NEWS: Please Stop Me From Putting Fries In My Tummy

Sick said:
I'm curious about when "organic" became synonymous with "healthy."

If I make a Big Mac-like sandwhich and use organic beef, organic cheese, organic lettuce, buns made from organic wheat, and all other organic ingredients, guess what? It's still going to be unhealthy. Maybe less so, because it will have less sodium, preservatives, etc., but if I use ingredients that are inherently full of fat, cholesterol, and other things that are bad for me, I'm going to get a final product that's bad for me.

I'm pretty sure that raising organic, free-range cattle doesn't eliminate the fat or cholesterol in the beef made from them.

And if I make fries out of organic potatoes? Still fried potatoes.

It's an issue I've seen in many articles I've read on how it's impossible to have a healthy diet on a limited budget. The writer inevitibly lists the things he tries to buy with his limited funds: organic eggs, organic milk, free-range chicken, shade-grown coffee cultivated by the last descendents of a native people made nearly extinct by Spanish colonization.

He then concludes it's impossible to live on such a budget. No shit? Those things are expensive. The non-organic equivalents are nearly equal in nutritional value, and are more wthin most people's budgets.

So let's be realistic.

NickFaust said:
However, I am more than willing to pay more for organic foods. And for locally grown ones. I think that what is intended is to indicate that some foods are raised pesticide and chemical fertilizer free. It is much more labor intensive and expensive (you lose a lot more product to bugs and disease) to raise things this way. The point is that you are reducing the amount of chemicals you ingest and are also attending to the environment in encouraging (and paying) farmers to use more eco-friendly techniques than the scorched earth approaches of Archer Daniels Midland.

This is a choice of conscience for me and one that I am willing to pay for. Fact is, some of our food budget is so high because we eat too fucking much. A pound of tofu is to much for one person to eat at a sitting - it doesn't matter if it is "healthy" or not.

Sick said:

Which I can agree with. However, the eco-friendliness of organic foods and the nutrition of organic foods are different issues.

One makes "organic" synonymous with "eco-friendly," while the other makes it mean "healthy." One makes sense, one does not, you know?

TheFuckOffKid said:

The government sets food prices in the USA? Who knew?

Sick said:
I've concluded that since there's such a positive correlation between poverty and obesity, we should just outlaw poor people.

Emi said:
wtf...when i was in LA there were all sorts of vegan and vegetarian and otherwise healthy places to eat.

GRAK said:
That, and when I go home to visit I buy all my tobacco in TN because a can of long cut is $6.75 in CA compared to $3.40 in TN, and a pack of 27's is also $3.40 compared to $5.25+ in CA. Home sweet Home........

Ember said:
Yeah, rather than banning a certain type of food, they should just make healthier foods more readily available....I do have to say though that it seems like "bad" food is far easier to come by, the vending machines at my college only offer shit like doritos and cookies, meanwhile the vending machine with freezer food only has burgers and ice cream....doesn't mean they shouldn't offer these things, but they should have some healthier alternatives available as well.

GRAK said:
That, and when I go home to visit I buy all my tobacco in TN because a can of long cut is $6.75 in CA compared to $3.40 in TN, and a pack of 27's is also $3.40 compared to $5.25+ in CA. Home sweet Home........

Ember said:
Yeah, rather than banning a certain type of food, they should just make healthier foods more readily available....I do have to say though that it seems like "bad" food is far easier to come by, the vending machines at my college only offer shit like doritos and cookies, meanwhile the vending machine with freezer food only has burgers and ice cream....doesn't mean they shouldn't offer these things, but they should have some healthier alternatives available as well.