Gingernutbizkit's quest to find a menu plan that eases her conscience!!

Seakay

List making is even more important when you are trying to shop ethically, because you are going to have to be a label reader which will slow you down a bit.

For instance, Tesco value lavatory paper is 100% recycled if you buy the 4 packs, but not if you buy the 12 packs.

The Soil Association accreditation shows that there is a high standard of animal welfare and ethical farming choices as well as the product being organic.
Just organic is not necessarily a guarantee that everything is as good as it can be
- you could grow vegetables without andy chemicals at all, but if you destroyed rainforest and exploited workers to do it then that wouldn't be great!
It has been suggested that organic and free range meats are healthier than the very cheapest ranges because they contain less fat and injected water.

I try and use ethically sourced meat, and get the most out of it by eating everything, using carcasses for stock etc
(See the rubber chicken thread for getting the most meals out of a bird)

Also see the wartime diet thread for recipes which make the most of all that is available.
You don't have to give up meat but reassess your portion sizes and combine that with the Eatwell plate
http://www.food.gov.uk/healthiereating/eatwellplate/
which again shows that the protein component should be quite small. Wartime and basic recipes for meat stew allow less meat and more veg per person than we are becoming used to (post war American influence on portion sizes and meat eating) but they make meaty tasting, delicious and nutritious food.

Similarly, if you have decided to invest in organic veg (no tests to show better nutrition so far but the absence of chemicals has to be a plus) then you are more likely to make sure you use everything rather than letting something go off and throwing it away.

Growing is great because it is educational as well as practical, and can be a whole family activity.

gingernutbizkit

Thanks everyone :T:T:T Turn my back for a couple of hours and loads of helpful advice comes my way .

Rachbc - the kids health is definately my priority. They came to me with a VERY poor diet. Wouldn't eat anything other than junk food. I had to be tough so I'm afraid it was eat or go hungry and after learning that I meant it on the first breakfast they soon started eating (lunch was given to them at 10.30am that day as I couldn't actually have them go hungry and fortunuately they can't tell the time!). Now their favourite breakfast is fruit and fibre, dinner is a roast and they tell their friend off for eating junk too much and tell me off if I dare to give them bread that is not homemade :rotfl:.

Sunflower - I will check out Abel and Cole - I thought they just did f+v so thanks for the tip off. Need to investigate stardrops and other cleaning ideas but the the mo I will focus solely on food and drink as i have a habit of aiming for too much and getting disappointed and giving up . Very jealous of your allotment. Fortunatelythe boys will eat anything now (seafood risotto last night :cool:) it's Mrs Ging that's the problem :mad:.

Floss2 - I think you have highlighted my starting point. i need really to become aware of where I can source different items. My local butcher is good but VERY expensive and he also owns the grocers too . I have had a box scheme in the past but never ate the full box and ended up composting a lot of it (which reminds me that I want to factor in buying food with less packaging too). Do any box schemes allow you to state exactly what you want each week?

Seakay - never knew that about tesco loo roll - been buying the 12 pack for months thinking it was the same.
I am much better now at using up everything (quite bored of rubber chicken though!) but portion control is definately an area for improvement .

I will check out the war time thread, thanks.

Right, that's given me a lot of ideas so I will be looking at retailers later this evening, box schemes, butchers etc.

First I'm off to cook dinner and trying hard not to think about what is in our sausages.... have a feeling we will be switching those too.

Lots to get my head around but do keep commenting it's very helpful
Ging x

Trinny

Hello GNBZKT

I have almost exactly the same ethical outlook on food as you do.

We buy fairtrade, in season, locally produced, organic food as far as is humanly possible.

I always buy free range chicken and eggs and british meat - organic if possible.

Things that have worked for us are:

1. Grow your own - makes a huge difference to the taste of food, you know how its been grown and the food miles are almost nil.

2. Forage - the FOOD for FREE Mabey book is brilliant - take your time and make sure you know what you are doing. Be careful - but if you are, then thats a ready supply around here of pears, plums, damsons, apples ( at least 6 varieties), cob nuts, chestnuts, as well as elderberry etc for OH HM wine collection:D

3. Read the labels and buy whats in season and where possible locally. For example - we buy our meat at the local farm shop - not organic but welfare standards are good, and we know the farmer personally, so its helping local businesses

4. The only exception is fairtrade - for coffee, tea and chocolate.


I find it a bit of a moral maze at times - for example, if i stop buying bananas - then some communities in the windward isles have no source of income. If i buy eurozone peppers, the food miles are less, but most are grown in greenhouses, which are lit and heated 24/7 with a massive carbon footprint in terms of energy.

