[quickdraw]

Man I look around and see unhealthy people everywhere, and we are the healthiest state!

Every once in a while I'll catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror, when I'm not expecting it, and I just look tired. Our food is pure **** and loaded with everything except food. Cancer is out of control.

My gut reaction is organic food is too expensive, but really what is more important than health? Pesticides, hormones, chemicals - this isn't what we were made for.

Unfortunately, we have one of the shortest growing seasons in the country, so I guess Wealthy Living and City Mark-up are my best bets in the cold weather. At least until Whole Paycheck finally gets here.

I'm not sure what to do about fish in this area? Is fish certified organic?
Any suggestions on farms for beef or chicken, and where to get it.?

I'm also eliminating plastic from my life, what a horrible invention for the earth - not to mention absolutely loaded with toxic chemicals. I'm going to keep an eye on my water too.

I'm not a rich guy, I'll be eating less, which is good. I've already purged a lot of toxins by moving to Vermont from a congested area, I might as well tackle food next.

[vter]

I much prefer Natural Provisions in Williston over Healthy Living or City Market. It's smaller and I find it's easier to find things.
You can also buy organic fruits/vegis at Shaws and Hannaford.
Misty Knoll Farm in New Haven has turkey and chicken. You probably can buy it at Natural Provisions/Healthy Living.
Do you do a garden in the summer? If not, there are tons of farmers markets around.

[quickdraw]

Originally Posted by vter

I much prefer Natural Provisions in Williston over Healthy Living or City Market. It's smaller and I find it's easier to find things.
You can also buy organic fruits/vegis at Shaws and Hannaford.
Misty Knoll Farm in New Haven has turkey and chicken. You probably can buy it at Natural Provisions/Healthy Living.
Do you do a garden in the summer? If not, there are tons of farmers markets around.

I grow tomatoes and lettuce. I tried to grow potatoes last year and ended up with two. The blight threw everything off. I'll grow more this summer.

Do you find Natural Provisions and Healthy living to be around the same cost?

[tkln]

Fish is not certified organic, to my knowledge. The best way to choose fish is based on whether it's farmed locally or internationally (stay away from shellfish that comes from Asia for the most part), whether it's line caught, whether it's fished sustainably. The Monterey Bay Aquarium has a great chart to help you with this.

All Regions Guide - Online Seafood Watch Guide for Sustainable Seafood Choices | Monterey Bay Aquarium

There is a local fish farm in Wheelock that sells trout that they raise:
Trout to Eat

Whole Foods tends to be very good with where they get their fish from.

Regarding meat, try to get grass fed beef if you can. There are many farms in VT that raise grass fed. Free range chicken is the best, and you can really taste the difference. Chickens, in general, should not have ten pounds of breast for every pound of their body weight (I'm exaggerating, but that's the way most supermarket chickens are raised).

I purchase my meat from:
North Hollow Farm
They ship to NYC (I usually buy at least 50 lbs at a time and it cost $20 to ship) and I believe they are sold local at many stores BUT you can also pick up directly from the farm. I've done that several times. They also carry whole chickens.

There are definitely some fruits/veggies that are better to buy organic than others, if you are trying to save $. If you search online, there's a bunch of sites that have lists.

But honestly, your best bet is to buy LOCAL, and in season. In Vermont it's definitely harder, but not impossible. Go back to the way our grandparents ate, and it's a lot easier, cheaper and better for your body.

For example, when strawberries are in season, buy in bulk, then can/freeze and mix with yogurt in the winter. They taste infinitely better than anything you'll buy in the winter, and since you bought them in season (or grew them), they were cheaper.

Potatoes, pumpkins, squash, kale, etc all hold well into the winter and can be stored.

In my freezer right now, I have frozen corn, basil, tomatoes and hot peppers. Jam that was canned in the summer.

Eat less meat, but higher quality.
Add beans, lentils, high quality grains (lay off the white bread!) for high fiber and good quality protein.
Get eggs from a farm. You will never eat a regular egg again.

Join a CSA! Help your local Vermont farmer and get freshly picked produce all year round (if you wanted). Vermont has tons of them.
VAAFM - Where to Find a Vermont CSA

Pete's Greens in Craftsbury is one that goes year round. It's not cheap, but it's worth it.
Pete's Greens Vermont Organic Vegetable Farm - Good Eats CSA

Also, keep in mind that a lot of farms can't afford to become certified organic but still practice organic farming. Ask the farmer and they should tell you what can and can't be farmed organically. I know down here in LI, a lot of fruit can't be grown organic due to the humidity but they use as little pesticides as possible.

Two excellent books to read:
Amazon.com: The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (9780143038580): Michael Pollan: Books
This will scare the crap out of you.

Amazon.com: In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (9780143114963): Michael Pollan: Books
This is just pure common sense, most of which has been forgotten by most of us.

