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Thread: Going gluten free?

  1. #21
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    And within the last week Whole Foods food market has announced that by a certain target date, they will require any food grower or food processing company that wants to sell in thier store, to declare if their product contains GM ingredients. They apparently have given up on the government ever requiring Monsanto et al to label their products. The government instead has created all sorts of time consuming and expensive hoops for organic farmers to jump through in order to be labeled organic. Europe requires gmo foods to be labeled. Monsanto has ised that as a way of promoting their products as being modified to be healthier .... so it is not as if they could not make a case for their products being healthier...Seems as if we should all just be informed of what ingredients are used. And yes....there are many small farmers who grow nonGMO foods....but are not officially organic. So buying local can be as good as organic. It is a matter of visiting your local farmer and finding out his growing methods. It is all very complicated. The best we can do is to be as careful and educated as possible and hope for the best!!
    Jacquie (aka Lifelong Booknut)

    Updated status: "Honorary Weggie"

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    My point is still being missed a little bit.... a small farmer could still buy GMO seeds, (though I'm not sure why they would.... maybe it would get to a point where it is hard to buy anything else).... AND he could then grow his crop from these seeds by organic farming methods with no pesticides or chemical fertilizers! Could his crop then be called organic, since he grew it by organic methods? I don't know. Of course, the better thing would be for non-GMO seeds to always be available and farmers be rewarded for saving and using their own seeds. That's one of the things people like Monsanto would like to see ended. But again, non-organic crops can be grown from non-GMO seeds, non-GMO doesn't equal organic, though maybe it usually is (and I don't mean certified or not, I mean grown by organic methods.)

    Good for Whole Foods. I've heard some not so good stuff about the CEO of that company, but I think it was not related to the products sold... it would be more getting into the realm of national politics, which we can't do here..... just sayin'. I don't even remember the details. A Whole Foods was going to come to my town but I think it may have been shot down because it would be too much competition for our excellent food co-ops and our local farmers.

    Small farmers at farmers markets usually say that they are growing their crops by organic methods even if they are not certified. I'm not sure what one could tell by visiting their farms on a given day, nor do I know that a parade of people passing through their farms and interrupting their work would be a welcome thing. So we sort of have to take their word for it. In the case of our local farmers market, I pretty much believe them..... the certified organic farmers produce beautiful looking crops, not with a bunch of bug holes or anything, so we know it is possible and why wouldn't the non-certified ones be able to do it, too? Most of our farmers are certified organic. And we get beautiful fruit trucked over from the warmer-summer side of the state which is also certified organic.
    Anne, dx'ed April 2011

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    So glad to hear that Whole Foods is doing that! And I agree, we aren't as informed on the ingredients we are consuming. I developed a soy allergy last June, and have become more aware of what I eat... although being a college student I hate not being able to eat all of the mac and cheese and pizza I want. It has, though, let me to eat much healthier now. Gluten free is becoming popular (I don't know what other word to use) and it is much easier to find gluten free foods nowadays. Udi's is a brand that makes products that are gluten and soy free (and most are dairy free too I believe).

    And Anne, to answer your question, if a farmer uses GMO seeds, it cannot be considered organic, even if he used organic methods. However, organic seeds do sometimes become contaminated with GMO and farmers may be unknowingly buying GMO-tainted seeds when they think they are buying organic. I have taken several environmental science classes and agr
    ee with what you say with Monsanto. They really are taking over the seed industry. I would like to know that the food I buy at the grocery store that's labelled as organic, really is organic, but what is a realistic solution? It seems like forcing this testing on organic seed companies could make the organic industry actually take steps backwards. The industry already experiences costs that industrial seed companies and farmers never even think of. All of this makes organic seed and food less accessible to lower income people. Adding more costs would make it even worse. I agree that having GMO-free seeds is important, but we need to consider all of the factors. This isn't my field of study, so I'm going to stop because I could talk about this all day. The best thing to do is support your local farmers at the market, I wish there were more by me so I could do this.

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    Quote Originally Posted by rebekah View Post
    So glad to hear that Whole Foods is doing that! And I agree, we aren't as informed on the ingredients we are consuming. I developed a soy allergy last June, and have become more aware of what I eat... although being a college student I hate not being able to eat all of the mac and cheese and pizza I want. It has, though, let me to eat much healthier now. Gluten free is becoming popular (I don't know what other word to use) and it is much easier to find gluten free foods nowadays. Udi's is a brand that makes products that are gluten and soy free (and most are dairy free too I believe).