Do what fits in with your priorities, It difficult to get it right all the time

Trin

gingernutbizkit

Hi Trin,
Thanks for your comments. This is all stuff that I have thought about for ages but never acted upon (other than the very obvious stuff) so for me this is a new adventure and prehapsone I am starting later than I should have. That said, my upbringing was typical for the 80's. We always shopped at the supermarket and never thought about any of these issues as there was anywhere near the same level of awareness as there is these days.
Few things I take from your post are....
Foraging - never done, don't know where to do, worried I might poison whole family (def. won't be doing mushrooms ) so need to look into this further.
Seasonality - like most people I suspect I am very out of touch with what is in season at what time. Will look for a monthly calendar to give me an idea of what to buy then. I guess then I can buy extra cheaper and freeze/store.

I totally agree with you about the moral maze. I spent some time in Rwanda and no how much poorer countries need income even if it's not fairtrade (which is obviously better).

I guess I am quite ignorant about the ethics of a lot of companies and need to become more aware. Am worried about what I might find though. For the moment I will not be looking at Mr Brain's because I love his faggots tomuch to know what goes into them!!!!!

Lots of work to do so off to do some of it.
Ging x

Fire_Fox

gingernutbizkit wrote: »

Hi all,

Health - This is the major one. We obviously want the boys to have a really healthy diet. I'm not opposed to the odd hm muffin or bit of chocolate but I'm not convinced that some of the cheap foods we give them are really in their best interests. Due to their pasts the boys have had some health and development problems and we don't want to compound the issue. Two were diagnosed ADHD (not sure if that was a true diagnosis) and we have recently had them off medication in order to control their behaviour in other ways, partlydown to diet.
Do cheap foods have the same nutritional value, I'm not sure?

I am a fitness instructor and have studied nutrition at degree level. If you are cooking from scratch there is little difference between the nutrition found in many cheap products as more expensive ones. IMO the most important thing is to get the basics in place - at least five portions of fruit and vegetables (rainbow) and three portions of dairy per day, two portions of oily fish per week, everything wholegrain, meat in moderation.

Then the optional: some countries recommend seven to nine portions of fruit and vegetables per day. I have eaten like this and it takes some serious organisation! Start at breakfast with one fresh and one dried fruit on cereal, include some beans or lentils each day, homemade soups, stir frys, stews/ curries/ pasta sauce with lots of vegetables hidden in.

Also optional: you might consider omega-enriched eggs (link with ADHD) which also happen to be free range, organic butter/ cheese as the fat is where the undesirable chemicals end up and there is some evidence grass-fed cows produce milk with more essential fats in (omegas again). If money is tight you could purchase cheap yoghurt and milk - calcium is an important mineral for weight management so this is for adults too!

Oily fish: this is critical for omega-3 essential fats for kids brain development and anti-inflammatory effects, the health of all body tissues (skin, heart), hormone production, also beneficial for weight management for the adults! I did some geeky maths for Weezl74's 'feed a family of four healthily on £100 a month' project and we established that Glenryk pilchards in tomato sauce are the cheapest way and pilchards are not overfished. :j You would need six large cans for a family of four per month which is under £4. Wild pacific pink salmon is also a good source of omega-3, and not too expensive at £1.50 per can.

Pulses, wholegrains, nuts and seeds provide essential minerals, including magnesium which relaxes both mind and body. :cool: Magnesium counterbalances the effects of calcium by relaxing the muscles, is key in bone development and there are links between magnesium deficiency and ADHD ... Ethically getting protein from beans, lentils and nuts wastes less of the worlds resources, and is easy on the pocket!!

You may also find it helpful to read up on the glycaemic index as blood sugar spikes have been implicated in ADHD. Low GI carbohydrates which help balance blood sugar include pulses, oats, barley, new potatoes, sweet potatoes, wholemeal pitta bread, granary and stoneground bread, brown pasta, brown basmati rice, most fruit and veg. :money:

If you are concerned about the chemicals in toiletries and cleaning products but on a budget, then you might consider buying in bulk online. There is quite a lot cleaning wise that can be done with white vinegar, lemon juice or bicarbonate of soda - all cheap and non toxic. For my skin (eczema, contact dermatitis) I use Ecover shower gel which is even gentle enough for my face, £35 for five litres which lasts forever! Works out to £1.75 for the 250ml size shower gel you'd buy in a supermarket. :T

gingernutbizkit

Wow Firefox this is sooooo helpful, thanks. Just a little query as you seem to be so knowledgable. Where do I find out what a portion size should be?
TIA, Ging

kezlou

Hi Ging,

I understand entirely where your coming from me and my OH are the same, but as our budget is very tight sometimes i can't afford every thing to be ethical.

