The Costco offering is called Kirkland Signature Real Egg “Product.” Any time I see “product” where there should be no word at all, I get kind of suspicious.

Kind of like how Velveeta is a real cheese “product.”

Generalizing here, but foods manufactured by nature — good. Foods manufactured elsewhere — not so much.

Blah blah blah In Defense of Food, etc.

OK back to the Costco real egg “product.” “Made with 99% Pure Egg Whites,” the container says.

Ingredients: Egg whites (99%), Less than 1%: natural flavor, color (includes beta carotene), spices, guar gum, xantham gum, salt, onion powder.

Per 4 oz serving:

• 60 Calories
• 0 Fat
• 12 g Protein
• 240 mg Sodium

Let’s compare to the Papetti Foods Quick Whites 100% Liquid Egg Whites.

Ingredients: 100% liquid egg whites.

Per 4 oz serving:

• 66 Calories
• 0 Fat
• 13 g Protein
• 200 mg Sodium

But how do they look?

These sure don’t look like foods that are supposedly 99% identical!

For the sake of comparison, here are 2 color swaths that are 99% the same:

Indiscernible, right?

In fairness to Costco, Scientific American explains we share 99% of our DNA with chimpanzees, yet obviously look very different.

Or do we…?

Sorry, back on topic.

Costco, how much more expensive can that last 1% be? Your customers won’t care.

Cut that other garbage out. Nobody wants gum in their eggs.

Why do I know this? I’ve been eating a lot of eggs and egg whites the last couple years. Since that post I’ve cut out the turkey bacon and added half an avocado. Always, always avocado. Plus lately the eggs are super good with cumin and garlic powder, a little idea I learned from the 4-Hour Chef.

Do you subscribe to whole food theory? In this context, that would mean eating just egg whites is sacrilege because nature designed the egg as one complete unit. Betcha don’t eat the shell though!

In each shipment, they include a little newsletter about what’s happening on the farm and some recipe suggestions for what you can make with the stuff in the box. At the end of the newsletter I noticed there was a bonus for referring new customers.

I would get $25 for each new sign-up, and the new customer would get $10 off their first order. Win-win.

It’s affiliate marketing!

So I deliberately titled my post “Farm Fresh to You Promo Code“, knowing that would be a commonly searched phrase among prospective customers.

At some point during the past year, the post must have ranked well enough in the search engines to generate some hits. (Although now it is nowhere to be found.)

In total, 3 people signed up and I earned $75 worth of free organic produce!

That post turned out to be the most valuable one of the year. For comparison, the runner-up restaurant.com post only earned $21.91.

Maybe all this blogging is worthwhile after all!

Then I noticed something funny.  The package didn’t say “ice cream.”

Instead it said “frozen dairy dessert.”

Hmmm…

Could this be an example of how messed up and filled with processed junk our food system is?

I think it’s a fair bet to say Breyers can’t legally call it ice cream because it’s NOT technically ice cream. Indeed, the interwebs confirm that cost-cutting measures at the company in 2006-2007 reduced the amount of milk and cream used to non-”ice cream”-levels.

Here are the ingredients:

• Milk
• Cream
• Sugar… ok so far so good
• Corn Syrup
• Whey
• Maltodextrin… (from processed corn)
• Propylene Glycol Monoesters … what the? Also used to de-ice airplane wings according to wikipedia.
• Cellulose Gel… (from processed corn)
• Cellulose Gum… (from processed corn)
• Mono and Diglycerides… (likely processed from soybean oil)
• Carob Bean Gum
• Natural Flavor
• Carrageenan… (a seaweed extract)
• Oreo Cookie Pieces… whose ingredients are a topic for another day

It’s a meal that was very high in protein and fiber (filling), tasted good, and was cheap (just $0.99!). And it used to only take a couple minutes to make in a little microwavable pouch. Also vegan and gluten-free if you’re into that kind of thing.

But alas I haven’t been able to find my cumin chili chickpea lunch for a long time so I figured I’d finally try and make it on my own. Here is my imitation attempt, which actually comes really close to the original in terms of taste.

Guess it was a pretty simple recipe!

