Organic, cruelty free and free-range products

How do these designations affect your shopping? We have a strict rule in our house- no animal-tested grooming products. We buy free-range and organic products when we can afford them (we shop at Whole Foods so it's not too difficult to find them). How do you shop?

no animal testing!

Must be a good bit of research that goes into it!

if I'm going to live an organic, cruelty-free lifestyle, you have to make choices. f I am willing to wear canvas shoes and webbed belts, I can certainly deal with not taking any medicine invented after say, aspirin.

Organic whenever I can. I won't use any product containing anything from an animal, tested on an animal, or made by a company that tests on animals.

to give that up. I eat soy products and cage free/veg. eggs. Would I be partially cruelty free?

Which isn't as often as I would like.

but do what you can. Better to be a little less than perfect than not to try at all.

That didn't come out the way I wanted it to. I'm not saying eating fish makes you less than perfect, I was just responding to your phrase "partially cruelty free."

I shop at Whole Foods too, and look for labels. I buy organic when it's an option, and avoid items without the little bunny with a slash through it.

I'm not perfect in it. I have a five year old and an eleven year old, both daughters, and very lazy wife who could care less, so I make concessions. Though I've gotten my spouse on Burt's Bees cleansing products, and I can usually get my daughters to understand why I buy Tom's instead of Crest. And Ben and Jerry's is just better than Hagen Daas anyway. But I'm not perfect. Probably 75 - 80%.

Lamb, chickens, turkeys,eggs and goat cheese.
My animals live well.

Happy animals just taste better

Dont eat a stranger!

very occasionally eat free range eggs but no meat.

I shop at Whole Foods, too, though more mainstream markets are carrying organic and vegetarian products. Trader Joe's is worth a trip for the savings on these products.

Also check out the new vegetarian DU group if you're interested in community on this.

Abu Ghraib really hit home for me and since then I've done everything I can to withdraw support from torture industries.

No animal-tested grooming products (soap, shampoo, etc.). "Green" cleaning products. Organic foods whenever possible. Only free-range meat (which is expensive, so I don't eat much meat). No fast food. We have an excellent Whole Foods store here, so that helps.

I've been doing that for years, so it's like second nature. What I'm working on now is finding sweatshop-free items (clothing, shoes, and such). I buy most of my clothing secondhand and try my best to research brands before buying anything new. I've found some great places on the Internet to buy sweatshop free stuff--I just have to get over my hangups about buying stuff over the 'net.

It's great that folks want a "more humane" alternative to battery hens for egg production. Whichever brand of egg/chicken you're buying, please research the company and it's practices. There are no real regulations on "free range" or "cage free" and oftentimes, it's simply a bigger cage. Forced molting still occurs, and any surplus male chicks are still often disposed of by suffocation or being ground up alive.

I'm glad to see so many folks living a more compassionate lifestyle.

I don't think many people actually realize what's up with the whole "free-range" thing

The yellows of the eggs are just as pale as the others. Also, do they do partial beak removal on the chickens when they are not in cages by themselves? That is such a cruel practice.

I prefer my food minus pesticides, hormones, and the like. I buy free-range eggs and poultry, organic BGH-free dairy and beef, and organic produce. We also use a lot of soy products. We do not eat a lot of animal products - we eat vegetarian several days a week - partly out of food preference, partly for environmental reasons, but mostly for financial reasons. My oldest child is a lacto-ovo vegetarian, but my middle child has a ton of food allergies including dairy, so what meat I do cook is mostly because of him. We eat only whole grains, and I don't buy junk food. I make everything from scratch again for financial reasons as well as my son's food allergies. I am a big bread baker. Guess you could call me a granola mom.

we buy nothing with animal products or animal testing unless it's neccesary (ie:prescriptions)

after being d'xd with thyroid problem. Try to eat only organic. Find myself evolving to try cruelty-free products too.

Benefits all the way around. (I lost 15 lbs from ditching the antibiotic laden meats)

especially the water.

http://www.nosweatapparel.com/

...I know, I know, that whole "buying on-line" thing. But they're vegan friendly shoes made in a union. They have the sizing charts broken down into UK, US (men's and women's sizes), Euro, Centimeters, Inches, and Mondopoint. They also have a full line of clothing, all made in unions.

They do have a few "brick-and-mortar" stores (listed on the website), so if there's one near you then you could actually try things on.

Oh, and we try to buy organic or all-natural meat, but that started mostly because of Mad Cow and the Dept. of Agriculture's refusal to test every cow. *cowers under tin-foil hat*

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

I've been a lurker for a while... just soaking up stuff and trying to keep up!

non leather shoes. :hi:

I buy no products tested on animals or containing animal ingredients. I don't by much organic, I'm afraid. It's hard to get and very expensive here.

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http://www.traderjoes.com/

My wife and I make the long drive from Brooklyn every couple of weeks. Cheaper than Stop and Shop and much better quality. No worrying here.

10 minutes away. they have some interesting stuff sometimes, so it's worth checking out their stuff. but i couldn't care less if it's organic or free-range or whatever.

Vick VapoRub. Mr. Crispy uses it during allergy season. Know of an alternative?

nt

1/2 C. non-petroleum gel
1/2 Tbsp sweet almond or other vegetable oil
1/2 tsp essential oil of Eucalyptus
2 to 3 drops of tea tree oil


Combine NP-gel and almond oil in top of double boiler. Melt the two ingredients together, blending well, and remove from heat. Blend in the Eucalyptus (and the tea tree oil if using). Pour into a jar and allow to set up. A small amount for immediate use can be poured out thinly onto a saucer and be ready in a few minutes.