It can be done. It takes time and effort and sometimes, the Twinkie just tastes too good. Don't try to do it all at once or it will seem like a very expensive insurmountable task. Good luck!!!!

[vter]

Hmm...I don't know about costs. Honestly I don't pay too much attention!
Our garden did not do will this summer either.
Edit - ditto the poster above. Look into joining a CSA.

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by quickdraw

My gut reaction is organic food is too expensive, but really what is more important than health? Pesticides, hormones, chemicals - this isn't what we were made for.

Unfortunately, we have one of the shortest growing seasons in the country, so I guess Wealthy Living and City Mark-up are my best bets in the cold weather. At least until Whole Paycheck finally gets here.

My husband and I agree with you completely. We've simply committed that we will eat as much locally-grown food as we can access, and do it in the cheapest way possible. That may mean doing without other things and that's fine by us.

We don't bother with "certified" organic, which is mainly an expensive process of jumping through regulatory hoops that small local farmers may not be able to afford to do. Instead, we meet the farmers who grow what we eat and ask about their processes. We visit their farms.

Does Burlington have a year-round farmers market? We buy piles of local produce at the year-round Rutland Farmers Market. Local farmers are now growing all year long using tunnels, movable covers, and other methods.

We buy a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share through Dutchess Farm. That means we pay an up-front sum and then pick up our share of produce each week throughout the growing season. Here are CSAs the state of Vermont lists.

Even our cats' food comes from a small local organic family farm in NY State, which has a booth at the Rutland Farmers Market. The farmers fine-grind whole rabbits (minus fur, stomach, & intestines), which we feed to our cats after adding some water and a bit of taurine. Our cats are radiantly healthy.

We cut costs on local produce by buying "seconds," which are usually just as good as "firsts" but less perfect looking. We have friends who help out a bit on local farms in exchange for some produce. They love the work and love what they take home.

I wouldn't shop at a Whole Foods if we had one. Rutland's small co-op plus the farmers market have everything. Anything else we need, we get directly from the farms, orchards, etc.

Part of the reason factory-farmed animals and vegetables are so much cheaper is that huge agribusiness gets government subsidies (from our tax dollars) that artificially lower the prices. Plus they use the cheapest mass-production methods possible, which detracts from nutrition and taste. To say nothing of what an incredibly cruel and inhumane system it is for the human and nonhuman animals who work, live, and die within it. I don't care how cheap it is, I'm not voting for it with my dollars.

[Sherylcatmom]

We buy things in as close to their natural form as possible.

For example:

For applesauce, we buy a couple of pecks from a local orchard, make our own sauce which is WAY better than anything we could buy. Instead of throwing away or composting the apple skins, I make chips by tossing them with Vermont sunflower oil, agave nectar, cinnamon, and cardamom and baking in a 250 degree oven until crisp.

I don't buy anything in packages with labels, or prepared foods, if I can make it myself. I buy whole dried beans, pulses (e.g., split peas & lentils), flours, rice and other grains, etc. I also buy piles of what's in season and freeze the extra that we won't consume right away. I label everything that goes in the freezer with name & date.

I'm not much of a cook and would eat out for every meal if I could but these foods are incredibly easy to work with. I just made huge pots of bean soup and split pea soup. I portion-packed them and froze them. When I'm hungry, I just defrost a package.

[Sherylcatmom]

Or a local farmer.

I talked to a friend who grows so much that even with two giant chest freezers she and her partner can't finish it all. Next growing season I'm going to commit to helping her in the garden, especially when she'll be away in July and the blueberry bushes will be bursting. In exchange, I'll get to take a portion of the food at no charge. Plus I'll learn about gardening, which I've never done before. The only thing I've ever grown is cat grass!

[quickdraw]

Thanks for the great advice guys.

My only concern is I hate handling chicken (especially with the bone in it).
Some of the local beef looks different than what I'm used to also. I'm just going to have to get used to it. Animal quality of life is very important to me. I'd like to go up to that veal place on the island and knock some heads. Of course I will never eat veal, PERIOD. I visited Pete's Green website and his chickens seem to have a nice life.

Oh, the only fish I can eat is clean whitefish.

I really have to change the way I eat, everything made in this country is so frigging salty-or full of corn and corn syrup because it's cheap. I also don't trust my government to keep me safe from pesticides and hormones. It's time to take care of myself-which is part of the reason I moved to Vermont in the first place.

Look around, people look terrible. I toured France recently. What an eye opener to see the size of their people and the size of their portions. I got a coke in a restaurant and it came in a six ounce glass, I haven't seen a glass that size in 40 years.

[Sherylcatmom]

Looks like once a month. You just missed December.
http://www.burlingtonfarmersmarket.org/

Maybe some of the other Chittenden County farmers markets have more winter appearances.