Organic food in supermarkets

Edwardia

iKennett as a former 6 cans a day Diet Pepsi addict :T whoo-hoo go you !!! It isn't easy, I know.

I have hypos sometimes caused by my diabetes drugs and they aren't fun so I can understand you feeling happy not to have had them.

Citron presse

Ingredients:
Ice
4 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
Pitcher of chilled water
Granulated sugar

Preparation:
Put a small amount of ice into 2 glasses
Pour 2 oz lemon juice into each glass
Add water and stir in sugar to taste

Makes 2 servings.

This is the classic French summer drink and it should be freshly made per order if you have it in a cafe. To make it even more simply either drop slices of organic (or at least unwaxed) lemon into glass, top up with water and add sugar if you wish or squeeze the lemon juice into glass of water, add sugar to taste.

I loathe tap water and can't be bothered messing around with filter jugs so make mine with Evian. If you miss the fizz of Pepsi then you could use Perrier for a strong fizz or Badoit or San Pellegrino for a gentler one.

OH tried several organic squashes and wouldn't recommend any of them. Have you tried teas eg Earl Grey, camomile, rooibos, fennel ?

Kirri

Nothing to do with organic as such, but may be of interest to anyone concerned with how food is produced:

Mega dairy approved

http://www.ciwf.org.uk/news/beef_and_dairy_farming/powys_mega_dairy_approved.aspx?utm_campaign=dairy&utm_source=enewsemail&utm_medium=email

and M&S came out as best retailer for animal welfare:

http://www.ciwf.org.uk/news/compassion_news/compassions_award_winners_announced.aspx?utm_campaign=foodbusiness&utm_source=enewsemail&utm_medium=email

Edwardia

I very much doubt that the Soil Association will allow mega dairies under organic standards, these dairies will be used to churn out pasteurised homogenised microfiltered milk of the likes of Cravendale.

Mojisola

Edwardia wrote: »

I very much doubt that the Soil Association will allow mega dairies under organic standards

They certainly won't!

https://www.soilassociation.org/news/newsstory/articleid/6117/powys-mega-dairy-plan-gets-go-ahead-after-public-inquiry

Swans1912

Thanks everyone. You've given me some good ideas

Have you guys watched Hungry For Change? It's what spurred me into changing my lifestyle - Oh my god it scared the living crap out of me in terms of what I was putting in my body without even realising it LOL.

Dozey_crow

Edwardia wrote: »

Sorry to hear about your loss Kirri Dozey Crow hope your furry little creature pulls through hugs to you both xxx

After my black lab had to be put down in March, OH and I decided not to have another pet right now..OH bought me a vintage still-in-box TY Beanie Baby black labrador puppy (Luke) from Oxfam which we named Pasha

Kirri, yup it's weird, out went the black hair and nails despite the fact that he had a thang for my boots and fishnet stockings :rotfl:

Hi Edwardia thanks for your good wishes. Were used to have a black lab too and he was a wonderful, wonderful dog absolutely full of life and an amazing personality. We haven't had another dog since as although I have walked loads and minded some who also had great personalities and temperaments they still feel short of the mark. The house we have now isn't suitable for a dog but we shall see when we move!!

Kirri wrote: »

Thanks guys, it's been a hard week adjusting/recovering.

Dozey, what antibiotic have they got her on? Baytril/Septrin most common but if it's an abscess (jaw?) some people have had very good results with gpigs on Zithromax though it is a stronger drug, has a weird dosing regime and needs a lot of probiotics (Fibreplex is good, carrot flavoured) and caution with it. Sometimes introducing new foods helps when they don't want to eat, I have 5 types of hay here for such occasions, or get veg they haven't had in a while. Dill/fennel both good for digestion at such times and if they won't eat I have liquidised veg or even melon as a treat in an emergency. Burn's dried plantain can help digestion. Cisapride/metaclopromide can both be supplied in syrup formulation from vets in times of stasis, Birp and Buscopan to relieve the pain/gas as well. The little coffee type grinders (the £10 ones) grind up their own feed too quite well as an alternative meal to the critial care sachets (which are great but very high in alfalfa usually) and sometimes even the smallet pelleted foods are possible to get in the mouth direct. Plus there are the specialist vets dotted around the country, I only know of about 5 (I wouldn't see anyone else). You may know all of this though already.. it's very hard with a sick rodent type animal as for those who don't know the digestive system collapses if continual feeding isn't supplied by the human, day and night... has taken me a week to recover.

Edwardia, I was convinced they could, my gpigs had gone organic before me, I had one who was very either fussy or sensitive who wouldn't eat cucumber skin and watching them wolf down a whole organic cucumber made me wonder. Of course since then other pigs have eaten either org or non org but who knows..

If I buy Kettle crisps now they won't be here by Christmas..

From fishnets to GF low carbing organic meals, he must wonder what happened

I need to go to Morrisons and get some org veg now..

Hi Kirri, thanks so much for all of this information it is really useful. I didn't reply last night because I was in tears most of the night...I felt so sorry for our monster. We took her to the vets and she got so stressed.. Poor thing.. she refused all food and spat out all of the syringe food :-( . we got up at 1 pm and she had some of it after I had the brainwave odd rolling the end of the syringe in grated pears. She is very sad looking but seems OK otherwise and her guts are moving so we are just left with her teeth I think.

She is on antibiotic but I don't know which one she had 5 injections one every two days. We are syringing metacam and zantac twice a day one is pain relief and one is appetite stimulant. Thanks for the tip about liquidizing veg. Haven't tried her on melon but she will eat pureed pear and mashed banana.

