Raw Vegan Grocery Shopping -- Organic vs. Non-Organic? GMO vs. Non-GMO?steemCreated with Sketch.

in #vegan7 years ago

Today's Groceries... $93 for 2-3 weeks!

  • 5 raw green coconuts ($14.95 -- the most expensive part!)
  • 2 seeded watermelons ($9.99)
  • Big basket of Georgia Peaches ($38)
  • 5 papayas (about $13? I forgot the total price... 99¢/pound)
  • 6 lemons ($3)
  • 1 red bell pepper.
  • 2 grapefruits.
  • 2 half-gallon (64 oz) jugs of non-pasteurized Orange Juice ($11.98)

IMG_1198.JPG

If you're not eating raw fruits and starch-free vegetables, then you're spending a fortune on non-fresh foods that are dehydrating you, adding waste to your system, and compromising your long-term health. No judgements here; take it as a suggestion :) These foods will sustain just myself for at least 20 days! ($4.65/day!)

Speaking of waste, what about Organic vs. Non-Organic?

The only things here that are USDA certified organic: the red bell pepper. That's it. The issue with Organic and Non-Organic foods are that they both add waste residues to your body's system. These waste residues are from the pesticides sprayed on the trees. Even USDA Organic produce are sprayed with pesticides...pesticides that have been approved to still receive the USDA Organic seal and could prove to be more toxic to the human body when compared to Non-Organic pesticides. How ironic.

But hold on... do these pesticides even make it to the fruit which you consume?

My personal verdict is that the pesticides reside mainly on the surface--the part that you typically do not eat.

  • Coconuts: these are already in "nature's packaging", and when you drink the water, you can tell that they're sublime.
  • Seeded watermelons: I do not plan to juice the rinds...and I don't care how many "nutrients" are in it :) Eating clean is not about how many nutrients you get...it's about eating in a way that detoxes your body and keeps it in a balance that promotes your LIFE / biophoton levels.
  • Georgia Peaches: OK, I wouldn't be surprised if these absorbed toxic elements from the environment.
  • Papayas: I do not plan to eat the skin.
  • Lemons: Also do not plan to eat the skin...and these citrus fruits are incredibly cleansing.
  • Red Bell Pepper: I bought this one organic. I wouldn't be surprised if I ingest some copper sulfate (from the "Organic" pesticides). The worst this will do is kill the cells of my body that it touches. It's pretty real, and it's for the same reason why chemists look at sweeteners, such as aspartame, with horror. Those chemists understand what disruption is going on :)
  • Grapefruits: Also do not plan to eat the skin.
  • Organice Juice: if there's anything toxic here, it's from the plastic. I'm not too concerned...read below!

A friend asked me:

Do you try to eat organic only? I've been reading so much about pesticides so trying to eat organic but it's expensive!

My response:

Honestly I don't care whether or not it is organic -- most fruits cannot absorb the junk in the sprays. Not only that, but the "organic" farms still use a form of pesticides that may be more toxic than the pesticides we are trying to avoid anyways!! Fruits are so cleansing that I'm confident they will even cleanse any toxemias absorbed [from modern farming practices].

It appears that the pesticides for USDA Certified Organic produce are over 100 times more toxic than Non-Certified Organic pesticides.

GMO verse Non-GMO

Disclaimer: by "Genetically Modified Organisms", I am not referring to hybrids or selective breeding. Also, this is an area where I will show my ignorance. The idea behind genetically modifying the plants that grow our produce is to make the plants more resistant to insects eating them. My ignorance ends there.

Plants are chemical masters. Consider this: at the young age of a sprout, the plant is highly toxic if consumed. This is to deter insects from eating them while they're young and unable to procreate. This is a survival mechanism. How do the little sprouts do this? They are toxic and this will harm--and even kill--the insects or herbivores that dare to continue eating the sprout. For this reason, I stopped eating sprouts. I abstain from eating anything that will harm the plant's ability to procreate or enjoy life.

This is the idea behind GMO "products". The GMO plants are designed to harm insects to the point that it kills them. In return, these plants will also harm you. Not enough to kill you, but enough to kill a little insect. Sometimes these GMOs are as simple as making the food item more acidic--and this acidity is detrimental for your health. I've heard some people say, "Being too Alkaline is also detrimental for your health! Don't eat too alkaline!" And I used to believe this. Now, I believe it is impossible for the human body to be too alkaline when eating nature's raw foods. I'll stand to be corrected.