Ingredients

• 2 cans Garbanzo Beans – did you know Garbanzo Beans and Chickpeas are the same thing? What’s up with that?
• 1 can Black Beans (optional) – my little “riff”
• Cumin – 1.5 Tbsp … I don’t know, I’m guessing on all these measurements. Truth is I just eyeballed it.
• Chili Powder – 2 tsp
• Garlic Powder – 1 tsp
• Olive Oil – I don’t know, call it 3 Tbsp
• Pinch o’ Salt and Black Pepper
• Cucumber (optional)
• Tomato (optional)

Preparation

1. Dump the beans into a large bowl.

2. Mix the oil and spices in a smaller bowl.

No brand loyalty among spices :)

3. Chop the cucumber and tomato, add the oil/seasoning mixture, and stir until the beans are coated evenly.

4. Serve.

Makes 3-4 servings.

Alternatively you could heat the sauce and the beans before adding the veggies, but it’s good cold as well.

New prep time is about 5-10 minutes, but makes probably 4 lunches worth.

There’s got to be some sort of social commentary on how we transitioned from an agrarian society where farming was work, to one where farming is a fun family “activity” on the weekend.

The inspiration for this post was our trip to the U-Pick cherry orchards in Brentwood Sunday.  There are dozens of farms to choose from, but we figured we couldn’t go wrong with the one called Nunn Better.

I remember having an awesome time picking blueberries as a kid.  And a not-so-awesome time picking strawberries — they’re a little too low to the ground for me.

At the U-Pick cherry place, they basically just give you a bucket and set you loose in the trees.  Each tree, the bucket-hander-outer explained, produces fruit with a slightly different flavor, so it was important to sample some before committing to putting it in the bucket.

The farm was very popular with families, so a lot of the low-hanging fruit was taken.  Without a ladder, we improvised to get the taller choice cherries.

So we ended up walking out with about 6 lbs of cherries, and probably “sampled” an equal amount!

If you want some, come on by.  I’m not sure we can eat all of those before they go bad.

The cherries were priced at $2.50 a pound.  We thought that was a reasonable price, especially considering how many were consumed on-site prior to weigh-in.

On the radio on the way home we heard a Safeway ad saying cherries were on sale for $2.99 a pound.  A good deal for sure, especially when factoring in time and gas.  But those store-bought cherries don’t come with the satisfaction of picking your fruit yourself, or the gratuitous free samples.

Thanks Derek for the photos!

The Omnivore’s Dilemma traces 4 meals from their origins to the dinner plate.  To do this, Pollan examines four different food chains: industrial, industrial organic, local organic, and hunting/gathering/gardening.

Aside from some disturbing imagery of the living conditions of beef cattle and chickens, there’s nothing too groundbreaking in the industrial food chain.  And maybe because the book is a few years old, we’re not shocked by this kind of expose journalism.

Pollan spends a lot of time on corn, and how this miracle food has found it’s way into nearly everything in the grocery store.  He talks about how government subsidies artificially keep prices down and how the cheap flow of corn-fed calories has made us obese.  I actually had a hard time understanding what exactly makes corn so bad for us… too much sugar content and too little actual nutrition?

In the industrial organic food chain, the book arrives at basically the same conclusions I did in Is Organic Food Worth It?  The farming practices are certainly better for the environment, you’ll ingest fewer chemicals when you eat the food, but there’s no hard evidence the food is any better for you nutritionally.

The industrial organic food chain still relies heavily on fossil fuels for production and transportation.

To explore a local food chain, Pollan visited Polyface Farm in Virginia.  There he paints a beautiful picture of grass and animals and trees and sunshine all living in perfect harmony.

The best quote in the book is from Joel Salatin, the owner of the farm.  When someone asks why his food is so expensive, he responds:

“It’s actually the cheapest food you can buy. That always gets their attention. Then I explain that, with our food, all of the costs are figured into the price. Society is not bearing the cost of water pollution, of antibiotic resistance, of food-borne illnesses, of crop subsidies, of subsidized oil and water – of all the hidden costs to the environment and the taxpayer that make cheap food seem cheap.”

There’s a moral discussion about killing animals for food and the roller-coaster of emotions the author gets while hunting wild pig.

In the end we get a nice Kumbaya conclusion about “grace” — a sincere gratitude for the abundant ways the earth provides for us, as long as we take care of it in return.  It sounded kind of cheesy when I read it but given a day to reflect, it really is a fitting end to a book about food.

Background

Last week we got our first delivery from “Farm Fresh to You”, a sort of organic fruit and vegetable subscription service.

The shipment came with:

• apples
• oranges
• strawberries
• avocado
• lettuce
• chard
• leeks
• radicchio
• carrots
• celery
• onion

Yeah I’ve never heard of that some of that stuff either.  Sounds very healthy.

