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Question of the Day | 06/17/2008 12:00 am

Are you eating more organic food than you were a year ago?

© Shutterstock
Candice Bergen

Candice Bergen | 06/17/2008 12:00 am

Candice Bergen: My Gastronomical Epiphany

I haven’t eaten red meat for 40 years. I wish I could give up chicken (except free-range) but then I’m down to fish which seem a) tainted, and b) endangered. By the way, I don’t not eat meat mainly for health reasons but also because I had an epiphany walking through Les Halles at the age of 23 that eating meat is disgusting, arrogant, oblivious and unconscionably cruel. Moving on … I try increasingly to eat only organic veggies and fruit. Of course, I don’t, but the thought (and the anxiety) is always lurking. I am not afraid to eat great whole-grain bread. But I also eat the white kind. I wonder about the perils of cloning food but think it may come to billions eating cloned food or no food. I was just in Paris and am now in Berlin and, I have to tell you, I have not stopped eating. It was all delicious, and I never had the slightest frisson of fear. Moving on.
Mary Wells

Mary Wells | 06/17/2008 12:00 am

Mary Wells: There Are So Many Reasons Not to Eat

I am having a hard time as I eat out a lot and don’t trust anybody’s hands. Immigration and travel have introduced new bacteria and viruses everywhere. Now I can’t eat tomatoes and my friends in Europe won’t eat buffalo mozzarella so there goes Caprese salad. I eat little meat but now salmon is disappearing and you get signs in restaurants all over saying that it is and don’t eat it yet you see it on the menu. Anyway, mercury has invaded fish so I eat it a little less frequently. I may go back to Bill Blass’s heavenly meatloaf. I was never sure what was in that. I avoid lettuce except at home and we are into rewashing blueberries and soaking them in lemon juice so we aren’t surprised by spiders. It is a bummer. The worst of it is that I am not losing weight.

I do my treadmill on the boat and walk around every port and the only dessert I eat is a tiny — very tiny — scoop of chocolate chip mint that we make. But I am the same weight. Now even rice feels like I am taking food out of poor children’s mouths. And it seems a lot of things could be used for fuel to lower prices. There are so many reasons not to eat.

Joan Ganz Cooney

Joan Ganz Cooney | 06/17/2008 12:00 am

Joan Ganz Cooney: Is Healthy Eating Leading to Cancer?

No. I try to eat healthy but I don’t pay much attention to where the food comes from so my "healthy" eating is probably leading to cancer. But then, so is everything else.
Liz Smith

Liz Smith | 06/17/2008 12:00 am

Liz Smith: Organic Is for the Rich!

Are you kidding? No more than I ever did; I always only ate strawberries, corn, watermelon in season. These days organic is for rich people. I am not dedicated to food.

 

Click here on this text to read my nationally syndicated daily column.

Read more about: Culinary, Diet, Dining, Health

75 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

To the beach ~~~
Cath—I agree that it takes shopping savvy. Worth it because helping the planet, plus it’s fun to shop Farmer’s Markets. In Carmel Valley they had one of the best that went to when lived in Carmel. One of the larger organic farms has a box of produce delivery service that is $25 a week. I rarely buy packaged things or to-go either to save all the paper and no processed anything. Plus the inexpensive light soup you described is very healthy….I make light things like that. I am 99% veg but do eat occasional shrimp. Just make soups up no recipe, baby bok choy, soba, sesame, garlic, shrimp, veg based..maybe mushrooms or carrots. Here, Alice Waters has gotten schools into planting their own gardens, the kids harvest and cook. Gets them interested in nutrition and cooking. When my son was young we took a lot of weekend trips and he had two friends whose parents couldn’t afford so I paid, but they worked in my vegetable garden as an exchange. They expanded it and sold their produce, very enterprising. Lucky you, the Hamptons!
By To the beach ~~~ on 06/17/2008 1:42 pm
Maggi D
cath c - I divorced in 1980 and went from buying by the case to buying one cube of butter at a time. Totally understand how a slim budget can make you very creative. It probably saved my life though - went from eating meat, potatoes, & a veg at every meal to menus that sound alot like yours.
By Maggi D on 06/18/2008 2:35 pm
cath c
oh yes, i garden now i’m no longer in a basement condo, too.
By cath c on 06/17/2008 12:53 pm
Thelma Leopold
I am eating more organic foods, I even talk to the vegie man when he or she is restalking. I alway ask, is this geo modified?
By Thelma Leopold on 06/17/2008 1:03 pm
J Boylynn
No, I am not eating “organic.” I think it is all a ploy by grocers to soak customers for even more money! It is SO VERY expensive to buy organic. I won’t!
By J Boylynn on 06/17/2008 2:46 pm
Mugsy Peabody
J.B., Actually not. It is very important to stay away from pesticides on your food as much as possible. Some things, like lettuces, strawberries, and Kale, very very important. If you’re going to choose, be careful about that stuff. Also, you must wash everything really well. The pesticides are there for one purpose: to kill living creatures. And you are one. Don’t dismiss it out of hand because there’s hard science behind it, and being willfully ignorant is virtually never the answer. Education nearly always is. Good luck.
By Mugsy Peabody on 06/17/2008 3:41 pm
Nan Lester
Jesus no! They hike those prices up so far I have to pull them out of my ass. Plus, the few occasions on which I’ve given this green thing a go I noticed no huge discrepancy between the organic and non-organic version of the fruit or vegetable, so I say “why spend the dough?”
By Nan Lester on 06/17/2008 3:01 pm
My Two Cents
We go to farmer’s markets whenever we can. We grow some of our own veggies, we have space in our alley, we may have to dig up our thirsty, water using lawn and plant a veggie garden ! We try to eat as healthy as possible but it is difficult and expensive ! The price of fresh fish where we live requires a bank loan. I can remember the x-rays when I went to get new shoes,it’s unbelievable to me now. How about the car seats that used to fit over the front seat of your car ?
By My Two Cents on 06/17/2008 4:19 pm
Esther Bradley-DeTally
No, too pricey; but eating better; more veggies, fruits
By Esther Bradley-DeTally on 06/17/2008 6:17 pm
Leslie Gross
I try too as much as I can afford but sometimes the cost is just too over the top, like almost $5.00 for a gallon of milk at Whole Foods. I do try to only buy whole grain products and avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup. Whole Grain is pretty easy, products without HFCS are very hard to find. I spend a lot of time lable reading! Leslie Gross
By Leslie Gross on 06/17/2008 6:57 pm
Chris Broersma
I’d love too! But like many Americans the cost of food and gas must fit the budget, not vice versa.
By Chris Broersma on 06/17/2008 9:56 pm
Jenny Oops
I’m a little dubious of this “organic” stuff. Do my best to “eat well”, organically and otherwise, especially otherwise, but think some of this organic stuff is fraught with chicanery. YO DER!
By Jenny Oops on 06/17/2008 11:49 pm
Robin Aiscowitz
I have switched to an organic based diet. Less pesticides and all that crap. The food tastes better and has a purer taste. I prefer organic salads and beef without hormones. We also dine on purer foods of chicken and turkey. I also drink organic milk and juice. I have lost 58 pounds since December 2007.
By Robin Aiscowitz on 06/20/2008 8:24 am
Alessan O
No organic food, it always looks nasty to me , now if grew my own food in my own protected garden, that would be a different story, the way my grandmother did in the country.. Do the stores wash the food who knows. I’ll take my chances with bug spray and good washing at home. What I don’t want is food that is grown in China and shipped to the US they don’t inspect the food or the toys, and we certainly don’t have enough people here doing it.
By Alessan O on 06/23/2008 10:52 pm