    And Anne, to answer your question, if a farmer uses GMO seeds, it cannot be considered organic, even if he used organic methods. However, organic seeds do sometimes become contaminated with GMO and farmers may be unknowingly buying GMO-tainted seeds when they think they are buying organic. I have taken several environmental science classes and agr
    ee with what you say with Monsanto. They really are taking over the seed industry. I would like to know that the food I buy at the grocery store that's labelled as organic, really is organic, but what is a realistic solution? It seems like forcing this testing on organic seed companies could make the organic industry actually take steps backwards. The industry already experiences costs that industrial seed companies and farmers never even think of. All of this makes organic seed and food less accessible to lower income people. Adding more costs would make it even worse. I agree that having GMO-free seeds is important, but we need to consider all of the factors. This isn't my field of study, so I'm going to stop because I could talk about this all day. The best thing to do is support your local farmers at the market, I wish there were more by me so I could do this.
    Thanks, Rebekah, for clearing up the fact that no crops grown from GMO seeds can be considered organic no matter how they are farmed. But I still question the idea that all crops grown from non-GMO or "organic" seeds might be considered by someone to be organic, since there would be many things that could be done by the farmer, such as using chemical fertilizers, which would make them not organic. Also, are all "non-GMO" seeds automatically organic (aside from the accidental contamination you mentioned), or are there other treatments than can be done to the seeds that would make them not so?

    I sell pottery at a really great farmers market full of organic farmers, so I should have plenty of chance, on some of the slower days, to ask them some of these questions!

    As far as the gluten-free thing goes, I've been told by someone more knowledgeable than I that there were changes in wheat way back in the 60's or so, that made the gluten in today's wheat much more problematical for people than it ever was before. If this is correct, these changes occurred way before the whole GMO thing started, and were an unintentional result of intensive selective breeding for much higher yield crops. Apparently there is still a VERY limited supply of seeds from the "old style" wheat, which has a name I don't remember. But the point is there is more going on with alterations to wheat than just whether it is GMO or not. This is supposedly discussed in the book Wheat Belly, which I haven't read or seen a copy of. I've also seen this theory discredited by one online doctor/health advisor.

    Thanks, everyone, for your patience about my picking apart of terminology and dwelling on fine technicalities.
    Anne, dx'ed April 2011

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    I am happy to read all the technicalities. The devil is in the details as they say. There is a lot of lamentation that the burden of proof is placed on organic farmers. On the flip side of the coin, I am not sure that I would trust Monsanto et al to be truthful...even if they were required to mark their products. It is much easier to go after a small farmer than a large corporation, so I think that small farmers who go through the organic certification route have a bigger incentive to be honest. Did you ever think of how much money is spent in the world to ensure that people do the right thing? If we could trust each other - the deficit problem would clear up due to all the money we would save. Perhaps not so good for the law-enforcement agencies I guess.=)
    Jacquie (aka Lifelong Booknut)

    Updated status: "Honorary Weggie"

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    I hear ya, Booknut. I'm done talking about farming for now because I'll get in over my head if I do. But there sure is a lot of other messed up stuff to talk about! Right now, any of that is over my head, too.
    Anne, dx'ed April 2011

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    Hey, great farming discussion. I think you all are very well informed. But jeepers, I practically need to bring a lawyer to go shopping for food. Can't you see me having my attorney 'depose' the produce guy at the market over a box of lettuce?

    "So, Mr Green Gocer, my client, whom you refer to as 'customer', would like to see an affidavit of genetic background for this lettuce he is considering."

    Grocer, "Your client may find what he wants at some other store. Have a nice day"

    The only technicality I would add is that to the best of my understanding this tid bit I found online is true: Also, just because something says "organic" on it does not mean that it does not contain GMs. In fact, it can still contain up to 30% GMs, so be sure the labels say 100% organic.

    --The understanding that I have been working with is that if something doesn’t say 100% organic, or non-GMO on the label – I must assume that it has GMO in it at least to some degree. I know, that’s almost all our food.

    So, my update on my food sensitive diet.
    I took a long road trip and didn't plan my food adequately and just went nuts eating 'normal' food. WOW, did I pay for it. I did NOT feel good.
    The good news is that when I got home I was eager to get back to the 'good' things I had been eating and I bounced back surprisingly fast.

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    Good to hear, Kirk. I went nuts and bought and ate a loaf of bread after being wheat free for two weeks. It is now gone and I haven't eaten more. I actually felt pretty good the day after eating some of the bread, but then the next day, after eating the rest of it, not so good. Now, not eating it again, sort of OK. I'm probably not eating as much "good stuff" as you are, though.

    With the Wegs drugs I'm taking, I'm not so sure I can tell what is doing what, anyway!
    Anne, dx'ed April 2011

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    Organic & food sensitive diets for whatever purposes are one thing...and for the betterment of individuals. How is the world fed considering we've been OVER the food limit growths since the early 1900s population-wise? Organics can not feed a world of 8 billion most of whom are a starving people...does one really think someone starving in Darfur really cares if it's organic or not...there is a larger picture...
    Knowing how to think empowers you far beyond those who only know what to think. -NdT


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    Anne, according to what I've read your experience is text book food sensitivity. I'm only going off what I read so take it for whatever might seem helpful. It seems it takes at least 21 days to get over whatever you are sensitive too. Until that happens you will have some cravings, followed by eating the craved food, followed by not feeling good. This has been my experience and also that of a close friend who has been following this same diet (and having slip ups too. Some intentional , some not- just like me)

    My situation is very complicated too so my results are contaminated by a lot of other factors. Still, I think my own sense is that it is helping me.

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