[troublemaker]

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

Tanveer, research the specific brand that you buy. I have read that mineral water bottle have some chemicals leach into them from the bottles (over long period, under the hot sun etc). We have shifted to steel bottles and always fill them up before leaving home, with a couple ice cubes in them. There are a few bottles of water in car all the time, but we have reduced their usage to almost nil.

regd organic, I think it also conveys non genetically modified. GM food has not entered india yet as far as i understand, so you should be fine. I have told my wife to resist the perfect round, bright spotless apperance of food since in all probability they are GM.

I second that. Since there are not many GM veggies/fruits in India, thorough washing should be good enough.

Regd plastic, we have also started carrying steel water bottles. Another thing we have switched to is Organic milk products due to the Growth Hormones used in regular milk(here in North America). That stuff is simply scary.

[vivekiny2k]

Originally Posted by YaeJay

Very true. Steel is good, I thought Glass is ok too ( your views on glass vivekiny2k ?).

Mildly hazardous when broken

otherwise we all know glass is very inert (can hold acid).

[Daewood]

Originally Posted by YaeJay

The best organic veggies I would trust has to grow on my backyard. Its not really tough if one has a little space!

i'm planning to do this very soon..as soon as i shift to an independent house or a flat with a terrace/ balcony. That would be a nice hobby and stress buster too!!

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by Daewood

i'm planning to do this very soon..as soon as i shift to an independent house or a flat with a terrace/ balcony. That would be a nice hobby and stress buster too!!

Awesome. I have been toying with this idea for a while and grew some chillies in our balcony. Rs 12 savings per week.

[Daewood]

^^
Yes its very easy. All it requires is a few minutes of care every day.
I've grown tomatoes, brinjals, bottlegourd, ladiesfinger, etc at my
old home where there was ample space.. (not acres of space, just around 250 Sft of vacant land)
and i was just 11 yrs old then with very little knowledge of agriculture,
except what i learnt from my gardening teacher.

P.S: Yes, gardening was part of our school syllabus just like crafts.

[vivekiny2k]

we had just 4 feet by 20 feet of space behind our house, and we ate vegies thru out the year that my late uncle used to grow. Lauki, turai, same (sorry, don't know the english names), even karela (bitter gourd) grows from the ground, climbs up and then he used to spread it all over the roof with a mesh of ropes. you can't leave it on the floor just like that because if it touches the floor, the veggie will get dented and then start rotting.

and he never applied any fertilizers, chemicals or even manures.

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by Daewood

^^
Yes its very easy. All it requires is a few minutes of care every day.

Brilliant man. And yes I am looking forward to trying my hand at it too.

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

and he never applied any fertilizers, chemicals or even manures.

I remember grandmom doing the same. She was quite particular about the way they grew. I think somewhere down the line we folks got too lazy for all this.

And the pride in eating something you have yourself grown would be another advantage.

[Ragul]

Soft plastic bottles leach Bisphenol - a chemical used to soften plastics. This spikes estrogen in the human body and causes problems in both males and females. Can lead to hair loss due to the way it can ultimately affect testosterone production - at least I remember researching a somewhat vague and long chain of cause-and-effect, the reasoning for which is no longer crystal clear to me Antimony is another byproduct of leaving water in plastic bottles for a long duration.

HTH

[Mudhalaipatti]

Trying to resurrect this thread. Let's see if we can breathe some life in to this.

Organic food is fast catching up in Chennai and a number of shops have sprung up recently. I trust two shops, that have been around for more than 6 years now. One is 'Organic Pasumaiyagam' in Kottivakkam, Chennai and the other 'Aroygam Organics' in Chengalpet. I find the others either over priced or not really in to Organic way of life.

You get fresh vegetables bi-weekly in Organic Pasumaiyagam, which are moderately priced. Fruits are almost the same as market price. Other items like pulses, grains are grossly overpriced. This is where Arogyam Organics helps. The pulses and grains are moderately priced. The source my rice directly from farmers across TN. Some of the very healthy varieties that my family consumes are 'Maapillai Samba', 'Karunguruvai', 'Kallundaan','Vellangkaar'. Based on the season, we get our rice. Organics, unpolished (I would rather called natural)/Natural rice.

[Samurai]

I was just wondering whether we had a thread on the pseudoscience of Organic food, turns out we do.

