Guest guest Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Hi - Annie here! In thinking about this " spinach " thing, I start thinking back over to other scandals involving " health " food. Did you know that Cascadian Farms - yes, those nice " organic " frozen HIGH PRICED vegetables and fruits in your health food store - is really GENERAL MILLS?????? Yep - they own Cascadian Farms - which makes me suspect even more. How do we know that these are organic? They put them in pretty packaging - does that do it for us? This makes me MAD! They should have to put on the label somewhere that this is a General Mills product. The same place that brings us sugary cereals for our kids - and what, now they go healthy all of a sudden? What, did they see a marketing ploy they could use to generate some money from us " health food nuts " ? Grrrrrr........... annie, who is usually sweet and docile Break on through to the other side. Jim Morrison Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 And the worst part is that organic farms use MANURE...E. coli folks!! The farm that grew the spinach in a bag is an organic farm. Organic does not mean it's good produce or food. It's just a good excuse to charge three times the price as the supermarket stuff. And now the supermarkets are carrying organic food as a new way to tap into your dollars. And most of the big organic farms are indeed little parts of gigantic corporations. It's just another way to get our dollars. If we don't give them money for their " regular " prtoduct we will pay more for what we perceive as their " premium " products, including organic. How often do you see that Premium or Organic label on food now??? ANd I will bet you it is the same crap it was last year in a new box!! And you pay a premium for it. Take a look at the ingredients in Granola. Most of it is a heart attack in a box, much worse for you than " sugary cereal " . Don't buy a label, buy what's inside!!! Organic, Premium or from a health food store does not make it healthy, just expensive. Janis , " Annie Littlewolf " <rdebord wrote: > > Hi - Annie here! > In thinking about this " spinach " thing, I start thinking back over to other > scandals involving " health " food. Did you know that Cascadian Farms - yes, > those nice " organic " frozen HIGH PRICED vegetables and fruits in your health > food store - is really GENERAL MILLS?????? > Yep - they own Cascadian Farms - which makes me suspect even more. How do > we know that these are organic? They put them in pretty packaging - does > that do it for us? This makes me MAD! They should have to put on the label > somewhere that this is a General Mills product. The same place that brings > us sugary cereals for our kids - and what, now they go healthy all of a > sudden? What, did they see a marketing ploy they could use to generate some > money from us " health food nuts " ? > Grrrrrr........... > annie, who is usually sweet and docile > > Break on through to the other side. > Jim Morrison > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Organic is supposed to mean it's good produce, grown without chemical pesticides and herbicides which does make it healthier for the environment and for the consumers. We are the ones helping organics get corporatized, helping the small organic farms become mere divisions of large agri-businesses like General Mills because we want organic but we want it cheap. It shouldn't be shut up and eat your frankenrice it should be shut up and pay for healthy food. Which is what we HAVE to do now that we spent the last fifty years dumbing down our food chain. I'm sorry if that sounds rude. I work for an organic produce home delivery company and I meet these farmers. They work SO hard and their produce is SO healthy and beautiful and it just makes me SO mad when ppl complain about the price. It's not the manure that's the problem, it's giant agri-business corner-cutting in the interest of profit which is marketed as bringing lower prices to the consumer. The business that poisons ppl isn't going to go away. They might get fined, some miniscule % of their profits which will annoy the stockholders (which they will write off their taxes)and then the business will just keep going (Jack in the Box), or open up next week under another name, having used the shut down as a convenient way to get rid of senior employees and dump salary. The only ones who are actually going to suffer from this spinach thing are the ppl who get sick or die, the consumers, and the farm workers. As usual. Peace, Diane , " jandor9 " <jandor9 wrote: > > And the worst part is that organic farms use MANURE...E. coli folks!! > The farm that grew the spinach in a bag is an organic farm. > > Organic does not mean it's good produce or food. It's just a good > excuse to charge three times the price as the supermarket stuff. And > now the supermarkets are carrying organic food as a new way to tap > into your dollars. And most of the big organic farms are indeed > little parts of gigantic corporations. It's just another way to get > our dollars. If we don't give them money for their " regular " prtoduct > we will pay more for what we perceive as their " premium " products, > including organic. How often do you see that Premium or Organic label > on food now??? ANd I will bet you it is the same crap it was last > year