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LLMom
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 8:36am | IP Logged
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I am frustrated. I want to buy organic but the quality has been less than desireable. Has anyone experienced this? Last week I bought some organic yogurt and it had mold on the top. Its expiration date wasn't for 3 weeks. I also bought some organic peaches and they were awful. Dry and spongy texture. Quite frequently, I have this happen with apples and grapes too. The texture of apples is horrible and the grapes are usually squishy. They are not all from the same store either. I want to support the organic food industry but if I spend that much money I hope for quality food.
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Lisa
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Dawn
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 8:50am | IP Logged
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Lisa, I have found that when I buy organic food from my local conventional shops, every once in a while the produce is less than stellar or the chicken goes bad within a day or there is mold on the bread. I think this is because the turnover is so much slower there than at a natural or whole foods market. While I'm glad these shops are getting organic things in, I'd like to see it as a more than a novelty.
I would bring the inferior food to the store manager's attention. (That's what I've done.) In the meantime, is there a nearby natural food store you can frequent? When I buy organic stuff at Wild Oats, it is always of best quality, but I happen to live in an area where there are grocery stores every few miles ...
I don't know if it's convenient for you to get to a natural food store, but I thought I'd mention my own experience. 
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KackyK
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 8:58am | IP Logged
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I'm with you on the quality of the items at times...our local grocery store's organic apples tend to have a lot more bruises and the kids just don't seem to like them. And that's so discouraging when you've paid 70cents more per lb for them! I've resorted to buying the usuals and just peeling them...although I know that's not perfect either! I have a Trader Joe's within 20 minutes from here, but very small (at least I think so) and their selection, at least the last time I was there, didn't seem much better. I'm going to plan on hitting the Whole Foods, which is more like 30 minutes away, before school starts. I feel like if I can just get there and take a look at the differences in cost and quality, maybe I can figure it into our schedule to go out there more. I don't know! 
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KackyK
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folklaur
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 10:14am | IP Logged
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I have had the same experience (and I thought it was just me!) We had a Henry's here, and it had the best stuff, but then it closed  . We do have WholeFoods (which I think is a bit crazy expensive) and also Trader Joes (but I have had a lot of instances of my TJ bread going moldy before the date too, and I know their turnover is huge?)
My BEST way to get great vegetables was to find a CSA Farm. They aren't "certified organic" but they don't use pesticides, etc. It is very expensive for them to be "certified." The price I pay for my produce with them isn't bad, and the quality has been consistently good.
HTH,
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LisaD
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 7:11pm | IP Logged
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I almost never buy organic produce at the supermarket. Organic produce that is not locally grown means it has been shipped...often picked before it is ripe, and/or shipped from very far away if it is not something that is in season where you live. All these things add up to produce that can be bruised, have bad texture, etc. A farmer's market or CSA is the best way to find high-quality, locally grown, in-season produce.
As far as products like milk and yogurt, I would take the spoiled items back to the store. I think it is also a good idea to look for organic dairy that is locally processed. My mom bought organic milk for my kids when we visited recently, and it was ultra-pastuerized and from Illinois (we are in CA)!
I have bought bread that has started to mold before the "use-by" date, too. I try to keep it in the fridge or freezer and that takes care of that problem. On the other hand, I have bought national brand bread that hasn't molded for weeks and weeks--that's even yuckier, imo!
Here
is a link that shows what produce is in season where you live.
HTH!
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~Rachel~
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 7:35pm | IP Logged
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I have to say, that the best quality stuff is usually the local stuff.
So what I started doing was buying locally... not always organic, but definitely fresh . The farmer's market is a real treat for the family
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chicken lady
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 8:38pm | IP Logged
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Depending on where you live you can get organic food delivered, For example I use FFF, they are wonderful, if anything is bad they credit you without any difficulties. I know a friend in Virginia uses them as well and I am in Ohio.
My point is look around some of these places deliver to a large area.
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Mary G
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 8:49pm | IP Logged
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chicken lady wrote:
| For example I use FFF, they are wonderful, if anything is bad they credit you without any difficulties. |
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OK,  we don't have FFF in our area of the Front Range ; does anyone know of a co-op group in the Denver area. Surely there should be one (with all these "granola crunchies" around  ) but I haven't found any (except for Dairy which is really good and Sunflower Market!). BTW, I'm in Denver ....
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chicken lady
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 8:57pm | IP Logged
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MAry, we have some good friends who moved to Denver, have you met them????? ANyways if you have Leslie knows ALOT about organic foods, she surely has made some contacts. Let me know if you need contact info for them.
Molly
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PDyer
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 9:17pm | IP Logged
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Mary G wrote:
| does anyone know of a co-op group in the Denver area. |
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Mary, you could search here and see what comes up...
Local Harvest
or here:
Green People
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Patty
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Topic: quality of organic food