NP Gel - half cup mineral oil and 1 oz beeswax melted in double boiler
pour into suitable container and allow to set up.

(You can use petroleum jelly instead of non-petroleum gel)

products tested on animals, or products sold by companies that test on animals. I'm fortunate to have a great food co-op as well as Trader Joe's and Whole Foods nearby. I buy organics when I can and try my best to avoid GMOs.

If someone finds a way to explain to me how anything derived from a plant or animal can be considered "inorganic", I'd like to hear it. Just for the laugh it will give me.

Does anyone get outraged when a cheetah eats an antelope? Um, no, no they don't, because it is supposed to do so. Humans are supposed to eat meat and veggies, which is why we have teeth designed to handle both, and a stomach that can digest both. Being a vegan is totally unnatural. One might even say it's "inorganic".

Oh, and "cruelty-free" gets my vote as the stupidest, annoyingly self-righteous, most meaningless buzz phrase since the repukes started in with "family values."

We try to buy "all-natural" or "organic" meat.

What's meant by that is that the animals are fed their "natural" diet and not cow/pig/chicken parts - which they are not designed to eat. It also means they aren't pumped full of growth hormones and anti-biotics to make them mature faster. "Raised and fed as cheaply and quickly as possible" would probably be a better adjective, but that's just too long.

Being vegan is no less natural than being gay. When we educate enough people and have political support we will certainly be able to ban any cruelty to animals. As a school counselor, I can say with authority that the next generation will not tolerate such brutish things.

I am in shock over the election results and then I have to read things such as this.

And an unnatural one, contrary to our biology.

Being gay is not a choice, and is totally natural.

As they grow older.

Are you under some delusion that states that everyone on this board, or all Democrats, or all liberals, are "cruelty-free vegans"? If that were so, it would mean that half the country was vegan, which is most certainly is not. If it were, the beef and poultry industry would not be doing so well.

I do not vote Dem because I want to save some cows. I vote Dem so I can save some PEOPLE.

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We grow as much of our own food (organically, of course) as we can. We can, dry and freeze, etc. We also have our own chickens and they really are free-range! (They are great natural pesticide.) Otherwise we shop for organic food as much as possible. Luckily there's a Trader Joe's in town and another natural food store.
Our strictest rule, though is.....no beef for us that is not totally grass fed. The govt. isn't doing near enough to protect the public from mad-cow disease. I wish I could be a vegetarian, but I love meat so much. I just try to eat less instead. I'm hoping grass-fed beef is not as ecologically damaging as the regular kind.
I admit I don't go out of my way to buy products that don't test on animals but if I see one labeled such, I'll buy it over the others.

I don't want to feed my kids hormones and pesticides if I can help it. I also try to avoid buying products tested on animals, because it a completely unnecessary practice. I've never been a big meat eater - I simply prefer vegetables and grains. I hate prepackaged processed foods - they taste like their packaging and are so full of chemicals that they can't be good for you.

(http://www.growalabama.com which also delivers to the Atlanta area), tho I'm getting my garden ready for my own spring planting again (and yes, of course I garden organically -- no other sane or even more practical way to do it).

I buy organic produce whenever possible, both at the regular grocery (Publix) or at the DeKalb Farmer's Market in Decatur (Atlanta) which seems to have more and more organic produce.

We get our beef from a local grass-fed beef producer, and I get my chicken from the DeKalb Farmer's Market. It's not quite organic, but it is hormone-free and "natural" (whatever that means).

We really are not big consumers of personal products (cosmetics, HBA) or even cleaning supplies -- a few basics do it for me. Those that I do use are not particularly "green," but they're also not terribly toxic.

I personally stay almost entirely away from pharmaceuticals and most OTC products other than aspirin, preferring herbs, essential oils and other natural remedies to very good effect.

We use energy saving lightbulbs in all fixtures they'll fit in, and the last forever. I've had some in, and in nearly constant use, for 5 years and they still seem to be going strong. Not just great energy savings, but really economical as well.

I discovered this year that I have an autoimmune response to gluten (protein in wheat, rye, barley, etc) so had to start looking for alternative foods. Earth Fare is like Whole Foods, all organic, animal friendly products. (another added bonus, during the campaign, parking lot was filled with cars with K/E bumper stickers, so it is nice to know I am shopping with the like-minded)

Not only am I healthier physically, but mentally I feel better by using products that are better for the environment and are not made by some conglomerate.

Grocery bill has more than doubled, but well worth it.

I try as much as possible to eat organic but alot of what is sold as organic in Manhattan is rotten. Only if one can gets lucky and shops on a day when they have a fresh delivery.

I don't eat beef at all. I consider myself a vegetarian because I desire vegetables but I do eat Chicken around 3 times a week or pork.

But if I could shop or receive fresh organic vegetables, at the same price as non organic vegetables that I did not have to spend a week cleaning before I cooked them I would no doubt be a vegetarian, but, frankly my body gets sick eating food from the Republican owned markets organic or not.

I would love to see the progressive coop takeoff to boycott Republican owned and operated stores. Then perhaps the liberals could ship us supplies of non Republican food.

I'm not joking go into just about any organic market on the east side and the food is rotten.

One of the problems with organic food is that since they don't use pesticides and other chemicals to preserve them, they do go bad faster than non-organic food.