She had plenty of food to choose from.. her bowl looks like a gourmet salad bar!:rotfl: We are going out to tempt her with something else in a minute.

Edwardia wrote: »

Kirri interesting about fussy gpigs.. people think labradors will eat anything but mine def got more excited by the pong of Butcher's tripe and Winalot duck & rabbit more than any other flavour. However his drool to the floor begging was usually reserved for wild venison. His nickname was Gourmetdog. He would turn his nose up sausages unless
wild boar.

alfsmum I absolutely have to visit Whole Foods <drool>

Dozey Crow good luck with ill furry, Kirri big hug (((Kirri))) over your loss.

This is interesting... I do think animals are often more clued up with people over food and whether it is good for you or not. I have never met a cat who will eat crabsticks for instance. A dog I minded could only eat tripe anything else upset his system really badly. Have to say though our lab was not one of these... He ate absolutely anything with the exception of fruit and a particularly awful pudding my mum cooked once!!:rotfl:

Huge apologies for derailing the thread (again) with my bunny woes. My next post is back on topic.... Promise.

Dozey_crow

On topic.

SLS...I am also allergic to this. I found out a few years ago from reading the daily fail of all things as it warned against aqueous cream which I was using a lot. I did some research and cut out SLS (not easy as it is in everything!:eek:). I use old fashioned soap instead of shower gel (again be careful some have it in and almost all fancy soaps do too) and it has made a huge difference to my skin. It is nowhere near as dry and I rarely have to use moisturizer.

Loads of baby products have it in to. Johnson's do one sls freebaby wash in an orange container which is fine. I am more allergic to SLS free body shop showergel than stuff with SLS in it!!!!! I tried some 'natural' moisturizer in lush last week omg .. no allergic reaction but it was so ooo greasy I asked for a tissue and then I just couldn't get it off...

As an alternative to aqueous cream my GP provides diprobase which is rich but OK.

Alternatives to first coke.. Says me whist sipping on a glass:rotfl: I like the green bottle presse drinks they are pricey but nice. I Terry not to drink to much Pepsi. I like diluted fruit juice but DH hates it.

Kirri

Dozey_crow wrote: »

Hi Kirri, thanks so much for all of this information it is really useful. I didn't reply last night because I was in tears most of the night...I felt so sorry for our monster. We took her to the vets and she got so stressed.. Poor thing.. she refused all food and spat out all of the syringe food :-( . we got up at 1 pm and she had some of it after I had the brainwave odd rolling the end of the syringe in grated pears. She is very sad looking but seems OK otherwise and her guts are moving so we are just left with her teeth I think.

She is on antibiotic but I don't know which one she had 5 injections one every two days. We are syringing metacam and zantac twice a day one is pain relief and one is appetite stimulant. Thanks for the tip about liquidizing veg. Haven't tried her on melon but she will eat pureed pear and mashed banana.

She had plenty of food to choose from.. her bowl looks like a gourmet salad bar!:rotfl: We are going out to tempt her with something else in a minute.

I know the feeling all too well

I've also used organic apple baby food.. (it becomes desperation time in these circumstances).

Some things to bear in mind, if rabbits are affected much the same as gpigs, some antibiotics ie Baytril can also massively affect appetite and digestion although it's less of a problem when injected. I don't know of any antibiotics that are only given every 2 days though, in gpigs orally it's twice a day or injection daily. Probiotics ie Fibreplex can be vital (most vets stock it or buy online £5-£7). Metacam although widely used and safe ish appeared to massively slow my gpig down digestive and food intake wise, though bit of a difficult one as there only seems to be two types of pain relief commonly used (the other is rimadyl). Has the vet xrayed (without anaesthetic) the jaw to check teeth roots or is the infection/abscess in the gum/jaw? Find out what they are injecting her with. If it's abscess ask them their view on Zithromax.

This now old link explains mostly my views on most vets and dental issues and is a common experience amongst a lot of owners.. I trust them about as much as I trust conventional food! PG died some years ago but saved one of my first pigs that a vet almost killed through dental work incompetence, I then ended up going to all the CCT (gpig hospital, they do or did dental work for free) lectures and finding my now vet. Yours may be ok but doesn't hurt to question/ask/research

http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/dentalproblems.htm


Sorry to be off topic chief thread owner Edwardia I don't want to get this thread moved like the egg thread!

I should add that the organic veggie feta from Waitrose I had tonight is very good.

Kirri

iKennett wrote: »

Thanks everyone. You've given me some good ideas

Have you guys watched Hungry For Change? It's what spurred me into changing my lifestyle - Oh my god it scared the living crap out of me in terms of what I was putting in my body without even realising it LOL.

Is that a programme, film or online?? I've not heard of it.
It must have worked well though!

Callie22

I'm a water hater but I've found that getting a filter jug has helped a lot - I try not to drink squash as the sugarfree stuff has so many artificial sweeteners and as I take a water bottle to work, I don't like the idea of drinking a sugary drink on and off all day. We have filtered water at work and I bought myself a decent BPA free bottle and after a bit of practice I now I drink a lot more.

If I fancy something different then I often make iced mint tea - that sounds impressive but really all it is is cold, unsweetened mint tea. I particularly like mint and vanilla and the teapigs mint and liquorice, they're naturally sweet so they're a good way to wean yourself of sweetened drinks.

I also don't really like hot drinks but I'm trying to get into them more whilst it's winter - at the moment I like the fruitbroo tea syrups. They're not organic but they are fairly natural (proper sugar rather than sweeteners) and they're really quite tasty.