The importance of organic food?

[Victor Vikingr]

I have just been to the nearest town to find organic fruit and greens. While they do have a couple, almost everything is grown conventionally. In my village, there's even less! This means that if I want to buy organic, I'll have to take the train for an hour to the city to get it. I have read that if raw food isn't organic, it won't make any difference.

Should I take the train, say, once a week to shop lots of food - which takes lots of space, extra time and money, stick to conventional raw, or should I just stick to cooked vegan (I can get organic cooked food) until I go to university after summer? Maybe somebody has another idea?

[-B-]

Personally, I've get to get an answer from anyone on just what 'organic' means when they're referring to food. Our body isn't capable of processing most inorganic things, save for salt, and trace amounts of other minerals - of course most of what we eat is organic. Our bodies are mostly organic, save for our hair, bones, and fingernails.

That aside, what do you mean by grown 'conventionally'? Does that mean without pesticides, fertalizer, or other things? That doesn't sound too bad.

[sk8joyful]

Originally Posted by Victor Vikingr

I have read that if raw food isn't organic, it won't make any difference.

Maybe somebody has another idea?

Sure, organic foods are wonderful ; but for Health, necessary? - apparently not!
Consider:
1000's of people, on feeding-tubes, getting grey-schtuff (like Ensure, etc)
Many of these people, are spared chronic-conditions, afflicting even organic, raw foodists.

How can this be? - Well, there's far more to health Optimally, than you were led... to believe.

[Rose of Cairo]

Originally Posted by Victor Vikingr

I I have read that if raw food isn't organic, it won't make any difference.

This is definitely not true!

I cannot afford organic food at the moment. I eat a few things organic, as much as my finances allow it, but honestly, most of what I eat isn't organic. However, I feel much better than at the time when I had more money and was eating all organic but mostly cooked food.

I know swallowing chemicals isn't healthy, but going raw makes such a huge difference. I think the benefits of going raw are bigger than the burden of eating non-organic, at least if it's for a short time, like those few months till you go to university, or just the 30 days of your trial.

Should I take the train, say, once a week to shop lots of food - which takes lots of space, extra time and money, stick to conventional raw, or should I just stick to cooked vegan (I can get organic cooked food) until I go to university after summer? Maybe somebody has another idea?

That's your decision.

Why not make those trips to the city something attractive and fun? If you have another reason to go than just to buy food, it would be more appealing maybe? On the way back you'd just fill your backpack additionally.

Some foods can be conserved very well, like nuts and seeds, but also oranges, apples, pears and a few more fruit. You could buy those organic once a week, and buy the rest in its conventional version in your village? It's not an all-or-nothing issue.

It seems to me like you're having doubts about your raw trial. Are you feeling like going back to cooked?

Love and good luck to you!

[Victor Vikingr]

The terms may be different in English... By organic, I mean food grown without pesticides, fertilizer, and stuff like that. By conventionally, I mean things that are grown with pesticides, fertilizer, and such. What are those called in English, then?

I'm not sure what you mean, sk8joyful. People on feeding tubes? The thing I read was that even though you consume more raw fruit and greens, you would also be consuming more pesticides and stuff, so the bad would outweigh the good.

[Victor Vikingr]

Originally Posted by Rose of Cairo

This is definitely not true!

I cannot afford organic food at the moment. I eat a few things organic, as much as my finances allow it, but honestly, most of what I eat isn't organic. However, I feel much better than at the time when I had more money and was eating all organic but mostly cooked food.

Good! That was all I was concerned about.

Originally Posted by Rose of Cairo

I know swallowing chemicals isn't healthy, but going raw makes such a huge difference. I think the benefits of going raw are bigger than the burden of eating non-organic, at least if it's for a short time, like those few months till you go to university, or just the 30 days of your trial.

Now that I don't have those doubts, I think I can go beyond my 30-day trial.

Originally Posted by Rose of Cairo

Why not make those trips to the city something attractive and fun? If you have another reason to go than just to buy food, it would be more appealing maybe? On the way back you'd just fill your backpack additionally.

Yes, good point! Actually, I already am in the city at least once a month, so that should work out.

