Healthy food choices and options in a tough economy

You already know what to avoid Molly. That will help you a great deal.

You may have seen this posted a time or two here... could come in handy.

EWG's shopper's guide to pesticides in produce...

http://www.foodnews.org/fulllist.php

I know you know all of this, however this is for others too... perhaps some will find it helpful.

A refractometer (if you do not have one) can be had for around $35 and can help a great deal with choosing quality produce and for training yourself on how to pick quality out without one in the future... barring that purchase, look (or should I say sniff - use and hone your senses) for produce that smells like it should... the stronger and more pleasant the vegetable or fruit smell, the better the produce... I found some REALLY good conventional on-the-vine tomatoes the other day... and they smelled and tasted like tomatoes should (more so than nearly anything I have had in decades); this is a good sign... Another way to tell higher quality is that the fruit or vegetable will seem a bit heavy for its size; be careful here though... a heavy weight with no smell, and\or (they can make produce look better than it is) pale\poor color (don't be fooled by creative color contrasts in displays), indicates the food is full of water and most likely full of NPN as well... this is the produce that turns to mush quickly and is not any good to eat at all.

When I walk into a produce section, I follow my nose... sadly, any more, the vegetables that smell like they should are few and far between, but can still be had, especially now and through the summer... note that the better quality most often is found in the local, in season foods.

Farmers markets and road side stands (out in the rural areas) are a great option... if you are fortunate enough to have a farmers market grocery in town, that could be an option too. If you have the time, make a visit one or more times per week...

here are a few other options...

Food Co-ops... my Sister-in-law turned me onto these in our town... they are gaining strength and momentum and tend to feature ONLY in season, fresh local produce... most of it is not organic (organic is available at most of them), however, I have found great quality stuff at these.

and then there are things like this...

http://www.pickyourown.org/

Very cheap, fun, family and friends activity.

and this...

http://www.localharvest.org/

Some local harvest farms will sell direct to consumer... with a variety of drop off and pick up points. Some will bring your "order" to a farmers market they may participate in weekly.

One can find good deals on frozen produce if you go through the adds, which are oftentimes picked closer to actual ripeness, and then packaged fairly quickly...

If you have a dehydrator, or a bit of "extra" freezer space, you may be able to take advantage when things are on sale. Making soups from high quality foods and freezing them may be a good option too.

Make stock pots... use the vegetable trimmings for creating your soup broths and then mulch the waste if you mulch.

A good salt and whole black pepper are musts... and rather inexpensive, even if you get a "mined" salt (Realsalt) and organic whole black pepper.

You can help to eliminate issues with conventional produce by using either a weak clay or hydrogen peroxide vegetable wash...

There are plenty of sites including curezone with instructions for doing so and how it works.

Canned, wild caught fish goes on sale once in a while... keep on the lookout.

Some stores carry rather affordable "natural" meats that are not certified as organic, however feed and the meat itself are tested for pesticide residue and any animal that has ever been on Antibiotics for any reason are off a minimum of 120 or 90 days (i forgot which)... if you trust the label... we have local ranch to customer direct options where we live too... several families can go in together on a free range, grass fed cow for under $6 a pound dressed. I get my share of bones and organ meats thrown in if I ask (I paid for the total pre-dressed weight anyway).

I have found local raw goat milk for around $6 a gallon and free range eggs $2 for 18... this is supply and demand oriented though and would be subject to change. You must scour and search... sources, if casual or independent off the grid, are not always reliable unless you set a confirmed regular order in and are on a first name basis with the provider; religiously and firmly keep your side of the deal in order to build trust and you will help to solidify reliability. Note that there are natural cycles and that availability may be reduced or eliminated at certain times of the year... this is natural and I would rather the provider care first for the animals welfare before my own... as the products the animal produces will be that much better for it when available.

Wild harvesting and foraging is an option...people used to do this all of the time with family outings\picnics and camping trips; I remember doing this with my grandparents as a kid... we wild harvested elderberries among many other things. This year, I hope to harvest wild fruits again.

If you plant anything, be sure it is edible. Potted herbs and spices, hanging vegetables, etc.

Projected food shortages may not severely affect the U.S. for a while, but will increasingly and greatly influence prices.

My best of luck to you... I am sorry abut the income loss.

We suffered a huge hit several months ago, we bounced back a bit (not nearly enough), however, it is still a huge "pinch" and there are rather scary rumors ( I use rumor, although they are based upon documented talks) floating around my employer...

We are all in the same boat... I suspect that it will get worse in some respects as governments find ways to creatively raise additional revenue through increased taxes, fines\tickets, cutting vital services, etc. etc.

Pension funds look to be one of the next areas of concern as they took huge losses and many are talking insolvency next year along with SS.,, without a rebound... I hope not... but then... it is...

Time to reassess our values...

People at work and our neighbors have slowly started to "share" what we have\can. I am fortunate, my family always has shared like this...

My wife and I started working like a tag team... we do things separately to get more done... then, we started working together more with our extended families and neighbors again... planted fruit trees; between six neighbors and I, we now have about 20 various fruit trees and a row of grape vines; I am going to plant another row this year. Every home in my neighborhood has at least a few fruit trees... We increased the size of our garden from a rather small herbal garden of about 100 square feet (not counting my few hundred aloe plants and potted herbs) to over 400 square feet, and tripled the size of mom's garden... which is about 1200 square feet now... with room to expand another 600 square feet easily.

We are planning chickens perhaps sometime within the next few months... however this is subject to land availability and laws for most.

I am sure there are many others on these boards affected by this mess... I used the "negative" of all this as motivation for becoming more self sufficient as evidenced above... I hope that you can too.

I started saving and drying seed as well...

Do a search for "frugal" living. There are many ideas, not only "frugal" but also green for doing things around the home... there are old time "living" sites as well, that illustrate how to do many things with just the things you may have on hand.

Earthclinic and this site have a lot of great, cheap ideas for maintaining and\or dealing with health issues on nearly any budget.

Epsom Salt baths and their variations can be very useful if you learn how and when to use them.

Another thing that may be an option for you, would be to purchase bulk grass, seaveg, fruit, and veg powders from places like mountain rose herbs and putting your own green drinks together.

A few pounds of powder can last several months with conservative (rationed) use. Depending upon the "formula. a good one can be put together for around $10 a pound which would last about a month (a better and cheaper supplement). Put together right, with good quality stuff is all the nutrition most currently healthy individuals probably need. One can make a good, very affordable meal replacement out of these green drinks too with perhaps a piece of good fruit, and\or some organic or kosher whole grain crackers and a good nut butter, perhaps a local honey.

Other "inexpensive" supplements would be a good black strap molasses, ACV, Epsom Salts , etc...

when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

Prayers... may this be of use to those in need.

grz-


Tweet