A discussion on organic and free range meat

The population of the world eat meat is slowly but surely moving over to what is now known as ' ethical ' eating. Eating ethics means nothing more than to eat meat that comes from animals free range that have been treated humanely throughout their life.

With the news of mistreatment of cattle and poultry from all over the world, people don't want to eat meat that comes from animals that have been treated cruelly. So, how do you know that meat Purchases is in fact organic and free-range ingredients?

The terms used for the labelling of meat and poultry products can be quite mystifying. Here are some of the commonly used terms and their meanings to help you understand what exactly you are buying the next time you are at your organic butcher.

Reared outdoors:

This means that even if the animal mother was conceived and born outside the litter was raised in shelters or pens.

Human choice:

This label shows that the sheep have not undergone ' mulesing ' and pigs were given nose rings. It also means that the transport of animals to slaughter follows strict guidelines.

Organic meat:

This meat comes from animals that were allowed to graze freely in open pastures and were treated with respect. It also means that these animals were not administered growth hormones or steroids or antibiotics. You should try the logo that the product is certified as organic.

Free range meat:

' Free range ' means that the animals are not kept in cages or pens and allowed free access to sunlight and air and is also allowed to roam free and eat natural food. These animals are carried out according to the guidelines established by acts of animal welfare.

Although efforts are to implement stricter laws to curb the inhumane animal practices in factories and intensive animal farming ', there is still a long way to go. But, increasingly, people want to know where the meat is from, and have begun to check labels for meat products. Even if free-range and organic meat cost much more than factory-farmed meat, demand continues to rise.

Local butchers are also beginning to show an inclination towards organic meat. The butcher demanding normally insists on visiting local farms to witness firsthand the animal and practices of raising chickens. This self-interest is what ensures that the meat products that we sell are actually "free range" and "organic". So if you are an ethical Eater ensure that you buy the meat from a butcher and you always look for the label ' certified organic '.

Opting for meat free range means that you are buying meat that is healthier, tastier and more environment friendly. It also gives you some comfort that the meat comes from animals that have been allowed to live their lives out in their element and eat their food with the minimum interference, are treated with respect and slaughtered in a humane manner.

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Posted in: discussion,Organic,range

Organic Eating

I love to cook. I have been cooking for a long time, and recently the new wave of interest in organic food has been an exciting development for me. Organic foods are not only better for one's body and the environment, I believe they also taste better. I decided to grow a garden in my backyard recently. My garden is grown without the use of any synthetic pesticides or industrial fertilizers. Instead, I choose to grow my vegetables the all-natural way- using ladybugs against mites and aphids, and worms to essentially "till" the soil, aerating it and allowing water drainage. I only use pesticides when absolutely necessary.

Home grown organic produce is a great way to be environmentally friendly. My limited use of synthetic pesticides do little damage to the soil, and there is no harmful runoff to any streams or other water sources. I am very careful as to how much water I feed the plants, trying to avoid the hottest times of the day. The tomatoes and lettuce I grow may be smaller than the ones sold at the local supermarket, but they are a noticeably brighter color, and since they are picked when ripe, have a fuller taste.

I love using home-grown produce. I also use the hydroponics growing method for other vegetables and fruits. I have been trying to grow peppers as well. Since peppers require nutrient-rich soil that is well-draining, I purchased a grow tent and all the necessary equipment, and set the tent up in my garage. The grow tent I chose is of average size- I didn't want one that was too large, and I wanted to grow a variety of peppers, so it couldn't be too small, either.

So far, with a lot of tender loving care, the lettuce and tomatoes in my garden are growing beautifully. The peppers in my grow tent are also growing, but the red bells seem to need a little more attention. They take a lot more of certain nutrients, and I need to water them regularly and consistently. Fortunately, the grow tent provides the right amount of heat and light, and since I'm home most of the time, I can water them fairly consistently.

After spending all the time and effort on growing and harvesting the home-grown produce, it's very exciting to be able to use them in my recipes. After almost three and half months of being inside a grow tent, the peppers emit a sweet odor, and are smooth and a bright red in color. I like to make different kinds of salads and appetizers. My friends and family do notice the difference in taste. They admit that the peppers I grow are much sweeter than the average peppers from the supermarket. It's very rewarding to see my loved ones enjoy, literally, the fruits of my labor.

The rise in popularity of organic foods also makes it easier for me to purchase organic foods. Since there is a market for them, a lot more markets do seem to carry organic produce, and there are more Trader Joe's and Whole Foods around these days than there were ten years ago.

Though I do understand the need for conventional farming methods, since cost and production is always a cause for concern, as a cook and as a person who cares deeply about the environment, I would love to see more demand for sustainable farming methods, and more widespread consumption of organic foods. I believe that families with children should consider the impact of consuming foods with chemical residue in them, especially when the health and safety of children are involved.

