Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Meal Participation

[Joanie Connors (jvcphd]

A couple of thoughts in response to Mariana's questions,

Is there nothing these two nonworking eaters can do? Shop? clean &
organize the cabinets? make birthday party arrangements? Call to find
the best prices for ingredients?

It seems like the imbalance there will cause resentment at some point
if not now.

Also, regarding the organic question, try using the Dirty Dozen list
below to make decisions about organic or not. I've posted it below.

For all those lovely organic fruits that are so expensive, consider
only eating them in season, when you can drive out of town to farms to
get a large quantity (maybe pick your own). My friends and I have done
this for peaches, apples, apricots and citrus (Arizona). It makes for
a nice trip (that kids love), jam making parties and the ability to
eat our fill without guilt.

Top 12 Dirtiest Fruits and Veggies
Yoga + Joyful Living Jul 13, 2009
By Natalya Podgorny, Yoga +

DIRTY DOZEN
(Buy These Organic)

1. Peaches
2. Apples
3. Sweet Bell Peppers
4. Celery
5. Nectarines
6. Strawberries
7. Cherries
8. Lettuce
9. Grapes
10. Pears
11. Spinach
12. Potatoes

CLEANEST 12
(Lowest in Pesticides)

1. Onions
2. Avocado
3. Sweet Corn (frozen)
4. Pineapples
5. Mango
6. Sweet Peas (frozen)
7. Asparagus
8. Kiwi
9. Bananas
10. Cabbage
11. Broccoli
12. Eggplant

When You Can’t Go 100% Organic

Even if you can’t afford to buy everything local and organic, the
Environmental Working Group (EWG), a watchdog and research nonprofit,
has identified the “dirty dozen”–those fruits and veggies that contain
the highest amounts of pesticides. For these, it might be worth paying
for the organic versions. Among conventionally grown, try sticking to
the “cleanest 12.” The produce ranking was developed by EWG analysts
based on the results of nearly 51,000 tests for pesticides on produce
collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration between 2000 and 2005. An EWG simulation of
thousands of consumers eating high and low pesticide diets showed that
people can lower their pesticide exposure by almost 90% by avoiding
the top 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating the
least contaminated instead.