While frolicking around in rec.food.cooking, Darkginger of Eircom.Net
http://www.eircom.net said:

>How much does it bother you where you food comes from? Do you go out of your
>way to make sure you only buy free range chicken and eggs, or are you
>content to eat the intensively farmed (battery) versions? Will you hunt out
>wild salmon rather than farmed (or did you, prior to recent reports about
>carcinogens)? Are you concerned about methods of veal production? Do you
>avoid processed food because it contains additives?
>
I eat vegetables (including legumes and such), eggs and fish. I buy
ecological eggs to make sure that they don't come from battery cages,
or other horrible condition. I buy fish which can be found locally,
and now that I've heard they it's bad with farmed fish, I will try to
avoid those too. As far as vegetables go, I can't afford to buy
anything but what's on sale a lot of the time, and I sometimes buy
products which I know I ought to not buy, but it's hard to keep all
the things to avoid, or to buy in stead, in mind. These days they have
Mangoes very cheaply on sale in the supermarket, and I *love*
mangoes...

I make as much as possible from scratch, but that's as much an issue
of money, and of taste, as it is of health. I use low-fat dairy-free
margarine, which I know have trans-fats, but dairy products make me
ill. I use vegetable oil for cooking, for health reasons.
--
Nikitta a.a. #1759 Apatriot(No, not apricot)#18
ICQ# 251532856
Unreferenced footnotes: http://www.nut.house.cx/cgi-bin/nemwiki.pl?ISFN
"There is scarcely a business or industry left that could
understand the concept of shame even if they looked it up in a
dictionary." Eric Walker (AUE)

"Darkginger" > wrote in message
...
> How much does it bother you where you food comes from? Do you go out of
your
> way to make sure you only buy free range chicken and eggs, or are you
> content to eat the intensively farmed (battery) versions? Will you hunt
out
> wild salmon rather than farmed (or did you, prior to recent reports about
> carcinogens)? Are you concerned about methods of veal production? Do you
> avoid processed food because it contains additives?
>
> I'm wondering, becuse I was alarmed to discover that something like 98% of
> all chickens sold in the UK are still battery farmed, and I'm interested
to
> see whether people who are interested in cookery are equally interested in
> the quality of ingredients they use. Especially since starting to keep
> chickens last year, and discovering that they're a lot more intelligent
than
> I'd previously realised!
>
> Personally, I've been guilty of buying cheap 'n tasteless chicken breasts
> etc. in the past, but have resolved never to do it again. I'd rather eat
> meat etc. less often (because the free range, organically produced
versions
> are more expensive) than support the intensive farming methods that have
> given us BSE and cancer-inducing salmon - not to mention the quality of
life
> of the animal/fish in question.
>
> Same goes for veggies, after starting to grow my own (again last year - it
> was a year of revelations!), and discovering how much better they are when
> eaten fresh, in season.
>
> So, where do the rest of you stand on this, and how easy do you find it to
> buy quality ingredients where you live?
>
> Jo

I'm with you on this one. If you are willing to shop carefully and
(sometimes) pay more you will get significantly higher quality food. Free
range chickens, humanely-raised beef, pork, and lamb, no veal (the free
range veal just isn't very interesting, and as delicious as the milk-fed
veal is I cannot condone the way the critters are treated), organic whenever
possible. Fortunately it is pretty easy to get this kind of food here where
I live in the US, but I am sure it is difficult in many locations.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.

In article m>,
"Peter Aitken" > wrote:

> "Darkginger" > wrote in message
> ...
> > How much does it bother you where you food comes from? Do you go out of
> your
> > way to make sure you only buy free range chicken and eggs, or are you
> > content to eat the intensively farmed (battery) versions? Will you hunt
> out
> > wild salmon rather than farmed (or did you, prior to recent reports about
> > carcinogens)? Are you concerned about methods of veal production? Do you
> > avoid processed food because it contains additives?
> >
> > I'm wondering, becuse I was alarmed to discover that something like 98% of
> > all chickens sold in the UK are still battery farmed, and I'm interested
> to
> > see whether people who are interested in cookery are equally interested in
> > the quality of ingredients they use. Especially since starting to keep
> > chickens last year, and discovering that they're a lot more intelligent
> than
> > I'd previously realised!
> >
> > Personally, I've been guilty of buying cheap 'n tasteless chicken breasts
> > etc. in the past, but have resolved never to do it again. I'd rather eat
> > meat etc. less often (because the free range, organically produced
> versions
> > are more expensive) than support the intensive farming methods that have
> > given us BSE and cancer-inducing salmon - not to mention the quality of
> life
> > of the animal/fish in question.
> >
> > Same goes for veggies, after starting to grow my own (again last year - it
> > was a year of revelations!), and discovering how much better they are when
> > eaten fresh, in season.
> >
> > So, where do the rest of you stand on this, and how easy do you find it to
> > buy quality ingredients where you live?
> >
> > Jo
>
> I'm with you on this one. If you are willing to shop carefully and
> (sometimes) pay more you will get significantly higher quality food. Free
> range chickens, humanely-raised beef, pork, and lamb, no veal (the free
> range veal just isn't very interesting, and as delicious as the milk-fed
> veal is I cannot condone the way the critters are treated), organic whenever
> possible. Fortunately it is pretty easy to get this kind of food here where
> I live in the US, but I am sure it is difficult in many locations.

