Local Or Organic And Other Food Labels – What Is Best?

Eating healthy can sure get confusing, especially when you have to choose local or organic. Here’s what happened to me and what I have learned. Hopefully you can learn from my mistakes and from lessons I have learned.

As I was doing my first ever home fitness program, Power 90, I tried to choose foods from the top two tiers of Michi’s ladder (whole, natural foods that  have been grown for thousands of years, like produce, clean lean meats, whole fruits and vegetables, and seeds). I may have already been choosing local or organic foods!

I still often justified picking foods from the middle tier and choosing those middle of the road foods that were like breads, bagels, cereals, cheese, crackers, wine, etc. Since these foods were listed as ones that don’t work for you or against you, I though “why not?” After a few months I was realizing that some of my results had plateaued.

Don’t get me started on the foods in the lower tiers like pizza, burgers, beer, etc. Yep, I still had those things from time to time and of course would regret how I felt and how it added weight and fat to my body.

Local Or Organic – The Search For Healthy Food

I often tell people that eating right and exercise is a process. And for me, it’s been a long process. Local or Organic? I want to help you take the guesswork out of choosing healthy foods. I have bought many things to cut calories, thinking foods were healthy but was wrong (i.e.. choosing Boca Burgers thinking they were the best burger alternative…WRONG!).

These days it’s super challenging figuring out what is healthy and what is not because many food companies have found loopholes and use trendy “healthy” labels to make us think it is a good choice. For instance, putting “Gluten Free” on frozen strawberries. DUH! Strawberries have always been gluten free.

Start With The Basics Before Choosing Local Or Organic

Choosing foods that don’t need labels is easiest whether they are local or organic. These are foods that come in their native state like apples, peppers, broccoli, and other things that grow from the Earth.

Products that only have one ingredient like grains and legumes such as rice and beans. I am not talking about the Uncle Ben’s combo microwave blend with rice and beans. Look on the label. There is a ton of other stuff you don’t need in there. I am actually talking about rice and beans and that is it.

Dairy Products and Animal Proteins – Keep these to a minimum and make them lean, free-range or wild caught. I’ll explain Organic, Free Range, Wild Caught, Farmed labels below.

After finishing Ultimate Reset I discovered the need to be careful with meats and dairy products as they have a lot of saturated fat, even the “healthy” cut of meats. Actually, I do not have dairy in my diet, so don’t even worry about the issue those products can have on the body. And NO, you don’t need dairy because of the calcium!

Local Or Organic – Food Labels

Food labels. While I am no expert on buying local or organic, I have learned a few things along the way. And I am still learning. When it comes to labels we see low fat, fat free, gluten free, low calorie, local or organic, etc…

For this article I’ll focus on local or organic, free-range, wild caught, free-range, and grass fed. All of these must be good, right?

Organic
Organic or living, typically this is produce that hasn’t been sprayed or treated with pesticides. So how is it we see “organic” on lots of items in the store, like jars, boxes and cans? Weren’t these supposed to be the foods you found at a farmers market?

Apparently the government had to come in with some regulations for some reason so packaged foods that contain “organic ingredients” can get the label of “organic.” We now have huge n food aisles in our grocery. So, at this time, things can get labeled with “organic” with very little organic ingredients. Clever!

I’m sure buying organic is still a good choice. Just be sure to read the fine print for what exactly it is you are buying.

Grass Fed
This is something I think should be obvious. Don’t cattle eat grass? You know, the stuff that grows out in the fields with all the soil nutrients in them? The reason why steaks used to taste amazing! Nope. Not any more. I won’t get into the treatment of animals today. Just watch Food Inc. or Fresh if you want more info there. Today, most cattle are fed grain and are being shot up with steroids. We are getting lower quality meat with little nutrient value.

Free Range
This applied to chicken, turkey and other fowl. These animals also used to roam around freely outdoors, get fresh air, eat seeds and other healthy items. They grew up healthy with more muscle. Today, most chickens are raised in cages, fed grain too, and treated poorly. The quality of meat is very low as opposed to free range animals

Do your research. Buy from local farms if you have them. Check out LocalHarvest.org.

Farm Raised
Would you believe this about fish, not farm animals? Still, fish are actually penned off into areas where they are given a controlled diet and fattening hormones, etc. This can effect some types of fish. Some of the fish they even dye red before they go to market. Talk about a scam! If it is farmed, do not buy it. Especially farm raised salmon. Always buy wild-caught.

Local
From time to time you may see “local” or “locally raised.” These are good things to buy. Even if they aren’t organic. That means they haven’t had to travel half way across the planet to get there and you are getting the freshest version of it around, so will benefit from all the nutrients. It also supports your local economy and helps you to get to know your community! Buying local should be the first thing you consider when buying foods for your table!

Local Or Organic – You Decide

I know it can be a bit time consuming and sometimes a scavenger hunt to find good, nutritious food. I didn’t even dig in the GMO (genetically modified organism) types of crops like corn and soy, hence my reference to Boca Burgers above. Still, it’s a learning process and just do your best. If you have the space and knack for it, grow your own vegetables and raise your own animal protein. Doesn’t get any more local than that!

Healthy eating to you my friend.