Tuesday, August 22, 2006

food for thought

Kev and I went to Trader Joe's and Limbo to get ourselves things to make a gorgeous salad with grilled chicken last night. I made myself a lovely salad to take with me to work today. Now, Limbo is a local produce market where everything is organic (and contrary to what we thought would be true, it cost much less than had we gone to our regular grocery store...and I'm sure everything will stay fresher longer). Tonight we used many of the veggies (lettuce, onion, tiny cherry tomatoes) in our dinner of chicken tacos. I was fuller longer after lunch today and dinner tonight than in the past when I've had the same meals. You think organic foods play a part? I must say, I do.

Think about it. Produce you buy at a Dillons, Fred Meyers, or even an Albertsons most likely came from Mexico or California (or somewhere else). From what I hear, the fruits and veggies are picked before they are ripe and are ripened chemically many times (there is another word I am searching for but lacking the ability to think of what it is right now). Their lives in the fridge are much shorter (or out on the counter for tomatoes) because the pesticides used and the fact that they were ripened by humans, rather than humans letting them ripen on the vines or in the ground or where ever they ripen.

I was amazed at what we could get for the small amount of money we spent at both stores. At Traders we bought cans of kidney beans, garbonzos and black beans. We got blueberry bagels, a loaf of organic bread and salad dressing. All of those things came to less than $9.00. At Limbo we got an onion, some mushrooms, the most amazing tiny cherry tomatoes (our bessers are getting closer to being ripe each day), bananas, and two types of lettuce all for under $14.00. For less than $23.oo we got two meals together and I got two lunches (I made a great lunch for tomorrow with leftovers too).

I'm thinking between those two stores and CostCo, I may never have to step foot into a regular grocery store ever again!

3 comments:

bronxbt said...

smart lady
smart guy

good team

not even a local trader joes around here, much less an organic place ... waaahhhh!

yer right tho, a side effect of harsh chemicalization of products also has the seemingly disasterous effect of "scalping," a little known term that is best described as the molecular breakdown of a fruit or veggies natural protection against oxidation and other elements that leads to waste and spoilage.

you see? we ripen 'em faster, but have to cycle them quicker thru the market, our fridges, and our bellies...

that way, the farmers can double their % sold each season, more jobs, more $$ and wow... you'd ALMOST think this was planned by.. hmmmmm... big business!

tha's ONE of the reasons why organic food is more expensive. It's NOT really the farmers fault. it's the groceries fault. THEY are not cycling as much product thru their doors due to it's natural longevity and that = less customers buying the product on a daily/weekly/monthly scale...

dear gads, i'm brilliant. no, wait, this is jes the truth, not MY master plan to take over the world...

veggies unite!
viva la' tomato!

~ B

Jack K. said...

I look forward to dining with you all when we visit in May. You will have discovered lots of new recipes by then, too.

PlazaJen said...

I've only been to Trader Joe's once, in STL. I covet it. Wish we'd get one here, and SOON. URF.
At least we have fresh 'maters from our garden......