Okay here's some things i have done.

Fairtrade:- now this is a big thing for me and OH and its now drummed into our boys (9 and 6yrs), so much so that they compained at the local corner shop for not selling fairtrade goods.

I AM NOT PROMOTING SAINSBURYS I DO NOT WORK THERE. ITS JUST MY LOCAL SUPERMARKET WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE

Sainsburys is the only supermarket i know whose basics are also fairtrade.
Heres a list;-

Banana's (loose and in bags),
coffee (for use in coffee machines)
cappucino (make in cup, hot water)
instant hot chocolate
teabags (28p for 80 teabags)
Wine :- red/white/rose :- but not all are fairtrade
bio-degradable & recycled binbags
Clothes - TU range is fairtrade, some are even organic

Basics toilet roll are FSC accredited
Freedom frood - pork, chicken, beef, lamd and fish.

Marks and Spencers - sell fairtrade clothing, ethically produced fish and sea food.
Primark - they sell some fairtrade and organic clothing, but you have to really look for them.

wilkinsons - bio-degradable & recycled binbags
Green Power are like Ecoover but they are a lot cheaper than them and Wilkinsons sell them.

Green Power:- washing powder, toilet cleaner, washing up liquid, conditioner, shower/bath cleaner and multi -surface cleaner. all reasonable prices. Last time i bought the washing up liquid is was 98p for 1litre which for me was fantastic and lasted ages.

Food - I tend to home grow ours in pots, but i also buy locally from farms or go to our local market. Local markets tend to be dirt cheap especially by the end of day. I bought 2 organic cucumbers for 39p each in Sainsbury's they were £1.45.
I don't always buy organically as its far too expensive but i do include lots of veg/fruit in our diet. We definitely get more than our 5 a day with the amount we eat.
Asian food stores are fantastic dried beans, rice etc are really cheap compared to supermarkets. I bought 5kg of basmatic rice for £7.45 which it a top name as well, in Sainsburys they were selling a lower brand, same size for £17.96. Also in Asian food stores if you want meat its generally delivered and butchered fresh that day, they will also mince up good quality meat if you ask them too for no extra charge. Think it was £2.99 for a kilo of steak mince, it was really good and hardly any fat on it.

Home Bargains and B& M - look in here for organic / fairtrade products. I bought 1 Kilo of organic cous cous for 59p yesterday.

Poundland : - bio-degradable & recycled binbags, fairtrade sugar coffee, teabags, chocolate, organic products, Ecover

Tate & Lyle all of the sugars produced by them are fair trade.

As you tell form the list above i shop in all the classy places , lets just say i walk in poundland and the bloke by the door just says "your fairtrade sugars in!", yes they know me that well.

Hope the above helps, and good luck!

elsien

And to add to the above list, our Lidl have started selling some fairtrade stuff (teabags and sugar, not checked everything yet.) They also do free range chickens and I think their fresh meat is British and meets the assured standard. So not completely ethical, but better than the tesco value ranges for example.

liz545

This is quite handy: http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/perfect_portions

Fire_Fox

gingernutbizkit wrote: »

Wow Firefox this is sooooo helpful, thanks. Just a little query as you seem to be so knowledgable. Where do I find out what a portion size should be?
TIA, Ging

Health is my thing. The more I learn the more I am convinced that a huge proportion of diagnosed conditions are caused by lifestyle!

If any of the children are over or under weight it would be wise to get professional guidance on how to manage this, I am not qualified to give specific advice in this area and of course I don't know the children. I also don't recommend vitamin and mineral supplements, again unless these have been recommended by a health professional.

http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/5aday/pages/5adayhome.aspx/
http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/perfect_portions
http://www.healthedtrust.com/pages/guidelines.htm

Not so keen on the source, but the article is interesting and it refers to published research:
http://www.thedietchannel.com/Diet-and-ADHD.htm
Better source, but more emotive:
http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/adhd_low_fat_diet.html