Seeded vs. Non-seeded. A non-seeded watermelon is a watermelon that had developmental problems that prevented it from continuing life. Perhaps this is hormonal--after all, the reason the fruits get softer in the first place is because of a plant hormone that communicates to the cells to continually divide. Is non-seeded less optimal for the human body? I don't know. What I do know is that when I eat seeded watermelon, the seeds slow me down from eating the watermelon too quickly. I instinctually do not want to eat the seeds. (Instinctually = Genetically!) As a result of slowing down and chewing more, I feel better! Maybe it has to do with the saliva. Intellectually, I do not know what is happening, nor do I care any longer! :)

Why kill these insects, anyways? So insects kill your crops because you want to maximize your land and not introduce co-living plants that DETER the "culprit" insects. So what? This is nature's tax to keep balance. This balance keeps insect populations balanced in the first place--thus you and your neighbors do not need pesticides sprayed to keep you from additional irritation. I have tomato plants, and do you know how I keep harmful insects away? I planted basil and dill nearby. The chemicals that come off from these plants are enough to kill these invasive critters...so those critters stay away and do their job somewhere else :)

There's also something called a "squirrel tax". This is where the squirrels take some of your home-grown produce in exchange for whatever they do :)

What can you do?

Just eat juicy fruits. They cleanse you out :) Experiment with growing some of your items as well! Grow a black berry bush... grow some cucumbers... have fun and learn :)

Other "Resources"

Top 12 pesticide-contaminated fruits and vegetables
https://www.treehugger.com/green-food/dirty-dozen-clean15.html

How does popular organic pesticide copper sulfate compare to synthetic ones like glyphosate?
https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2016/05/09/popular-organic-pesticide-copper-sulfate-compare-synthetic-ones-like-glyphosate/

Copper sulfate works because the copper atom binds to proteins, altering the structure of those proteins. This can disrupt the membranes around cells, causing the cells to die. Copper sulfate is effective at killing fungi, algae, and even snails in this way.

Copper Sulfate ("Organic" Pesticide)
http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxnet/carbaryl-dicrotophos/copper-sulfate-ext.html

Glyphosate (Not approved for USDA Organic Produce -- used as a pesticide for "conventional" produce)
http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxnet/dienochlor-glyphosate/glyphosate-ext.html

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That looks really good.

Lucky for me I live in Thailand atm and I get green coconut about 1 euro a piece, so I can enjoy one with my breakfast pretty much everyday.

Dont know if I could eat purly on fruits for now but I have it planned to give it a try. As for now I am happy that I eat way more fruit then I used to.

What is your opinion on juicing?

oh sweet man, i see you're into Wim Hof. (I do one of his breathing techniques.) If I were in Thailand, I would seriously LIVE off coconuts until I wanted another fruit! Juicing: you will have a ton of energy when juicing. I did a 60-day juice feast and loved every moment of it. When I started craving salads (about day 60) I began to refeed. It took me 15 days of re-feeding to have no digestive issues :) At this point, I resumed eating as a fruitarian. Currently, raw vegan nut-cream foods are my "junk food" compromises. Getting cleaner and cleaner with my eating every week!!

wow 60 days is pretty impressive. I did 2 weeks after seeing "fat sick and nealy dead" and I was happy to eat again.
But for the most part I felt great (well after 4 to 5 days).

I am trying to get cleaner with my eating also, but I am a believer in small steps and for somone who lived of pizza for a long time I am happy with my progress.

Will follow you also for some more inspiration.

cool :D btw, after about 50 days, some things came out of my body (when going to the bathroom) that i would have NEVER in my life imagined.... it was surreal!

Congrats with your Wim Hof progress. I'm enjoying them :)

I am not sure if I want to know more about this ;-)

Where you eating healthy already, when you started your juice fast?

The juice fast made me realize that I was eating horribly, but I was definitely doing a lot better. For about 9 months before the juice feasting I was eating a diet of mostly fruits. At least 50% of my meals during the day were fruit, and many days I would go 100% fruit. Throughout those 9 months i'd estimate that I did 90% fruit!

There is definitely no solid food diet healthier than raw fruits, and I have realized through this--like so many other people have realized--that the human species is a frugivorous species. This means that the most optimal thing we can eat is fruits and starch-less "vegetables" (most are technically fruits anyways), and occasional tender, leafy greens :)

interesting.

I have heard a ted talk about starches and that a lot of high cultures ran off them. But this is also compared to modern society were a lot of people eat meat like products.

I am not educated enough to really speak about this, but I am interested.

As a pizza and burger man I am happy with the progress so far I made into a more healthy and especially for me substainable diet, with a lot of fruit and nuts and veggies and meat only to treat myself so far. But I am working on it to get better and better.

You'll get it, man :) Just beware of starch...it pollutes the body! Got plaque on your teeth? It's from the starch. And guess what? If you have plaque on your teeth, you ALSO have it throughout your entire body!

