Meat

Applegate Farms meat goes non-GMO despite Big Food buyout

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applegateIsabelle Z. – When Hormel, the food company famous for its processed meat products like Spam, bought America’s biggest natural and organic meat company, Applegate Farms, many health-conscious consumers were worried about the future direction of the brand. It turns out those worries were unfounded, however, as the brand has announced it is committed to removing all GMOs from its entire supply chain, from the finished product all the way down to animal feed.

It will also get third-party certification to put customers’ minds at ease. Applegate Farms already removed GMO ingredients from its products last year, but this move takes the sentiment one step further. This is an ambitious endeavor, given the fact that the majority of the country’s animal feed crops are genetically modified, with estimates showing that 88 percent of corn and 94 percent of soy in animal feed is genetically modified.

Applegate President Steve Lykken reminded consumers of his promise when Hormel took over that they would continue to break ground in the meat they offer, and this move is part of that effort.

Look for products with Non-GMO Project verification

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Top 10 Healthy Yet Cheap Organic Foods

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NaturalSociety | October 24 2012

Cheap organic foods? In the face of global economic struggle, the issue of personal finance is at the heart of the average consumer. But do you really have to shed an exorbitant amount of your money to purchase organic foods over conventional? The answer is no, and there is a surprisingly large amount of high quality organic foods that are quite cheap — even when considering low income families. Even families on food stamps have been able to live entirely on an organic diet on the foodstamp income alone.

There’s even a documentary about it called Foodstamped, which is hosted free online. The couple in the film eats a 100% organic diet on as little as $40 a week. There are keys to keeping costs down such as buying from farmers markets when possible and always buying whole food options as opposed to pre-made or processed meals, but I am going to give you a list of 10 key items that are really quite cheap. In fact, they purchased many of them in the film to keep their costs down. When you get the opportunity, you can even store up on some of these items in bulk and cut costs even further — not to mention that many of these foods are capable of acting as long-term storeable foods.

Here are the top 10 healthy yet organic real food items that won’t break your budget:

1. Brown Rice

Brown rice has a lengthy shelf life when stored properly in a sealed container, and can make for a full meal simply by eating it alone or adding in some of the vegetables in this list. Organic brown rice when purchased in bulk, or at least not from pre-packaged bags, can be extremely cheap while able to be incorporated into many meals.

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