Organic Food Debate 06 – It all Boils Down to Cost

Unfortunately, with many people the main reason why organic food is not experiencing the much needed demand required to bring the majority of farms into the organic era is the problem of cost. Organic food is much more expensive than regular food stuffs. For many people cost is the determining factor when it comes to what to buy at the weekly food shopping expedition. This Sis especially true now we are facing an economical crisis and the purse strings are becoming ever tighter thanks to the formidable credit crunch. It’s therefore more and more difficult to create the demand required to bring the prices down, if we can create enough demand it will reduce the prices of the products, until then the cost is deterring people and organic food is currently still unreliable.

Organic Food Debate 05 – Vegan-ism

Another popular topic to touch upon is the matter of vegan-ism. It’s not the most popular eating diet and many people would stop at vegetarianism rather than go the full way to vegan-ism. However, it is necessary to point out one key factor of vegan-ism that many people are simply unaware of today. The main reason many are now turning to vegan-ism is the dramatic reduction in carbon footprints as an additional benefit that vegan-ism brings. It’s not the most commonly heard of reason for turning anti meta and anti dairy produce and is only one of the benefits of this eating habit but it is worth noting primarily because of the significant rise in environmental awareness we are currently undergoing as a society.

Organic Food Debate 03 – Tolerance

Another problem with both GM crops and crops that utilise harmful and/or excessive chemicals in their farming process is that the problems facing them are becoming immune to the product designed to stop them. GM cotton for example has been specially modified to contain a certain chemical in it’s very fibres to rid the cotton of pests. However, this is resulting in over saturation of the chemical and there are fears of a pest tolerance on the horizon that would mean the chemical is useless as a last resort crop saver for other farmers.

If a tolerance is built up the chemicals become useless as a product for what they are designed for be it pesticides or insecticides for example. Thus stronger and more harmful chemicals are needed to fill the void and ensure crops survive.

Organic Food Debate 02 – The Chemical Free Benefits

Yes there ar multitude of benefits to choose from when it comes to organic food stuffs. What people tend to think about first and foremost is the contaminant levels in the food itself. Food that seems to look like a perfect plastic tomato and remaisn so for many weeks is disturbing to say the least and you can imagine just how many chemicals the food has been saturated with over the period of it’s growth.

In addition to this however, there is also the matter of leaching and environmental concerns. Chemicals used to combat rot, disease and pests are harmful to the soil and nearby water sources.

This is the first of a small series of discussions on the matter of organic food and will also briefly touch on vegan-ism. organic food has been popping up and ducking out of the food market for many years but lately has once again been brought into the limelight as farmers are now turning to fully organic farming to cover this “niche” market. The problem is that it is an extremely expensive process and no guarantee that there is enough demand to sustain the change over.

Organic Food Debate 01 – Demand

One of the underlying problems that the organic food industry faces today is the lack of demand for the products. Unfortunately, there simply aren’t enough people to make the business fully profitable for larger farms and smaller farms alike. Some small time businesses have been able to sustain the organic produce market in their local area as a niche product but many other farms simply cannot sacrifice the income they are receiving from mass production food stuffs for alternative organic farming methods even if they want to. Farms have been hit hard recently and the farming economy is already on the brink of extinction.

Okay, so we don’t all have the time or the funds to buy low fat produce or eat fresh and lets face it, some of us out there love meat and just don’t want to let it go. You don’t need to cut out the things you love to get your diet into shape. it’s all about moderation, not saying goodbye to cream and candy entirely. They say you can have takeout and fast food as a part of your healthy diet. Of course you can, once in a while. Just don’t have it too frequently and make sure your system has time to recover!

If you are enjoying your favorite foods you can do some small things to help cut the fat from your diet a little bit more in addition to alternative cooking methods.

1. Buy back bacon and trim the fatty edge from the bacon before cooking. If you buy streaky bacon it can be a little cheaper but you are buying mostly fat, not meat.

2. Switch whole milk for skimmed milk. If you can’t make that jump right away, try semi skimmed first.

3. Use sweeteners instead of sugar in teas and coffees. Cut it out altogether if you can. many people find coffee and tea tastes too bitter at first but when you get used to it, adding sugar starts to taste too sweet instead.

If you are having trouble getting enough fruit in your daily diet but you are still managing to squeeze in that all important breakfast meal then try adding fruit to your cereal. Adding freshly chopped chunks of banana to your cornflakes, sultanas to your Weetabix, or fresh chopped strawberries to your bran flakes. Almost any fruit can be added to your favourite breakfast cereal in the morning to get an extra portion of fruit into your day and help you on your way to the five a day target.

Make sure your cereal is a healthy cereal and not a sugar loaded one and then top it off with freshly chopped fruit to sweeten it up and help your healthy diet. If you don’t feel like cereal today, try fruit with natural yogurt instead as a sweet and delicious substitute to mix things up a little.

Guava is another health food term that is thrown around a lot these days without us realizing

what it even looks like.

The main health benefits of eating plenty of fresh Guava in our diets include the treatment of Diarrhea, constipation, coughs, high blood pressure, scurvy (naturally) and it’s even good for the skin too. Apparently, Guava fruit contains more vitamin C in it than an orange does.

Guava fruit are green skinned, they are roundish (but a bit wobbly not a perfect round) and sometimes resemble a pear shape. The good stuff inside is a fleshy white to pink colour. You can now get many herbal teas and other health drinks that contain Guava but obviously, the best way to enjoy it’s health benefits is to nip over to a green grocers and get some fresh Guava fruit!

If you just can’t get enough Bacon and other fatty fried food in your diet and don’t want to give it up there is still a way you can cut down on the fat content. Throw away your old frying pan because you really don’t need it and doing so can help you cut down on fat in your food. Many food stuffs can be cooked in an alternative method that reduces the need for oil in cooking.

Bacon – Grill it instead, no need for extra oil and the excess fat will drain away to the grill. You can use a press grill too if you like that literally squeezes out yet more fat content.

Eggs – Poach them instead. You don’t need a special poachng pan, just get a pan of boiling water at least 2 inches deep and add a small touch of salt to stop the eggs sticking to the bottom. It works just as well and creates tastey eggs without the oil.

Burgers – Again, you can grill these instead using an oven grill or a press grill.

Scrambled Egg – Use the microwave, mix the eggs up and add milk according to your tastes. then place in a microwaveable bowl and zap it for 10 seconds (850W). Then fluff it up a bit with a fork and put it bak in for another 10 seconds. Keep doing that until it’s done. If you keep on fluffing it as it cooks you will get nice fluffy scrambled egg without the oil.

We are often used to seeing information thrown around about how what we eat affects our body, our health and our activity. What we also need to remeber, but often forget, is that food also affects the way in which our brains work. Good mood food often means food stuffs that pump out alot of good feelings for us only for us to come crashing down again when we realise it was loaded with sugar and unwanted fat. What we eat and drink clearly has an effect on our mood, our thought processes and how we feel and eating the right healthy foods can leave you feeling much more positive and energetic. Research is also underway to study the effect of our diets on mental health overall. If you are in need of some

positive thinking, try a new healthy diet plan aimed at the brain.

Newer Posts »