Choosing the Best Organic Foods in a Grocery Store Can be Tough

re: Choosing the Best Organic Foods in a Grocery Store Can be Tough

tyciol — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 03:22:46 GMT

" Multi-national corporaations are interested in the profits from organic food, not the health value, and there's no greater offender than Wal-Mart, whose organic milk, for instance, comes from large factory farms, not to mention it's pasteurized."

Wow! Er... a couple things here.

First off... while corporations might make choices more oriented to profits than health, nothing stops smaller private-owned farms from making similar choices. It's really totally unrelated. One shouldn't assume that corner-cutting is the only explanation for why corporations are better off than small business.

Secondly... the anti-pasteurization thing you advocate isn't widely known, much less accepted, and it would be illegal for Wal-mart to sell unpasteurized milk, so what do you expect?

re: Choosing the Best Organic Foods in a Grocery Store Can be Tough

farmfresh — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 00:16:42 GMT

we have farm fresh organic vegetables from fl.

we fed-ex them to your office in your office in 4 or less days from harvest time.

http://farmfreshcharities.org/

re: Choosing the Best Organic Foods in a Grocery Store Can be Tough

mmc88121 — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:39:10 GMT

Having been in a Wal-Mart recently this article is the truth. They even had "organic white sugar". That is an oxymoron if I ever saw one. The fact that it is processed to become white sugar negates the fact that it might have been "grown organically".

mmc88121

re: Choosing the Best Organic Foods in a Grocery Store Can be Tough

Russ Bianchi — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:38:20 GMT

Be very wary of alledged third party organic certification; particularly on processed food or beverage labels!

"Organic", as Dr. Mercola has saliently and repeatedly pointed out, has been badly bastardized and hijacked in the lexicon, and the term is of less and less assurance of product wholesomeness or nutritional benefit.

There continue to be many cases where produce, or very processed industrial ingredients, are claimed to be "organic", with paper certification given (in exchange only for MONEY) and NO accutal inspections of fields, or processing plants, are being done at all.

There have even been MAJOR organic (self-appointed) certifiers caught red handed, certifiying products that are fraudulently labeled, and not Generally Recognized As Safe, from TOXIC botancial sources like phony 'agave nectar or syrup', which is NOT from blue agave as claimed, and is really high chemcially refined 70 to 90 DE hydrolyzed high fructose inulin syrup mislabled, per US Code of Federal Regulations for food labeling.

In the SF Bay Area, for several years, the NBC television affliate, had a running challenge on produce labeled organic, in comparison to regular produce, for lack of residual pesticides, chemcials, etc. Guess what? The lower cost non organic products were cleaner and generally higher in nutrient measurable values!

As the ancient Romans suggested: "Caveat Emptor" (Let The Buyer Beware).

re: Choosing the Best Organic Foods in a Grocery Store Can be Tough

Cathy_203 — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 13:59:20 GMT

I am hoping you can help me with a problem I am having receiving your Dr. Mercola's Total Health ebook I ordered on 11/21/06. I downloaded it, but when I went back several days later to read it, there were only a couple of blank pages. I have filed four or five requests for resolution to date with no response. I'm being left with no alternative but to file a disputed claim charge with VISA. This is the first time I have had any trouble with ordering from your website and am greatly saddened to receive this kind of treatment regarding a problem with an order.

Please help!

Thank you,

Cathy [:(]

re: Choosing the Best Organic Foods in a Grocery Store Can be Tough

friendly curmudgeon — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 22:00:46 GMT

Oxymoronic as it may be, all organic milk is pasteurized in Massachusetts -- at least at the stores. You need to go directly to a dairy to find raw milk and, depending where in the state you live, that's not always easy. Care to drive 25 miles for raw milk? In that case, what's good for your body is bad for your wallet and the environment (gas). Ah, life's little trade-offs when it comes to best intentions.

Meanwhile, many big food companies are gobbling up smaller ones that feature organic products because NOW they are profitable (like sharks and blood, corporations and money equal a feeding frenzy). Thus, you may be supporting a giant corporation even though said corporation's name and trademark are nowhere to be seen on the package (this is by design, of course).

I fear for the whole organic movement, as the political pressure from Big Food corporations (via their powerful lobbies) will continue unabated in Congress. Their holy grail? Diluting the organic label and what it represents, of course, especially if it improves the bottom line which is MUCH more important than anyone's health or (chortle) "truth in advertising and labeling."

re: Choosing the Best Organic Foods in a Grocery Store Can be Tough

Eboy — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 18:02:20 GMT

I am a small mixed organic farmer in Ontario. What seems very hard to convey is that the only known long term sustainable form of agriculture is a small mixed farm. In Canada, this year, there are some 50 fewer organic farms. This would no doubt be reflected in the U.S. as a trend. Understanding that the supply of organic food is not going to meet increasing demand, mean that establishing relationships with farmers will probably become necessary. As you point out the U.S.D.A. has created an organic model that favors corporate agri-business, that may produce food that you don't want to consume for moral, environmental and nutritional reasons. The organic movement has inadvertently served to divide small farmers. This is a big mistake.