Karmacat: To Infinity And Beyond!

Lula-Hula

Hello Karma & company

I've just read back through the last couple of pages & so much of what you've all been saying about food struck a chord with me.

From the minute DD was born I made sure everything she consumed was organic until she went to school & learned all about McDreadfuls & all the other junk that kids love . Since attempting to become DF, I've cut out most of the organic produce, but the items I've always been advised to eat organically are milk, beef, apples & carrots. I used to stick to this until earlier this year when DD developed an allergy to carrots & apples so now cook them & it doesnt seem worth it.

I'd love to go back to being mainly organic, but I also have feelings about locally grown foods, Fair Trade foods etc etc. It's not easy being ethical, environmental, moneysaving & lazy too :rotfl:

Reading about Rocks Organic Squash reminded me of a recent shopping trip when DD spotted it on the shelf & reminded me " Oh look ! we used to have that when we were rich" . Ouch !


Love the idea of lots of mini breaks :j, I'd best get on with clearing my debt & buying that camper van / boat then ...

ZTD

taxi73 wrote: »

I am not veggie soplease excuse the next bit....I've been buying organic chicken for months but decided to give the packs of normal shop 3 for £10 chicken breast offers a go....both DD and I had to feed it to the dog....the taste is totally different from organic...the organic tastes like chicken used to the special offer chicken tasted watery and tasteless..yuck.

So don't think the cost increase has anything to do with someone just putting organic on it..it takes a long time to produce an organic chicken and they have a lot less chickens per sqm ....

I think a lot of the difference is whether its free range or not. I have non-organic (I think) freerange chickens. Hit a "normal" supermarket bird with a meat cleaver and it goes straight through. Hit a "free range" bird with a cleaver and it gets stuck in the breastbone and needs a bit more gentle persuasion. A lot greater density both the meat and the bone in a free-range.

And yes, the taste is there too.

ZTD

Karmacat wrote: »

So - and I know this sounds very little - I booked 3 days at the travelodge in Ely for a little away break next March

How ironic...I'm typing this from the Travellodge near Stowmarket as we speak...

ZTD

redsquirrel80 wrote: »

Obviously hard to know how neutral the programme was but some very interesting 'things I didn't know' including the fact that naturally occurring glutamates could have the same effects on people as MSG.

Well yes, they would have. In the same way that cyanides in apple pips would have exactly the same effect on people as manufactured cyanides, and methanol produced by fruit has exactly the same effect as methalyted spirits.

The differences are all in the quantities and distribution. If you're allergic to grapes, but like to drink, then you can be sure that if you avoid wine then you'll be fine. If you're allergic to sulphites, then you basically can't drink because it's in *everything*.

Glutamate occurs naturally (it's an amino acid) so if a protein falls apart for whatever reason, there's a chance that it will appear on its own as free glutamic acid. There is somewhere in the region of 32,000 tons of monosodium glutamate manufactured on a yearly basis. That's a completely different scale...

redsquirrel80 wrote: »

I have quite mixed feelings about food - my instinct is to go for the most natural non-adulterated products, but I can see the logical points about some processing being just another step on from cooking, fermenting, preserving with salt etc..

It's the "logical points" that get you. The logical mind is easy to con and to beguile. Unless you absolutely know the details of a process, trust your instincts. Your instincts are tuned to keeping you alive and healthy, and after a few million years of practice, are getting quite good at it.

Genetic modification: It's just like breeding for traits like has been practiced for centuries - except it's more efficient. So the latest in tomatoes which have been created by adding a single extra protein could just as easily been created by breeding a tomato with a fish.

Decaffeination: This is just a simple matter of adding a solvent to your coffee granules. The solvent is the simple organic solvent "hexane" (one of the shorter-chain constituents in petrol). So taking the caffeine out is a simple matter of topping up the coffee jar with warm petrol, giving it a shake to ensure good mixing, then pouring off the petrol, then heating the granules to completely dry them out again. Then taking a spoonful, putting it into your cup and making you a nice hot cup of java. Lovely? No?

I could go on, but I've probably just made people spit their coffee out...

The overarching principle is: Would I do that to myself? If you wouldn't, then why are you paying other people to do it to you?

Karmacat

ZTD wrote: »

I think a lot of the difference is whether its free range or not.

And thats an important point as well.

ZTD wrote: »

How ironic...I'm typing this from the Travellodge near Stowmarket as we speak...

:hello: Whatcha doin' there, honey? What's it like?

ZTD wrote: »

It's the "logical points" that get you. The logical mind is easy to con and to beguile. Unless you absolutely know the details of a process, trust your instincts. Your instincts are tuned to keeping you alive and healthy, and after a few million years of practice, are getting quite good at it.

Absolutely - the whole logical fallacy thing.

The overarching principle is: Would I do that to myself? If you wouldn't, then why are you paying other people to do it to you?

Oh Z, thats brilliantly put! I love that, I'm definitely going to remember that one. Thank you :kisses3:

Karmacat

Just had my Asda delivery - Sainsbo offered me free delivery but their website screwed up, so Asda got the biz - which also means I can get some of my cheap pesto and I got free delivery because I spent over £50 (just!!!).

"My" vacuum cleaner from France is arriving tomorrow :j i.e. my sister's back and she's driving over with it :kisses3: the place might be clean one day.

And I finally met the neighbours! Well, I engineered a meeting - I went out when I could hear Mr clipping the leylandii (given that they exist, at least we agree they should be clipped ). They're very nice, and they were dreading meeting me as they were told I don't like dogs :eek: theirs are big and furry and from what I can tell really well trained. Finally got to stroke one today

I'm going to check out the finances - present building works, more electrical safety work because of the mice, a laptop, flooring - its about £4.5k ..... only two thirds of which is budgetted for. Still, money is kind of stretchy ..... should be okay. My PEP, from when I was rich :rotfl:is doing much better than I thought.... hey ho, we'll see.

Karmacat

:hello:

Lula-Hula wrote: »

Love the idea of lots of mini breaks :j, I'd best get on with clearing my debt & buying that camper van / boat then ...

Yes do! And let us know when you're ready for visitors :rotfl:

gilligansyle

Evening KC

well done on booking yourself a break. Can't comment on the area, as its a part of the country I have never been to.

Am sat here with a cup of coffee reading Z's comments about decaff. Not sure the caffeinated version is much better, but personally couldn't think of drinking coffee without caffeine in it.
Brother who used to work for a food manufacturer as a production manager never ate processed food at all if he could help it. Wonder why

Karmacat

I can believe that! Do you remember the Cadbury's factory at Leasowe on the Wirral? I had a studen job there the year I graduated - never felt the same about creme eggs since. Or Christmas puddings....

gilligansyle

Karmacat wrote: »

I can believe that! Do you remember the Cadbury's factory at Leasowe on the Wirral? I had a studen job there the year I graduated - never felt the same about creme eggs since. Or Christmas puddings....

Friend who worked there as a summer job would never eat the swirly cake, I think it was called swiss gateaux.

But the smell as you went past on the train was wonderful!