Peter,

Have you ever had range veal? :-)

While it is not the same as the tormented souls that make regualar veal,
it can stand on it's own as a superior beef... I bought a whole weanling
range calf a couple of years ago and had it processed.

Some of the best beef I've ever, EVER had.
It's in the plans to do it again as soon as I have the freezer space,
and I'm working on that. <G>

K.

--
>,,<Cat's Haven Hobby >,,<
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

In article >,
"Darkginger" > wrote:

> How much does it bother you where you food comes from? Do you go out of your
> way to make sure you only buy free range chicken and eggs, or are you
> content to eat the intensively farmed (battery) versions? Will you hunt out
> wild salmon rather than farmed (or did you, prior to recent reports about
> carcinogens)? Are you concerned about methods of veal production? Do you
> avoid processed food because it contains additives?

I shop mostly at my local co-op (at which I am a member-owner), though
we're pretty fortunate in that the better grocery stores here have
surprisingly large sections for "natural" and organic foods.

I still eat a fair amount of conventionally-grown food, because it's
what you usually get when you eat out or at someone else's house. But
it's not what I prefer when I have a choice.

I feel safer buying at the co-op. I think conventional food producers do
many things in the name of economics that turn out to be really
questionable for human or ecological health in the longer term.

I'm not in favor of genetically-modified organisms. I know growers have
manipulated genetics for centuries, but not on the scales that GMOs
offer. I am not comfortable with the antibiotic load present in many
food animal, so I minimize how much meat I eat "outside." I will not buy
irradiated meat -- a relatively-untested "solution" that ignores the
real problem of a tainted meat supply.

"Processing" isn't a dirty word to me: there are many organic products
which resemble "conventional" foods, and I don't kid myself for a moment
that "natural" cola isn't as processed as Coca-Cola, or that something
like Quorn (a mushroom-based meat substitute) isn't a manufactured food.
I don't consume either product, but that's more because I don't care for
them, not because I object to the processing involved.

Finally, I think organically-raised, locally-produced food just tastes
better. It's raised with the idea that nutrition and taste are more
important than shipping without damage. And most producers try to run
their farms sustainably.

Yeah, I guess I care. :-)

sd

"Darkginger" > wrote:

>So, where do the rest of you stand on this, and how easy do you find it to
>buy quality ingredients where you live?
>
>Jo

I think that the food produced by farmers is the best available. IMO, test after
test has shown that organic does not mean better flavour or better quality, just
more costly.

OTOH, I believe garden vegetables are far superior in flavor to supermarket
fresh vegetables. At the same time, processor frozen vegetables are usually far
superior to home freezer vegetables for flavor and texture. Canned vegetables
should have their own name as they are often good though very unlike the garden
fresh taste of the vegetable itself.

Finally, it is the management of harvested products that produces the best
quality food for one's table. In our town there is one produce store that
maintains high quality for vegetables and fruit all year round. And just a block
away is a butcher that is able to provide all red meat and poultry as fresh as
it ever was at my parent's home 60 years ago.

I will buy from any food source if the quality is consistently superior.

For me, only fifty miles from the ocean, living nearly on the banks of one of
the world's top salmon rivers, finding truly fresh fish is an impossible
challenge !

Dennis

"Darkginger" > wrote in message >...
> How much does it bother you where you food comes from? Do you go out of your
> way to make sure you only buy free range chicken and eggs, or are you
> content to eat the intensively farmed (battery) versions? Will you hunt out
> wild salmon rather than farmed (or did you, prior to recent reports about
> carcinogens)? Are you concerned about methods of veal production? Do you
> avoid processed food because it contains additives?

No, I avoid processed food because it tastes like crap.

