Friday, September 08, 2006
Buying organic food
One of the things I would like to do is eat more organic foods, especially produce. Unfortunately, the high cost keeps me from buying as much as I would like. It can be hard to choose organic grapes at $4.99 a pound, when those juicy red conventional ones are sitting there at 99 cents a pound.
One way to cut costs is to concentrate your organic buying on those fruits and vegetables that tend to have more pesticides. You can download a wallet guide at http://www.foodnews.org/walletguide.php that tells you the 12 fruits and vegetables that consistently have the highest and lowest levels of pesticides. So if your budget forces you to choose, spend your money on organic apples instead of organic bananas.
The difference in price between conventional and organic items can vary greatly. On a recent shopping trip, I compared prices of a few items at random. There wasn’t much difference in the cost of leaf lettuce (conventional was $2.29; organic was $2.49) or green onions (conventional, $0.69; organic, $0.99). And the price of an organic avocado was actually the same as a conventional one—$1.99.
But there was a huge difference in other items, such as red peppers—$2.99 each conventional vs. $4.99 each organic—and the previously mentioned grapes.
Some organic products are easier to save a bit of money on. When organic rice milk is on sale, I can stock up, because it won’t expire until next April. So when you find a good price on something that will keep for awhile, it pays to buy a lot of it.
Speaking of organic food, there’s an Organicfest in downtown Asheville on Saturday the 9th (that’s tomorrow!) from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Its purpose is to celebrate “everything organic,” and there will be giveaways, free samples, music, food, crafts and more. I haven’t been to this before, but it sounds intriguing. You can find out more information here: http://www.organicfest.org
What are some of your tips for buying organic foods without breaking the bank?
By Cassandra Sherrill at 11:39 AM
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Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Ask Julie and Cassandra a question
What do you want to know about being a vegetarian? What are your curious about? Got a comment? Post it here.
By Cassandra Sherrill at 12:19 PM
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Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Welcome to the Veggin’ Out blog
Cassandra Sherrill, graphic artist for the Journal: I need to confess something right off the bat: I’m not actually a true vegetarian in many vegetarians’ eyes. I’m what some call a pesce-vegetarian (and others might call a pesky vegetarian). In other words, I eat fish, but no beef, chicken or pork. I think of myself as mostly a vegetarian, but some say there’s no such thing – like being slightly pregnant.
I turned toward vegetarianism because of health as well as ethical reasons. I wanted to be kinder to my cranky digestive system, and also avoid the hormones and antibiotics given to animals raised for food. I also have a deep love for animals, and thinking about them being killed so that I can eat them makes me feel queasy.
It has been a gradual process for me. One year I gave up beef; the next, pork; and the next, poultry. I don’t have any plans to give up fish, but one day, I might decide to do that, too.
Julie Harris, Journal library director: My main reason for being vegetarian is for the animals – I don’t even like to bite into a chocolate Easter Bunny, much less contribute to the horrors inflicted upon real, live animals…. So I try to learn as much as possible about animal-rights issues. My goal is to go completely vegan. (A vegan diet excludes eggs and dairy products as well as meat. Vegans also avoid the use of such animal products as leather and fur.) I see vegetarianism as a journey, as a way to get from the world as it is now to what it ought to be: a place of peace and plenty for all creatures.
But going veg also turned me into a “foodie.” There is so much variety and beauty in the vegetable kingdom, and so many delicious new tastes to be discovered. Now I read cookbooks like novels, and enjoy trying new things all the time.
We’ll be updating this blog twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays. We may post on other days for special occasions or if there is late-breaking news we think you’d like to know about quickly.
Well, enough about us; let’s talk about you. Won’t you tell us a little bit about yourself, and what interests you most about vegetarianism?
By Cassandra Sherrill at 09:52 AM
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