Organic living

[MissM]

I'm an interested in hearing about those who changed their eating to organic foods. I'm thinking about changing our diets to organic just for health reasons. I like the idea of organic eating, but not sure if the tween will be interested.

[Shanti]

I would love to buy all organic fruits and veges and dh says we can one day, just not yet

[MissM]

Lol - DH wishes he could have a vegie garden but we just don't have time or room for one

[veus]

We did the switch. What would you like to know? Fire away. :-)


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[organic-girl]

We're a family who use to live the standard Aussie diet, we are now a vegan, gluten free, sugar and yeast free organic, clean eating family! It can be done! It just starts with 1 step! As my hubby says to my eldest, you can't eat an elephant all at once you gotta take one bite at a time... Then she will shriek at the thought of eating an elephant lol! I use to be someone who if I was going to start a diet would eat something bad then go stuff it and eat bad for the rest of the day! When I was transitioning I would eat the bad thing and stop and eat healthy for the rest of the day even if I stuffed up again I just looked at the food as what healthier things have I eaten that day! If you haven't watch 'food inc' 'food matters' 'hungry for change' and a great book is 'creating healthy children' when you have run out of an item in the pantry, go buy that item in organic next time. If you haven't read the labels on the items you buy, ask questions, call the manufactures, start making things from scratch, finding ways to 'copy cat' that favorite cafe cake but make it healthier and taste better... Every step counts! All changes even so small make a big difference! Xx


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Mummie to
Lucy Alys (July '06)
Minnie Audrey (July '09)
Pippi Violet (oct '11)

[MissM]

Thanks for the responses. I'm not sure what I really want to ask other than how did you do it? Can you buy organic meat? (odd question - I know) what do you sort of meals do you eat? (is that a weird question??)

The clean diet sounds so refreshing, but I'm not sure how sustainable it'll be?

[veus]

Yes you can buy organic meat but I'm finding biodynamic meat is easier to get hold off. Organic chicken is the easiest to get hold off. We can get that off the supermarket sometimes.

Slow transition is probably the key. We still have stuff that isn't organic in the house but in general it is.

Veg- we started by getting a box from one of the organic online store delivered. Because there's not a lot of mass produced stuff u tend to get what's in season which is great. We end up with some interesting meals sometimes just coz I want to use up some stuff. I also find by swapping to organic veg & fruits, I don't end up spending as much because I'm more conscious of how much I buy. Eg a bunch of celery might cost $6 organic or $3 for 1/2 of it. Previously I would not hesitate to buy a bunch of conventional celery because it's $2 or $3. But with swapping to organic stuff I would buy the 1/2 bunch and not end up wasting food. (which is my bad really)

Most organic veg taste better, mainly because they are in season. I have found some that are just 'meh'. Carrots & tomatoes were the first that convinced me. Sometime ago I read an article that list which pesticides are absorb most in which fruit & veg (can't find the article now). In general the more 'watery' veg & fruits tend to absorb most of the pesticides so I started the swaps from there.

Farmers market is another place I find organic veg. Not all the stalls would be organic though.

Organic doesn't necessarily mean theyre the freshest either. I have had some rotten stuff but I've learnt to shop at where's there's decent turnover.

Meat- took a bit longer to swap more because of what's available and cost. Meat does tend to cost more. And I can't find other alternatives at the moment except to limit our meat intake.

I don't think we've changed what meals we eat. If anything we're getting more variety and creative because we're eating more seasonally.

Feel free to PM me if u want more details etc.


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[Cassius2]

We have made the switch and as a PP mentioned it is easier if you have the time to take it slowly and bit by bit.