I have found that growing my own produce- both by outdoor gardening and indoor using the hydroponics method- I have been able to harvest and enjoy healthy, chemical-free fruits and vegetables. And as someone who really loves cooking- I enjoy the fresh taste, and seeing the beautiful color of a fully ripe tomato and pepper.

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Posted in: Eating,Organic

Infant Nutrition With Organic Foods

Infants need baby food just as adults need their favorite food. But baby nutrition has been deeply affected by the growth of non-organic foods. The concept of organically produced foods has caught wind in the past decade, tracing its emergence to the mid 1990's. Would you like it if somebody told you to drink a gallon of nitrate fertilizer: would you even do it? Well, you might be shocked to know you might have consumed more than a gallon after eating fertilizer-laden produce for all your life. The concept of fertilizer was used to get rid of pests and insects in the soil. They destroyed the crops and so fertilizer industries blossomed all over the place.

But the same tool that got rid of the insects has now turned its fire on the human population. Years of crops smothered with fertilizer makes the fertilizer go right down into the soil. The soil holds this fertilizer for years which makes it all the more harmful as the fertilizer is now expired and has become downright deadly to grow any more crops in.

Ripple effect

Chemically potent soil gives rise to chemically harmful crops. If you remember your school science, you will recollect that roots absorb mineral salts and water from the soil. If the soil is tinged with nitrates, the water will be tinged with nitrates too. This alarming transplanting of chemicals affects the crops grown; this deadly crop travels down to the supermarkets in trucks and finally sits in our shopping bags to come home with us.

Fertilizers are used to boost crop outputs. Large crop outputs lead to big money. So the obsession with making money has led to the sacrifice of health. A carrot or an apple today is scientifically proven to contain only 50% of the nutrition it used to hold about 50 years back - which means you think you're eating a wholesome carrot but you are not. What you are eating is a carrot look-alike - with nitrates in it.

Effect on meat

Animals that live on the farm graze on the grass there which means they also get contaminated. Then again in a lot of farms dairy and poultry animals are force-fed with anti-biotic medicine to increase production of milk and eggs. Disease can also spread from eating such farm products. When these animals die, they decompose into the soil and leave the remnants of the anti-biotic and the chemically eaten grass back into the soil; and the story begins all over again. So meat, milk and poultry products are not exempt either.

Organic baby food

With adults in danger, it makes it imperative to make babies safe from this kind of chemical attack. Babies need to be fed only with organic baby snacks like Earth's Best products to protect them from diseases. Babies' bodies are delicate and vulnerable to disease as their physical systems are still in the early stages of development. The parents may buy baby food unsuspectingly from the supermarket, but that might not be natural baby food at all but baby food prepared with the same chemically treated ingredients.

Real dangers from eating chemically treated crops

The list of diseases that can spring up from eating fertilizer doused crops begins with cancer. The growing number of cancer cases all over the world is a strong pointer to this. Other diseases related to increased chemical toxicity in the body are obesity and Alzheimer's disease.

Turning back the clock

Now luckily due to growing awareness, every supermarket has organic sections where organic produce is displayed for purchase. Organic food refers to crops grown without fertilizers. Naturally these crops are more expensive as the organic farms strive to produce crops without artificially inflating their rate of growth. But if this extra money means a healthier body with an improved immune system then the money is an investment not expenditure. Perhaps this explains why people of olden days lived longer and healthier lives though the medical facilities were not so far advanced back then. They didn't need the medication!

Perhaps it's time to undo some of the negative effects of modernization and turn back to the good old methods of farming.

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Posted in: Foods,Infant,Nutrition,Organic

Organic Food Preserving - How To Sterilize Your Canning Jars

Firstly, I always sterilize my kitchen counters and sinks. Clean hands always a must. Clean dish cloth, dish towel. All tools out. All food prepped. Oh and prior to all of that, I take a loaf of French bread and make the most humungous sandwich. That way when my three teenagers are hungry, they are allowed to take that submarine sandwich to a spot away from my sterilized jarring area and and slice a piece off to eat while I jam or pickle.

Secondly, and I know that was a long firstly, make sure you are using the right jar for the right job, 250ml jars are for jams, jellies, antipasto, etc. I use the 500ml jars for my bread and butter pickles (which are the absolute best bar none) and I use the larger 1 litre jars for dill pickles.

Thirdly, put a large stock pot filled with water, not to the brim but full enough to cover your jars, lids and screw tabs. I know you don't need to sterilize the screw tabs but I like to - I mean it does not hurt to sterilize them as well. The lids must be sterilized in boiling water to soften the lid and make that seal airtight.

