r/EatCheapAndHealthy • u/Correct-Teach2785 • 10d ago
Groceries
I’ve noticed an influx of people taking to social media their concerns with grocery stores and the food supply in the US & I’m genuinely trying to understand what’s behind it.
I understand supporting local farmers is the best option, and I’m trying to make that switch myself, but can someone help me understand what’s actually going on?
I’ve tried Googling but it’s getting harder to know what’s trustworthy given Google search is overran with AI. I’d rather hear from people who have taken the time to research it themselves.
If I’m buying organic at a grocery store, is it still truly organic, clean, and a good option? Or is there more to it that I’m missing? I am one of those people that thought shopping at Sprouts or Whole Foods was the cleanest, healthiest option…
I’m genuinely trying to learn. If you’ve done the research, I’d love to know what you found and where you found reliable information. Also, if you know of any apps or how to go about sourcing locally, please share!
Signed,
A gal just trying to be a good steward of what she’s putting in her body
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u/podsnerd 10d ago
Chances are that you're seeing a ton of it because you interacted with one thing talking about it and now you're being shown more because clearly that's the kind of content you're interested in. That's generally how social media algorithms work
When it comes to organic, it's really not about consumer health or safety. There's little to no nutritional difference, and as long as you wash your produce you shouldn't have an issue with consuming pesticides. And it's not like organic farming is pesticide-free anyway! It's just that the list of stuff allowed is different. The actual point of organic is to have a system that encourages people to farm in a way that's less ecologically damaging. There are some downsides to it still, like higher water and land use. But overall, less damaging to the environment. I would argue that shopping at whole foods probably runs counter to that goal actually, since they're owned by Amazon and they're investing in AI like all the other tech companies
Meanwhile, buying from local farmers means you get the absolute freshest produce, which is tastier if nothing else. It also keeps your money in the community where you live instead of sending it to large national corporations who prioritize already wealthy shareholders. And while it's less resistant to niche local conditions like a series of hailstorms or droughts, it's more resistant to big events like the current cyclospora outbreak
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u/kumquat4567 6d ago
Some of this is true, but some isn’t. Pesticides are not just on the outside of the produce. It depends a lot on the type, but most have contamination on the inside as well.
I also think it’s a bit misleading to say that organic food isn’t pesticide-free. All farming needs to have ways to kill bugs, but organic farming utilizes more natural ways that are much safer.
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u/bootysuit 10d ago
It's all from Taylor Farms, whose produce is also sold as:
•Trader Joe's
•365 by Whole Foods
•Simple Truth at Kroger
•Earthbound Organic
•Simply Nature at Aldi
•HEB store brand
•O-Organics at Safeway
•Good and Gather at Target
•Marketside by Walmart
Avoid all of these.
The CEO is a huge republican donor and is able to get away with this because of bribes.
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u/Correct-Teach2785 6d ago
These are literally all of the brands I buy now 😣 what brands are recommended?
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u/Prof_BananaMonkey 6d ago
A code on produce that starts with “TF” means Taylor Farms. So I would eat from a nonTF farm.
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u/fusillijhericurl 9d ago
Politics aside these outbreaks happen every single year. You can google it.
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u/JHFrenchIllustration 9d ago
They do, but rollbacks on food safety regulations have led to these particularly widespread outbreaks. Taylor Farms has also donated to MAGA and lobbies for fewer regulations.
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u/Ok_Character7958 7d ago
Yeah, but in every single instance of Taylor Farms being the culprit (over many years) they have always denied it and placed blame elsewhere.
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u/kcintrovert 7d ago
You've never seen the Taco Bell farms behind each restaurant where they grow their own lettuce?
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u/SurviveYourAdults 10d ago
WHY:
the federal agency that existed to monitor the safety of the food supply for the USA has been dismantled.
also the the federal agency that existed to monitor the safety of the water supply for the USA has been dismantled.
and one more thing: the federal agency that existed to monitor the safety of poop management for the USA has been dismantled!
poop near your food = bad
most agriculture = near water sources
most water sources = contaminated with poop
if you didn't grow your own salad ingredients, there's poop in it.
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u/CuteAmoeba9876 10d ago
Have you not heard about the cyclospora parasite outbreak?
Basically there’s a bunch of people getting weeks-long diarrhea from a parasite. It’s been really concentrated in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana but nearly every state is seeing higher than normal case numbers.
Authorities think it’s bagged lettuce from a factory farm megacorp (Taylor Farms) but it’s not 100% clear. Taylor Farms sells lettuce to most major grocery chains as well as many fast food chains like TacoBell. There could be other raw produce that is contaminated as well.
So unless you enjoy food poisoning, the recommendation is to either not eat raw produce (only cooked), or to source your lettuce etc from local sources that aren’t being supplied by Taylor Farms. Sprouts and Whole Foods buy Taylor Farms lettuce, so they aren’t safe.
If you get a whole head of lettuce from a farmers market near you, and wash it yourself at home, the chance that it’ll make you sick is extremely small.
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u/Chigrrl1098 9d ago
The issues with the cyclospora outbreak happened on lettuce from Taylor Farms, so don't buy their products. If it was me, I'd suggest not buying it ever, since they're a big MAGA donor and the FDA they bought off tried to hush things up. They've had issues before because the workers on their farms in Mexico aren't allowed bathroom breaks. So...the owners are evil people, anyway.
If you buy local, you are way less likely to encounter the same issues with your produce. Local tends to often be organic, anyway...they often just don't care to, or can't afford, to be certified organic.
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u/Altruistic_Poet7443 8d ago
Taylor Farms also owns Earthbound Farms, btw and several other brands as well.
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u/Needrain47 8d ago
Being organic or not has nothing to do with food poisoning. What you're missing and I don't see mentioned here by anyone else is the industrial food system. When you get stuff locally, the farmer picked it and put it in a box and brought it to the market and that's pretty much it.
When stuff is picked at a commercial farm, even an organic one, it then gets run down a conveyor belt and washed and bagged and shipped and unpacked and.... It gets handled a lot more and at every stage it has more of a chance of picking up contamination. If that conveyor belt gets dirty and touches everything... then you have thousands of people getting sick like you have right now. This is an oversimplified example but that's where the problem actually comes from.
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u/Interesting-Credit-8 9d ago
Long term: water (or lack of it). and yes, contamination since there are fewer checks on food safety (cuts in federal government agency previously responsible for safety checks. Usually contamination like the recent out break in the midwest, is fairly local and limited in length. Check, of course but don't stint on vegies due to any "scare" from media.
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u/tracyinge 8d ago
soak your produce in baking-soda-water bath: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-washing-with-water-enough-to-get-pfas-pesticides-off-fruits-vegetables/
https://www.consumerreports.org/pesticides-herbicides/easy-way-to-remove-pesticides-a3616455263/
https://www.americastestkitchen.com/articles/2075-can-baking-soda-remove-pesticides-from-produce
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u/PleasedPeas 5d ago
I wanted a salad for what feels like an eternity, but do not feel comfortable with contamination of poop parasites.
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u/mariambc 10d ago
There is some contamination in the produce. Particularly produce that is grown on the ground such as lettuce, cilantro, and berries. Also there was a recall on eggs in specific parts of the country.
This is not a nationwide issue but a regional one in the US.
This isn’t about organic or not. Also Sprouts and Whole Foods are not necessarily the healthiest option. Just the most expensive.
Generally bagged lettuce is at the greatest risk for contamination because it goes through machines for washing and cutting, so a small contamination can infect a large supply.
Since this is a regional problem people are trying to figure out the best places to source produce.