Here is a great article from EU food council: http://www.eufic.org/article/en/expi...r_perceptions/

Another: http://www.newrepublic.com/article/1...st-creationism

The smartest (most probably) man born in 20th century had this to say about organic food concept way back in the 80s. He passed away in 1988. Nothing has really changed since then, organic food is still scientifically unsubstantiated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaO69CF5mbY

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Samurai

I was just wondering whether we had a thread on the pseudoscience of Organic food, turns out we do.

This article may be relevant for west, where quality of food is top notch, however, in the Indian context it makes sense.
The reason is that, as long as you follow recommended practices for pesticides etc., organic or no organic is not going to make a different.
However, if you going to pump your food in hormones and pesticides, the game changes.
For example, the poultry farmer next to our farm has a different mini set of chickens which he feeds to his family. The "production" market grade chicken is only for the market. He openly admits feeding those chickens a lot of growth hormones and stuff(all gotten from the VET), which he does not feed chickens for his own consumption. Now the breed is the same. Only difference is diet.

Similarly, even for crops, you have farmers using excessive pesticides and fertilizers. Many of them use a separate plot for their own consumption. And the less said about milk, the better.

So in India, if you have access to food which has been fed recommended dozes of pesticides etc., good, but since you have only two choices for most people, people tend to go "Organic".

Hopefully, with GMO, so much pesticides etc., won't be needed, but the business model does not augur well with our style of farming where the seed is always reused. The concept of seed as intellectual property is very abhorrent, enough to have people on the streets with pitchforks. Heck I will be joining if some company told me I could no reuse the seeds from my crop.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

So in India, if you have access to food which has been fed recommended dozes of pesticides etc., good, but since you have only two choices for most people, people tend to go "Organic".

How do we know it is not just a label, considering this is India?

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Samurai

How do we know it is not just a label, considering this is India?

You don't. But someone may. For example I know all the lentils and wheat and rice I eat has not been pumped full of pesticides etc., Its mostly organic, though the yield is low. But who cares, its for personal consumption. so this much yield is enough.

That said, you can always test veggies for residue. Many kits are available at low cost which allow you to identify stuff

[CliffHanger]

A lot is being discussed in this thread regarding body building but there is hardly any discussion on the food we eat. I made a observation yesterday which revolves around the food we eat, so here it is -

Yesterday, I attended a Brahmin wedding where the majority of the crowd were vegetarians. While I was casually looking at the crowd, I observed that almost all men appeared weak and dull, even the guys who are in their 20s who should be brisk for their age. I couldn't adjudge or personally verify their physical strength, but my observation strongly forced me to believe they appear weak and dull.

A quick thought on why they may possibly be weak, I realized that Brahmins or typically vegetarians are at great risk by the food they eat. The major part of their diet is milk and vegetables. Let's analyze what actually is in each one of them.

Milk - I know a person who runs a cattle farm, and he says that every day he has to give injections to the cow for better milk yield, add to that the antibiotic injections and other injections which are fed regularly. There is more to the milk story - there is a strong belief that hybrid jersey cow's milk, which majority of us drink, is harmful and is a cause for a lot of diseases across the globe. Some of you might be aware that there were foreign agents who stole embryos of our country cows. The country cow milk vs hybrid cow milk is a huge topic - and I suggest people who are interested in it to research in the internet. Personally, after a lot of study I have come to the conclusion that the milk we drink is indeed harmful.

Vegetables - Recently, read that the vegetables Kerala received from TN had 5 times more pesticides than the prescribed limit. Most of us do not know from where our vegetables originate, but the chances are very high they are highly dripped with pesticides.

The situation is no better for Non-vegetarians, but at least they do not heavily depend on milk and vegetables.

So that brings to the topic, are the foods we are eating slowly eroding us, physically and mentally? Are vegetarians already on the path to slow self destruction eating harmful foods as their major part of their diet?

Personally, I stopped taking milk, broiler chicken(another mind numbing story), processed/packed foods, fruits such as grapes that are more prone to pesticides, hybrid vegetables, etc. I started consuming sea foods regularly these days, and vegetables sourced from local markets, it doesn't guarantee 100% safe foods, but far better than what I listed before.

So people, start watching what you eat for your better tomorrow.

[fine69]

A good way of getting rid of pesticides and other harmful substances stuck on fruits and veggies (especially the ones you wish to consume raw) is to fill a spray bottle with 1/4th vinegar and 3/4th water. Just spray on everything you buy, keep them aside for 5-10 mins and then rinse through clean water or consume as it is if you don't mind the vinegar taste.

Vinegar is WD40's organic little brother.