Originally Posted by Rose of Cairo

Some foods can be conserved very well, like nuts and seeds, but also oranges, apples, pears and a few more fruit. You could buy those organic once a week, and buy the rest in its conventional version in your village? It's not an all-or-nothing issue.

As long as it's worth it to go raw, all is well.

Originally Posted by Rose of Cairo

It seems to me like you're having doubts about your raw trial. Are you feeling like going back to cooked?

Yeah, I think my mind is using any excuse it can to make me quit. I crave delicious warm rice with beans all the time.

Originally Posted by Rose of Cairo

Love and good luck to you!

Thanks! I think I'm going to need it.

[Rose of Cairo]

Originally Posted by Victor Vikingr

Yeah, I think my mind is using any excuse it can to make me quit.

That's what I thought. I had that too when I went raw, and most of all I had it when I quit smoking. I tried to convince myself of how difficult and laborious it was not to smoke...

What helped me was to remind myself that it was just my mind trying to trick me into smoking again. I personalized this little voice as "the nicotine devil", gave it a physical appearance (horrible) and even a name ("Otto"). Then I developed strategies to beat the foe! When it showed up, I tried to beat the crap out of it. This helped a lot to gain distance and not take the pro-smoking arguments too seriously.

I feel for you, I know it's not easy. But you will win. The hero always wins in the end, no matter how strong the villain is.

I crave delicious warm rice with beans all the time.

Do you have an idea what you could do about that?

A couple ideas: if it's cold, maybe drink some herbal tea? if you crave carbs (rice), are you sure you're eating enough fruit? Stuff yourself with fruit. Beans: maybe you could eat some raw and sprouted? For example mungo beans or azuki beans. They're dirt cheap and easy to sprout. It doesn't taste exactly like cooked, but at least it would be beans... Also, stuff yourself with greens.

Drinking water helps, too. And exercising a lot. And subscribing to raw food newsletters, and joining raw forums and websites. Surround yourself with raw foodists as much as you can.

Okay, I'm done with throwing unsolicited advice at you.

[TheHulaQueen]

You can also make a really yummy refried bean mix with sunflower seeds, sundried tomatoes, garlic, salt and taco seasoning! I found it in a recipe book this week and it looks wonderful. You do about equal parts sunflower seeds (soaked overnight and dehydrated if you have a dehydrator) and sun dried tomatoes (softened in water for a few hours). You could eat that on a raw rice made from parsnip or cauliflower. Sometimes I will put about a 1/4 cashews or pine nuts in the rice to make it richer, and a little salt and pepper. You could probably recreate the taste sensations you are after quite well.

Maybe it's a call to experiment with some raw recipes?

[Victor Vikingr]

Thank you guys so much!

I feel inspired again now! Perhaps I should try your raw "rice", it sounds good!

Now, earlier this evening, I cut up an avocado, and added some cold pressed olive oil and salt (those are raw, right?), and right now I want more of it - but the store was out of avocadoes! I'll try eat that when I start craving rice and beans.

Now my traiterous mind has lost all his best arguments.

[sk8joyful]

Originally Posted by Victor Vikingr

Yeah, I think my mind is using any excuse it can to make me quit.

I crave delicious warm rice with beans all the time.

You can have cravings, as behavioral strategies... which you were "taught"
and
You can have cravings, as (your own subconscious mind) communicating:
"hey, this... I NEED nutritionally at this particular time.

Question is: Can you tell the operative difference? , and how will you respond?
.

[Victor Vikingr]

I don't know if I've ever experienced the latter, so I don't know.

[Andrew Gubb]

Rose, could you recommend some raw food sites/forums/newsletters? Actually that'd make a pretty good thread

As for the OP,

I think that the quality of the food matters a HUGE amount. In future I'm going to grow my own food as much as possible: I'd love in fact to live in a self-sufficient commune. I have some plans to that effect. When I sprout my lentils I use mineral water and cast love energy into them. I'm sure this matters a lot. You should treat all aspects of your life with the same love as you want to return to you. The issue of un-organic foods is an issue of lack of love.