It does cost more for some basics (namely milk), but if you start hunting down your local health food shops you will find that bread can be really competitive (and freshly baked that day!). you'll never beat the $1 white bread loaves at the supermarkets...but i figure that's AOK

We took our time doing a full conversion simply due to $$ i needed it to not be restrictive. so, for example, everytime i found biodynamic/organic free range eggs at a good price i would take note of where i got them and what the name of the farm was.

we order our fruit and vege online from an organic farm group. it works out to be super competitive with the supermarkets. and i supplement if i need to at the local grocer (for example our apples this week were so DELICIOUS that we ran out on day 3 ).

Organic meat can also be bought online and that is our next step (so we are nominally vegetarian right now lol). they tend to do bulk lots but there are some that do smaller packages. the bonus is that they all deliver too!

we have loved doing the conversion. food tastes like it should ITMS. milk is so creamy and yellow (we buy full fat...) soooo yummy!

i found organic sweets etc to be expensive (except chocolate...that's competitive), so for biscuits i am getting all martha stewart and making them from scratch with my organic ingredients. and nothing fancy either...short bread, jam drops etc. i am not a baker lol.

[CC11]

We're a family who use to live the standard Aussie diet, we are now a vegan, gluten free, sugar and yeast free organic, clean eating family! It can be done! It just starts with 1 step! As my hubby says to my eldest, you can't eat an elephant all at once you gotta take one bite at a time... Then she will shriek at the thought of eating an elephant lol! I use to be someone who if I was going to start a diet would eat something bad then go stuff it and eat bad for the rest of the day! When I was transitioning I would eat the bad thing and stop and eat healthy for the rest of the day even if I stuffed up again I just looked at the food as what healthier things have I eaten that day! If you haven't watch 'food inc' 'food matters' 'hungry for change' and a great book is 'creating healthy children' when you have run out of an item in the pantry, go buy that item in organic next time. If you haven't read the labels on the items you buy, ask questions, call the manufactures, start making things from scratch, finding ways to 'copy cat' that favorite cafe cake but make it healthier and taste better... Every step counts! All changes even so small make a big difference! Xx



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Mummie to
Lucy Alys (July '06)
Minnie Audrey (July '09)
Pippi Violet (oct '11)

^^ Those are some great docos, there are also great blogs out there like the wellness warrior

Whilst I have been a vegetarian for 18 years, I only went organic (everything including pantry items like pasta or bread etc) 4 years ago. I haven't looked back. Hubby, who was a former junk addict (Maccas, candy etc) argued with me at first about the jump in our weekly food budget but he has long since come around (he is a meat eater, but we buy organic/biodynamic/grass fed free range meat, dairy and eggs.) At the end of the day, what we want most is to have a long and healthy life, and therefore it makes sense to invest in our health through our food. We budgeted in other areas so that we could buy pure food. It makes a difference.
Just the other week hubby went out for Chinese food with a friend and got a massive migraine, turns out the food had MSG, because he hadn't consumed MSG in so long it affected him immediately. Some people make fun of me when I say I only buy organic, so to show them why, I got a can of RAID (insect pesticide) and sprayed strawberry with it and then gave it to them. Do you think they ate it? NO, and I only sprayed it once with supermarket grade pesticide.

Since eating organic we have found that our skin looks great, we rarely get sick (in 4 years I have been sick twice, once was during pregnancy) and we just feel better.
When I was pregnant, i was determined more than ever to make sure that I did everything possible to ensure I built a fantastic body for my daughter, and as a breastfeeding mum, I continue to do my best to make sure she gets the best nutrition and as little toxins/pesticides/hormones as possible. I want her to have a long and healthy life and I believe the food we eat plays a HUGE part in that.

Even though I am not vegan (I eat eggs from my dads rescued chooks and occasionally honey) I am considering giving my daughter a wholesome food diet that doesn't include meat, dairy or refined sugar. At least until she is old enough to do her own research and decide what she wants to put into her body. I am hoping if I start her on a clean, extremely healthy diet she will form good eating habits and have a preference for healthy foods that increase her vitality. That aside, preservatives, additives, pesticides etc WILL NOT ever be a part of my family's diet again.