Friday, January 23, 2009

Today at MOPs...

A dietician came and spoke on various "hot topics" that moms discuss.  Two of those being organic food and plastics safety.  Apparently, you should not store any food in any plastic containers (even BPA free) b/c of how the plastic leaches.  You should never microwave plastic.  You should not dishwash bottles and cups and limit any dishwashing of plastics in general.  You should remove food purchased at the store in plastic containers and put them in glass.  The only safe plastics are #1, 2, 4, and 5.  Oh yeah, and Cling Wrap is made with PVC (#3) and can do a number of terrible things if it touches your food including cause early puberty, reduced sperm count, increased rates of cancer, and obesity.  Poor old Cling Wrap.

On a daily basis, I pop out baby food I prepared from the PLASTIC ice cube trays, put them in PLASTIC Tupperware containers, and the MICROWAVE them to defrost them.  Later on in the day, I disassemble Abby Jane's sippy cups and put them in the dishwasher.  Apparently, this is less than brilliant.  So I stopped by the store on the way home from MOPs and purchased a few small glass containers in order to defrost her lunch without causing potential damage to her central nervous system, kidney function, early puberty, etc.

NOW, onto organic foods.  We started out completely organic with Abby Jane's food and now are mostly non-organic unless it's on-sale.  (Abby Jane started cow's milk last week, and we are buying that organic, but I really only intended to do that for the first month or two of it until she gets older.)  I would like to hear how YOU are non-organic and ok with it or if you have figured out how to buy organic without spending both arms, both legs, and maybe an ear.   Thanks for your thoughts- have a great weekend!!  It's actually rainy here, so it's nice and cozy after a week of 70's and sunny...

4 comments:

LB said...

hey Emily. As you know we are on a super strict budget. Ada doesn't really drink milk any more because of digestive problems, but I did buy organic milk when she started drinking it. Everything else, I buy normal. I had just heard so many things about the hormones in regular milk being responsible for early puberty in girls. I have found that Publix sells non-organic milk that claims to have no added hormones. Anyway...that's my two cents.

Travis & Jeri Tidmore said...

I am really not sure how much I believe all of that plastic stuff. I have been drinking/eating, etc. out of all kinds of plastic since I was born (almost 30 years) and I am fine. I am a big "conspiracy" person. :-) I sort of think that the whole "hate on plastic" thing is one person's vendetta and it just grew and grew. But, that is just my personal opinion.I take all that with a huge grain of salt.

J

jane said...

i only do some things organic- milk b/c of hormones and sometimes eggs... i look for deals, go w/ the cheapest brand each week and print off coupons... the othe rthing i did was look up which fruits and veggies are most affected by pesticdes(showing up on the inside instead on just skin etc) it helped me narrow my choices and sometimes pick the organic variety... unfortunately peaches were the worst offender- sad!

Betsy Gillies said...

Hey Emily....I read the following on a friends blog.

Here is some information my aunt sent me about organic fruits and veggies. I thought it was pretty interesting.

Should you get things organic or not? Here is a good way to tell...

Its all in the "thickness" of the peel and whether or not its "pourous." Bananas, oranges, tangerines, lemons, grapefruit, pineapples, watermelons,and figs all have a thick peel. So, if you are watching money, you don't necessarily have to go organic with these items. The highest pesticide levels are as follows: Veg's- spinach, celery, and potatoes. With Fruits- apples, bell peppers, celery, cherries,imported grapes, nectarines, peaches, pears, raspberries, and strawberries. Canaloupe has a very thick skin but because it is porous, it should be organic. Nectarines, pears, and peaches contain the highest pesticide levels. Remember to peel off 2-3 layers of the outer lettuce leaves (which contain the pesticides) The higest pesticides are in peanuts and raisins (peanut butter like you said--buy organic).