How very correct you are Robert!!

yea man... i am so gunna follow your Wim Hof journey. One of my biggest interests now is recognizing my complete control of my reality. Love it :)

thx a lot man. that is really motivationg.

together we grow

I'm glad you replied! Because I swear I clicked to follow you, and now I just realized that I wasn't following! *clicks follow again* ... see ya! :D

hahaha

always trying to reply ;-)

I'm so marvelled by this post@robertgenito. You have really cleared some of my doubts about organic and non organic foods. It's really educative and informative given what you are missing in case you go some foods. I enjoyed reading this post.

ty :)

Hi. Good post and informations :). Please for follow. I following u

I wish I could eat like this man - I have what's called OAS (Oral Allergy Syndrome) and I am allergic to all raw fruits and vegetables...I'm really sad about it :(

I'd like to see this with you. I'm suspicious that whoever diagnosed you with OAS is just confused as to what a cleansing reaction is. Actually, I don't think I've ever seen a doctor write the term "cleansing reaction"... TRY SLOWLY INTRODUCING RAW FRUITS!

  • Make sure they are ripe. RIPE. Don't assume you know what ripe is...do your homework!
  • Try growing your own tomatoes for fun, and then eat one of the tomatoes straight from the vine. Do you have a different reaction?
  • Realize that most "allergies" are simply the bodies difficulty channeling the nutrients. There may be something more fundamental going on...I'm really not an expert on this part, but I hope this information may help!
  • Try the water from raw, green coconuts :) Search youtube on how to open these. If you haven't done this before, it will be a fun project! Don't give up on your first raw green coconut...keep trying :)

Hope you find something that works for this for ya!! Don't fear the fruit! Follow @tedcarr on this.

Unfortunately it's the pollen of the fruits and trees that cause this reaction - I would like to take these suggestions though.

To be honest, I do notice a difference (especially in tomatoes) depending on the fruits color. If it's a deep red, I have less of a reaction - so there may be something to what you are saying here.

Thanks!

Fruits don't have pollen in them :D I'm sure you mean something else. But man that's super interesting what you say about fruits by the color.... keep up with the red fruits! :D

It's a very complicated thing to explain lol

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_allergy_syndrome

I prefer if we do not go for GMO as it loses the original taste.

Also any fruit that is not genetically modified has nutraceutical active components that is the reason of health factor.

ya man! the fruit has the LIFEEEE

Vegetables also. As a food technilogist I know it. Fruits and vegetables has those active components that gives extra health benefits.
Keep it up mate

This is article is an awesome breakdown. I've definitely got to get better at spending for my grocery budget. I'm not a vegan but I'm a newbie vegetarian. I hope to learn more tips and life hacks soon so as to give my food bill some relief! Thanks for the motivation to stay on track.

Robert, would you look at my urban gardening post?
https://steemit.com/health/@taylortown/yes-even-if-you-live-in-the-city-you-can-grow-almost-anything

Thank you and looking forward to more posts like this!

Urban Gardening = awesome. Do you like advice? :D I have some that I hope you will consider: skip vegetarian and just go to veganism. Cause think about it: are eggs a vegetable? :D cheeses aren't vegetables either :D

You know it's funny that you mentioned cheese... it makes my belly hurt when I eat it lately and I've felt so much better now that I've removed it from my diet....

Hmmmm you make a good point.

I plan to post more on urban gardening too...!

Thanks. I like this post. I always opt for organic when I can, because they can also absorb through the roots and soil if not the tough skins such as bananas. Organic is really important I find and yeah the wildlife too :)

Recommend reading RAW Food and the Psych Ward. Think it will talk to you :)

Interesting. I used to work for a "psyche ward"--though it wasn't proper for staff to call it that. I also just finished reading. I didn't have any experiences like this because I was not a druggy :) However, I did have an interesting experience while I was dry fasting (no food or water...ZERO liquids and zero food! I did this up to 50 hours once.) ....and that experience I had must have been from LSD residue from my past :D

Robert you are inspiring me to get better! Yummy!

Would it be cheaper to make your own OJ instead of buying it? It's very easy to do.

It sure is. During the Honey Bell and Naval Orange season, I bought cases of oranges at a time. A $55 box of Honey Bells yielded so much orange juice that I don't even remember!!! Maybe 30 gallons? $1.83 per gallon? That estimate is based on the size of a 30 gallon fish tank :)

30 gallon fish tank hahaha. Do you store your OJ in a fish tank?

lol no. I'd love to see a 30 gallon fish tank full of orange juice, tho!

haha. maybe add a tap to it and enjoy it all day haha ;)

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