I read a post last night titled A layman’s translation of food jargon…  It addressed some of the topics I rant and rave over with friends, but haven’t posted about, until now.

In the United States, the food industry maintains no relationship between the labels on processed food and reality.  Organic doesn’t really mean organic unless it has the official USDA Organic label.  Makes you wonder why the plain organic label is allowed at all, doesn’t it?  Breads labeled whole wheat frequently don’t have whole wheat has one of the main ingredients.   In the other corner, the actual health benefits of herbs, fruits and veggies cannot be listed because the Food and Drug Administration has not evaluated the “claims”.  Claims that have been validated in Europe.

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Peppers by the back deck

I’ve started growing my food, controlling what is and isn’t  in my garden.  Now, let’s not get carried away, I do well with herbs, peppers and tomatoes, but with other veggies, I’ve found that I can save myself some time and heartache by supporting local organic farmers.

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Mint in the garden

I still work full time and I spend my spare time writing fantasy.  I just don’t have the time to devote to keeping the garden healthy.  I barely have time to cook.  I also found that we vacation at the worst possible times for whatever I’m growing.  Yes, I should make time for something as important as the food we eat; but I’m honest enough with myself to admit that I can be lazy about some things.

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First bounty of the year

So, here’s to the organic farmer.  Maybe one day I will understand how they do it.