> I'm wondering, becuse I was alarmed to discover that something like 98% of
> all chickens sold in the UK are still battery farmed, and I'm interested to
> see whether people who are interested in cookery are equally interested in
> the quality of ingredients they use. Especially since starting to keep
> chickens last year, and discovering that they're a lot more intelligent than
> I'd previously realised!
>
> Personally, I've been guilty of buying cheap 'n tasteless chicken breasts
> etc. in the past, but have resolved never to do it again. I'd rather eat
> meat etc. less often (because the free range, organically produced versions
> are more expensive) than support the intensive farming methods that have
> given us BSE and cancer-inducing salmon - not to mention the quality of life
> of the animal/fish in question.
>
> Same goes for veggies, after starting to grow my own (again last year - it
> was a year of revelations!), and discovering how much better they are when
> eaten fresh, in season.
>
> So, where do the rest of you stand on this, and how easy do you find it to
> buy quality ingredients where you live?

It's pretty easy to buy quality ingredients here (Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA),
but I usually go to the grocery store and buy whatever they have without
thinking about the source. I don't like canned vegetables (except tomatoes),
so I buy only "fresh" or frozen.

I shop at a high-end grocery store; it has organic stuff available, which
I buy if it looks as good as the "inorganic" stuff and is comparable in
price.

In the summer I have a garden with tomatoes, black raspberries, and whatever
else strikes my fancy (last year: jalapenos). Herbs in pots on the patio.
I garden organically, for the most part, but I don't insist that the tomato
starts be organic (but I favor the heirloom tomato Brandywine).

Once or twice a year I splurge on a USDA prime standing rib roast, which I
get at a local butcher shop. If I feel like, e.g., whole fish baked in
a salt dome, I go to the fishmonger rather than the grocery store.
Veal comes from the butcher rather than the grocery store, because it's just
better.

The butcher and fishmonger are difficult to get to and park at; one rush
hour trip took 40 minutes for about a five-mile drive. I really have to
be motivated to go there rather than make the 10-minute drive to the
grocery store.

I feel I'm pretty middle-of-the road about the source of my food, and above
average on quality.

Cindy Hamilton

On Tue, 13 Jan 2004, sd wrote:

> In article >,
> "Darkginger" > wrote:
>
> > How much does it bother you where you food comes from? Do you go out of your
> > way to make sure you only buy free range chicken and eggs, or are you
> > content to eat the intensively farmed (battery) versions? Will you hunt out
> > wild salmon rather than farmed (or did you, prior to recent reports about
> > carcinogens)? Are you concerned about methods of veal production? Do you
> > avoid processed food because it contains additives?
>
> I feel safer buying at the co-op. I think conventional food producers do
> many things in the name of economics that turn out to be really
> questionable for human or ecological health in the longer term.

*snickers* tell it to the applegrowers. Seriously, organically grown
apples, at least, are far more of a risk to your health than
pesticide-covered ones. Apple rust is proven to be far, far more
carcinogenic than any pesticide applegrowers use. So, buying organic
apples is a crap shoot. Wish I knew as much about other organic products,
but I only know people who grow apples on a professional basis.

the temptation to make fun of people who think because it is natural it is
automatically better for you is mounting...

fwiw, most genetically engineered products are better for you than their
counterparts (think corn)... of course, they do about nothing for
biodiversity...

Lena

Darkginger > wrote:
> How much does it bother you where you food comes from? Do you go out of your
> way to make sure you only buy free range chicken and eggs, or are you
> content to eat the intensively farmed (battery) versions? Will you hunt out
> wild salmon rather than farmed (or did you, prior to recent reports about
> carcinogens)? Are you concerned about methods of veal production? Do you
> avoid processed food because it contains additives?

I live in the United States, in NJ just outside Philadelphia. I am not
obsessive about my food purchases. I tend to avoid frozen foods. I do
not eat fish much so getting the best seafood is not an issue for me,
but if I wanted, I could get a wide variety of seafood because I live
in a coastal state.

My taste in food tends to be toward inexpensive items. For example,
I have no great desire to buy prime cuts of meat. I buy cheap cuts of
meat such as chuck steaks, and chicken legs when I shop. If I am near
a farmer's market where free range chicken is available, I will buy some,
but I definitely do not go out of my way to do so. During the summer
season, I make it a point to buy locally grown produce as much as possible.
I am not a fan of produce that's in season in the fall and winter so I
have no concern about buying items such as squash in season.

Sadly, the quality of our food is likely to decline. Specialty items such
as free range meats and organic produce will increase in price and become more
difficult to find in stores. In another three or four decades, I suspect
we'll eat a lot less meat and chicken, simply because produce is a lot more
efficient to grow and distribute than animal products are. Being a carnivor,
that prospect does not sit well with me.

We keep losing farm acrage. Every day, more and more farms are converted to
housing developments and/or strip malls. We continue to lose farm acreage at
a time when the world's population is growing at a considerable rate. At some
point, we will get to a point where the two situations (declining farm acreage
and increasing population) will reach a nexus and than the consequences of
those problems will make themselves known, even in prosperous countries such
as the United States and Canada.