in a new box!! And you pay a premium for it. Take a look at the > ingredients in Granola. Most of it is a heart attack in a box, much > worse for you than " sugary cereal " . Don't buy a label, buy what's > inside!!! Organic, Premium or from a health food store does not make > it healthy, just expensive. > > Janis > > , " Annie Littlewolf " > <rdebord@> wrote: > > > > Hi - Annie here! > > In thinking about this " spinach " thing, I start thinking back over > to other > > scandals involving " health " food. Did you know that Cascadian > Farms - yes, > > those nice " organic " frozen HIGH PRICED vegetables and fruits in > your health > > food store - is really GENERAL MILLS?????? > > Yep - they own Cascadian Farms - which makes me suspect even more. > How do > > we know that these are organic? They put them in pretty packaging - > does > > that do it for us? This makes me MAD! They should have to put on > the label > > somewhere that this is a General Mills product. The same place > that brings > > us sugary cereals for our kids - and what, now they go healthy all > of a > > sudden? What, did they see a marketing ploy they could use to > generate some > > money from us " health food nuts " ? > > Grrrrrr........... > > annie, who is usually sweet and docile > > > > Break on through to the other side. > > Jim Morrison > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 In a message dated 9/18/06 7:06:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time, jandor9 writes: > People shouldn't have to say " Gee, do we spend $10 on bread, > eggs, milk and cheese or do we buy a pound of organic salad? > I couldn't agree with you more. Fortunately, I only have myself to feed and try to buy mostly organic, but mid income people with large families just can't do it. I happen to love cauliflower but I choke every time I plunk down $5.00 for a head and that was just for regular old Dole. They didn't even have any organic this week. And $2.50 for what I consider to be a small avocado just seems like an outrage. Great post! TM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 I think at first the news media indicated that it may have been organic spinach which was contaminated however in the latest article I read ... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14841731/ " Natural Selection has maintained its recall of 34 brands of fresh spinach products. However, the company said late Sunday the manufacturing codes from packages of spinach that had infected patients turned over to health officials all were from non-organic spinach. The company packages both organic and conventionally grown spinach in separate areas at its San Juan Bautista, Calif. plant. " Diane - I agree. Organic farmers work very hard to make their produce healthy for us. Since they do not use commercial fertilizers and pesticides, etc. their yields are not as high. If they charge me more, that's okay. I think it is worth it. If the produce comes from a sustainable farm, even better. These people need to make a living too and if they can do so without getting subsidized by the government by me paying a little more, then good for them. Debbie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 I appreciate how hard farmers work and I've seen produce that should be used on cooking magazine covers but I still think it's a rip off. Just from this weeks supermarket flyer...Organic Broccoli is $2.99 a head, while " regular " is 99 cents each. Three times the price?? How about Olivia's Organic Salad Blend five (5)ounces for $2.99. THAT'S TEN DOLLARS A POUND FOR LETTUCE. And the store brand salad greens are $1.50 A POUND. I don't care if the farmer sings the lettuce to sleep every night, it's not worth $10.00 a pound. Why is it that Organic produce is so insanely priced so that only people floating in cash can afford to buy it? And three times the price of " regular " produce is ridiculous, but almost seven times the price is downright obscene. Please don't tell me that it really costs farmers 6-7 times as much to grow organic greens and that stores don't gleefully charge outragous prices for them. They wouldn't be bothered to carry them if they didn't. It's wonderful that organics are raised without synthetic pesticides or herbicides but how are people or families on a budget supposed to be able to afford eating organic goods? I know I can't. People shouldn't have to say " Gee, do we spend $10 on bread, eggs, milk and cheese or do we buy a pound of organic salad? Janis , " strayfeather1 " <otherbox2001 wrote: > > Organic is supposed to mean it's good produce, grown without chemical > pesticides and herbicides which does make it healthier for the > environment and for the consumers. > > We are the ones helping organics get corporatized, helping the small > organic farms become mere divisions of large agri-businesses like > General Mills because we want organic but we want it cheap. It > shouldn't be shut up and eat your frankenrice it should be shut up and > pay for healthy food. Which is what we HAVE to do now that we spent > the last fifty years dumbing down our food chain. > > I'm sorry if that sounds rude. I work for an organic produce home > delivery company and I meet these farmers. They work SO hard and > their produce is SO healthy and beautiful and it just makes me SO mad > when ppl complain about