Interesting Book

Yesterday I went to the library and picked up a book I had on hold. Started reading it before bed last night and seriously could not put it down until I finished it. Lots of great information, especially for beginners like me in the sustained living info world. Conscious Kitchen is written by Alexandra Zissu. Chapters include:

• What kind of food to buy
• Fruits, Vegetables, and Where to shop
• Farm Animals
• Dairy and Eggs
• Seafood
• Drinks
• Packaged Foods
• Pots, pans, food storage, and tabletop
• Appliances and low-energy cooking
• Cleanup
• Waste

I found alot of the information fascinating and worthwhile. The information concerning organic food was well needed, still hovering on some of the buying local tips. I do truly believe we need to buy local or grow our own, just not sure how much of an impact I can actually make with my own food spending dollars. One of the most helpful bits of info I found was the coding on fruit and veggies:

• Organic should start with a number 9 and be a 5 digit number.
• Convention should start with a 4 and be a four digit number.
• GMOs should start with a 8 and be a 5 digit number.

Also interesting was the lists of "the dirty dozen" (fruits and veggies that have the most pesticides, etc.), maybe these should be grown at home or bought organic:

1. Peach
2. Apple
3. Bell Pepper
4. Celery
5. Nectarine
6. Strawberries
7. Cherries
8. Kale
9. Lettuce
10. Grapes
11. Carrot
12. Pear

I found this book to be so helpful and full of information I could really use on a daily basis. Alot of the information I learned will be written on index cards to stay in my purse for each grocery shopping trip. Looking so forward to grow some of our own this year.