Generally, I boil my jars, lids and screw tabs about 10 minutes. I remove everything with tongs in one hand and oven mitt on the other. Please do not put the oven mitt into the inside of the jar. It wouldn't be sterile then. As well, I have my pickling dish towels laid out and that is where I set the jars, lids and screw tabs. Set the jars upright. And yes, I have designated pickling dish towels because for my bread and butter pickles, I use turmeric in that recipe and it stains big time. So all my pickling dish towels are stained yellow - a small price to pay (and its only two dish towels that are so designated).

Now you are ready to fill those jars with your fresh organic fruits and vegetables. This is when you make your jam or your pickling vegetable.

When filling your jars leave 1/4" from the top for everything you jam or pickle. When I made my organic jams and pickles this summer (2011), you need to remove the air from the jars after you have filled them. This does not need to be done with dill pickles. So what I do to ensure that there is no spillage, I initially fill my jars to 1/2" from the top. Then I take my rubber spatula and slowly and carefully insert it into the jar and right up against the glass. Then pull up slowly. I do this on average in three different spots along the inside wall of the jar. Voila the air is removed. Then I gently top the jars to within 1/4" of the top.

Before sealing, I run my finger around the top of the jar to ensure there is no spillage. Your jar will not seal properly if you have product on the jar. Put your sterilized lid on and place the screw tab on top. With one hand using your index finger hold that lid in place. With your other hand screw the screw tab on and not too tight. I give it one good turn at the end and that's that. Set them aside and when they are cooled down store them somewhere dark and cool. Like under your basement stairs.

Now as you are cleaning up your kitchen and admiring your accomplishments you will hear your lids make a "ping" sound. That is normal. It simply means your jars are sealing airtight. When you reward yourself and open your jar filled with yumminess and organicness there is a sound you must hear upon opening. It is said that the screw tabs can be removed 24 hours after processing, but I leave them on for esthetic purposes and I never tighten them unless I am gifting them, which I always do each Christmas. Once you have removed the screw tab, take a butter knife and using the side of the blade, position is between the lip of the jar and the lid. Pull up and you should hear a "pop" when it opens. That means you had an absolute seal and your product is safe to eat. If the sealing lid removes easily or moves itself, that means "don't eat", the seal was not accomplished and your product is compromised. Refrigerate after opening and that is where those screw tabs really assist in keeping freshness in the fridge and another reason I leave them on.

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Posted in: Canning,Organic,Preserving,Sterilize

Buying Cheap Organic Vegetables

Do you love organic vegetables but find that they are too expensive? Well with a bit of research you can enjoy the great taste of organic vegetables without breaking the bank.

Firstly whilst your local supermarket may stock organic vegetables, it is probably the single most expensive place you could wish to buy them, the reason for this is supermarkets want to put you off buying them as they actually make less profit than on their cheaper goods, which they buy in bulk at a much lower price.

So stop shopping there for organic goods today!

The best places to source organic vegetables are specialty delis, farmers markets, farm shops and even car boot sales! Other good places to buy them from are local co-operative groups that grow them, although often to do this you will have to join one and get your hands dirty helping out planting and looking after the vegetables.

Shopping around can really pay off and these days you only need to look to the Internet to buy cheap organic vegetables, with many organic suppliers offering a box service, whereby you pay a fixed price for a box containing a variety of vegetables. These are great if you live in a city and there is no farmer's market or farm shop in sight.

Sometimes organic vegetables can seem expensive but only if you do not shop around for the best deal. It can take more time and effort but in general the food quality outweighs the downsides. Most people are happy paying a bit more for organic produce but do not want to pay double.

Shopping around for organic food normally means you will only end up paying a few pence more for the privilege of eating great tasting food.

For the very cheapest produce then look for people with honesty tables of produce outside of their houses, or go to car boot sales, which can often result in some really low priced organic goods.

Buying things when they are in season and then freezing them is also a good way to keep the cost down, and then use the frozen ones when they are out of season.

Joining an organic buying club is also a good idea as by buying in bulk, collectively you are able to get them at a very good price.

Alternatively you could simply look towards growing your own vegetables if you have the space. Indeed many people even in inner cities are now growing lots of vegetables in containers.

Just remember that to be organic you have to grow everything without normal pesticides and without using man made fertilizers.

Why not find out more about reasons to start Eating Organic Vegetables, and learn the secrets of Growing Organic Vegetables, also my site has a great vegetable calendar giving advice on exactly what vegetables to plant month by month, ideal for those new to vegetable gardening, as well as step by step vegetable growing guides.

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Posted in: Buying,Cheap,Organic,Vegetables