the price. > > It's not the manure that's the problem, it's giant agri-business > corner-cutting in the interest of profit which is marketed as bringing > lower prices to the consumer. The business that poisons ppl isn't > going to go away. They might get fined, some miniscule % of their > profits which will annoy the stockholders (which they will write off > their taxes)and then the business will just keep going (Jack in the > Box), or open up next week under another name, having used the shut > down as a convenient way to get rid of senior employees and dump > salary. The only ones who are actually going to suffer from this > spinach thing are the ppl who get sick or die, the consumers, and the > farm workers. As usual. > > Peace, > Diane > > > > > , " jandor9 " <jandor9@> wrote: > > > > And the worst part is that organic farms use MANURE...E. coli folks!! > > The farm that grew the spinach in a bag is an organic farm. > > > > Organic does not mean it's good produce or food. It's just a good > > excuse to charge three times the price as the supermarket stuff. And > > now the supermarkets are carrying organic food as a new way to tap > > into your dollars. And most of the big organic farms are indeed > > little parts of gigantic corporations. It's just another way to get > > our dollars. If we don't give them money for their " regular " prtoduct > > we will pay more for what we perceive as their " premium " products, > > including organic. How often do you see that Premium or Organic label > > on food now??? ANd I will bet you it is the same crap it was last > > year in a new box!! And you pay a premium for it. Take a look at the > > ingredients in Granola. Most of it is a heart attack in a box, much > > worse for you than " sugary cereal " . Don't buy a label, buy what's > > inside!!! Organic, Premium or from a health food store does not make > > it healthy, just expensive. > > > > Janis > > > > , " Annie Littlewolf " > > <rdebord@> wrote: > > > > > > Hi - Annie here! > > > In thinking about this " spinach " thing, I start thinking back over > > to other > > > scandals involving " health " food. Did you know that Cascadian > > Farms - yes, > > > those nice " organic " frozen HIGH PRICED vegetables and fruits in > > your health > > > food store - is really GENERAL MILLS?????? > > > Yep - they own Cascadian Farms - which makes me suspect even more. > > How do > > > we know that these are organic? They put them in pretty packaging - > > does > > > that do it for us? This makes me MAD! They should have to put on > > the label > > > somewhere that this is a General Mills product. The same place > > that brings > > > us sugary cereals for our kids - and what, now they go healthy all > > of a > > > sudden? What, did they see a marketing ploy they could use to > > generate some > > > money from us " health food nuts " ? > > > Grrrrrr........... > > > annie, who is usually sweet and docile > > > > > > Break on through to the other side. > > > Jim Morrison > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 I just read this from the link you provided: FDA spokeswoman Susan Bro dismissed a claim by Natural Selection Foods LLC, the company linked to the outbreak, that its organic spinach products had been cleared of suspicion. " The FDA has not cleared any products from the list and continues to recommend consumers avoid eating fresh spinach products, " she said. Janis , Reed Deborah <debjreed wrote: > > I think at first the news media indicated that it may > have been organic spinach which was contaminated > however in the latest article I read ... > > http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14841731/ > > " Natural Selection has maintained its recall of 34 > brands of fresh spinach products. However, the company > said late Sunday the manufacturing codes from packages > of spinach that had infected patients turned over to > health officials all were from non-organic spinach. > The company packages both organic and conventionally > grown spinach in separate areas at its San Juan > Bautista, Calif. plant. " > > Diane - I agree. Organic farmers work very hard to > make their produce healthy for us. Since they do not > use commercial fertilizers and pesticides, etc. their > yields are not as high. If they charge me more, > that's okay. I think it is worth it. If the produce > comes from a sustainable farm, even better. > These people need to make a living too and if they can > do so without getting subsidized by the government by > me paying a little more, then good for them. > > Debbie > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Usually Ecoli contamination occurs when people picking the produce do not wash their hands after going to the bathroom. It can also occur from animals and other sources though. this can happen to both organic and non organic produce. Hopefully, the organic farmers have higher harvesting standards but it would be well for nonorganic narvesters to have standards just as high. It works out well for everyone. It will take many months if notyears before people trust buying spinach again. It also costs a lot to recall the produce and costs a lot to introduce positive PR. GB , Reed Deborah <debjreed wrote: > > I think at first the news media indicated that it may > have been organic spinach which was contaminated > however in the