Sunday, March 9, 2008In an attempt to cut down on plastic this Lent, and to gravitate toward more organic foods, whenever possible (mainly with the 'Dirty Dozen' in mind), I've decided to list some of my preferred products. These do not include all of my favorite brands or varieties of vegan food. But I'm trying to concentrate on things that don't use any (or much) plastic, are organic, and, where possible, are grown in the USA, or at least, the companies are based here.
Organic fruit & veggies: In general, I prefer Whole Foods' organic produce, because a lot of it can be picked up off the display, and many aren't wrapped in plastic or in plastic containers. Whole Foods also identifies the country (or state) of origin on the price tags. And they are the only store close to work or home that seems to sell a wide variety of organic apples & pears.
Organic fruit & veggies: Sandhill Farm, the local organic CSA, has a weekly Farmers Market (actually, two -- one in Grayslake, and one at Prairie Crossing), where I can know the food is grown within a few hours away, and I can bring my own bag. They do use things like fishmeal as fertilizer, so I'm not sure I would consider their veggies vegan. But I wonder which organic brands don't use animal-based fertilizers. This is closer to home, and a place to pick up a few things, at least on a Saturday morning during the growing season. (CSA members have a different day for picking up their weekly share of food.)
Fruit juice: Lakewood is organic, 100% juice, fresh pressed "not from concentrate", in glass bottles. The company is based in Florida, but I don't know where the fruit comes from. (10 % of their proceeds goes to Helping Hands, which covers charities I might or might not want to support. But I'll live with that.)
Non-dairy frozen dessert: So Delicious: vegan & diabetic-friendly, nice variety of flavors, organic, regular "ice cream" (at least) is sold in recyclable cardboard containers. Turtle Mountain, the company that makes it, is a sponsor of the Sea Turtle Restoration Project.
Chocolate sauce & natural sweetener: Wax Orchards makes a healthy, yet decadent chocolate sauce for ice cream, which is diabetic-friendly. Their Fruit Sweet can be used as a substitute for honey, or sugar, and reminds me of Birnel(sp?) which the family I lived with in Switzerland in 1974-5 used to use. Not organic, but comes in glass, and is made in the USA. I've noticed that I can get my "chocolate fix" without binging, and suspect it might be because it doesn't contain sugar.
Non-dairy beverages: I buy the non-refrigerated shelf-stable cardboard cartons. I used to tend toward soy milk because it's higher in protein, and would buy whichever brand was on sale. But now I gravitate toward the large size Rice Dream organic, because the price is comparable to the on-sale soy varieties, and it's white, and I don't mind drinking it plain.
Peanut butter: Maranatha peanut butter is organic and comes in glass jars.