latest article I read ... > > http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14841731/ > > " Natural Selection has maintained its recall of 34 > brands of fresh spinach products. However, the company > said late Sunday the manufacturing codes from packages > of spinach that had infected patients turned over to > health officials all were from non-organic spinach. > The company packages both organic and conventionally > grown spinach in separate areas at its San Juan > Bautista, Calif. plant. " > > Diane - I agree. Organic farmers work very hard to > make their produce healthy for us. Since they do not > use commercial fertilizers and pesticides, etc. their > yields are not as high. If they charge me more, > that's okay. I think it is worth it. If the produce > comes from a sustainable farm, even better. > These people need to make a living too and if they can > do so without getting subsidized by the government by > me paying a little more, then good for them. > > Debbie > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Very true. In this case it is so widespread it probably was intruduced into the crop by E.coli infected soil and/or water. It has nothing to do with the area producing organic or non-organic produce and probably nothing to do with harvesting procedures either. Several articles mentioned " There have been 19 other (E.coli) food-poisoning outbreaks since 1995 linked to lettuce and spinach, according to the FDA. At least eight were traced to produce grown in the Salinas Valley. The outbreaks involved more than 400 cases of sickness and two deaths. " The article went on to say that E. coli contaminated irrigation water has been an ongoing problem in California's Salinas Valley. Statistically it's not a lot of people, considering how many people eat their produce every week... but I sure wouldn't want to be one of the ones affected. Maybe we should all start growing our own greens if we can. It is really not difficult as long as you fence out the animals. It's not just lettuce and spinach that have been contaaminated. a couple of years ago it was scallions, and it was an even worse outbreak. When it's out of season we won't have fresh greens, but you can use the frozen ones if you cook them. It would be nice to sit down to a salad and not feel like you were playing Russian roulette. Janis Janis , " greatyoga " <greatyoga wrote: > > Usually Ecoli contamination occurs when people picking the produce > do not wash their hands after going to the bathroom. It can also > occur from animals and other sources though. this can happen to both > organic and non organic produce. Hopefully, the organic farmers > have higher harvesting standards but it would be well for nonorganic > narvesters to have standards just as high. It works out well for > everyone. It will take many months if notyears before people trust > buying spinach again. It also costs a lot to recall the produce and > costs a lot to introduce positive PR. > > GB > > , Reed Deborah <debjreed@> > wrote: > > > > I think at first the news media indicated that it may > > have been organic spinach which was contaminated > > however in the latest article I read ... > > > > http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14841731/ > > > > " Natural Selection has maintained its recall of 34 > > brands of fresh spinach products. However, the company > > said late Sunday the manufacturing codes from packages > > of spinach that had infected patients turned over to > > health officials all were from non-organic spinach. > > The company packages both organic and conventionally > > grown spinach in separate areas at its San Juan > > Bautista, Calif. plant. " > > > > Diane - I agree. Organic farmers work very hard to > > make their produce healthy for us. Since they do not > > use commercial fertilizers and pesticides, etc. their > > yields are not as high. If they charge me more, > > that's okay. I think it is worth it. If the produce > > comes from a sustainable farm, even better. > > These people need to make a living too and if they can > > do so without getting subsidized by the government by > > me paying a little more, then good for them. > > > > Debbie > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 I think the important part was that the quality control numbers weren't from organic spinach and that the company is doing the right thing by recalling everything. All spinach regardless of how it was grown or what brand name it was sold under. They are being cautious and so is the FDA by saying don't eat fresh spinach - organic or conventional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 On 9/18/06, jandor9 <jandor9 wrote: > Maybe we should all start growing our own greens if we can. > But, how do you know if you have safe seeds????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Good question. I think you could call Burpee or whatever seed company brand you buy seeds from and ask if their seed has been tested for contamination or if it's from areas that haven't had issues. Janis , " Thia .... " <bipolyf wrote: > > On 9/18/06, jandor9 <jandor9 wrote: > > > Maybe we should all start growing our own greens if we can. > > > But, how do you know if you have safe seeds????? > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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