Benefits

As I learned a couple weeks ago, the biggest environmental impact of farming (organic or not) is the transportation to get it from the farm to you.  In theory, you can reduce your food footprint by buying locally.

The Farm Fresh to You farm is in Capay CA, which is about 175 miles from here, so while it’s closer than the 1300 mile “average” farm-to-table distance, it’s still not super-local.  Maybe we’ll be able to find something closer, or just hit up the farmers market come summer time.

Also, the company is making doorstep deliveries, which obviously isn’t as efficient as dropping everything off at one location, ie. the grocery store.  But carbon emissions claims aside, it’s definitely convenient for me.

In addition, community-supported agriculture (CSA, the general term for this set-up) has the advantage of keeping money in the local economy, supporting sustainable farming, and consuming fewer chemicals.

Side note: If you want to get technical, all businesses are “community-supported.”  It just might be the community is nationwide or worldwide.  If the “community” stops supporting, the business dies.

Delivery

The farm offers quite a few levels of customization, in terms of what gets included in your delivery, how much food you get, and how often it comes.

Prices range from $25 to $55 per delivery.  We’re signed up for a “regular mixed” shipment, at $31.50 every three weeks.

The Affiliate Marketing Pitch

Farm Fresh To You is using some smart tactics borrowed from the affiliate marketing world to drive new subscriptions.  If new customers want to sign up for the service they can get $10 off their first delivery with promo code 6164, and if they say I referred them I get $25 off my next delivery.

Pretty standard referral bonus / customer acquisition stuff, but interesting to see it applied to this offline business model.  This post is kind of a test to see if the page will show up in google if anyone searches “farm fresh to you promo code.”

It should cost less, because the farmer doesn’t have to spend money on pesticide right?

Unfortunately that’s not the case and the organic version of whatever produce you’re shopping for usually carries a premium of 25-100% over the conventional version.

As the primary grocery shopper, I find myself faced with this dilemma quite often.  I always buy organic if it’s cheaper than the regular version (duh), and lately I’ve been buying organic if it’s relatively reasonably priced compared with the regular version.

I have no concrete rule for what I consider a “reasonable” mark-up, but let’s just say if it costs double, I’m not getting it.  I survived this long without organic food; what are the odds another non-organic apple is going to kill me?

In general I feel good when I buy organic food.  I don’t mean taste — it tastes more or less the same.  I mean I get a warm fuzzy feeling like I’m doing something good for me and for the planet.

Because I’m worth it.

But how much of that is the product of marketing and perception and how much of that is reality?  Are the benefits of buying organic quantifiable?  Is there a concrete rule about the price premium we rationally should be willing to pay to buy organic?

Or will we be stuck with some vague sense of self-worth, without knowing the true objective benefits?

So I set out to see what I could find.

What Is Organic?

Organic foods are grown differently than “conventional” crops. In fact they’re not even allowed to be planted in the same soil. Organic crops must not be grown from any bio-engineered seeds, and farmers can’t use any petroleum-based fertilizers or synthetic pesticides.

Side note: Don’t you like how crops were “conventionally” grown organically for thousands of years, but in our time, “conventional” now means doused with chemicals?

If the food meets these requirements, and the farmer wants to get certified, it gets a government seal of approval.

Environmental Benefits

Organic farming is decidedly better for the earth than non-organic farming.  It conserves water, reduces erosion and chemical runoff, and preserves fertile soil.  It uses less energy and fossil fuel resources.

I couldn’t find any hard data to quantify these claims (I didn’t look very hard either), but there is a consensus that organic farming is far more sustainable and better for the long-term health of the planet.  If you care about that sort of thing.

On the other side of the coin, some people claim the yields from organic farming aren’t yet strong enough to feed 7 billion hungry mouths, and that if everyone went organic we’d have to clear more farmland (read rainforest) to make it happen. Indeed, organic crop yields are 80% those of conventional farming.

A Note on Buying Local

I found a citation that the average meal traveled 1300 miles before it got to your plate. The biggest polluter in farming isn’t the farmer (organic or not), it’s the transportation to bring the product to you.

Health Benefits

When it comes to pesticides, I’ll admit my general thinking has been, “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.”  This may be flawed.

Trace amounts of pesticide residue remain on and in non-organic produce.  Over time these chemicals build up in our bodies and can lead to headaches, weakened immune systems, and even birth defects.

According to some studies, pregnant women and small children are most vulnerable to this exposure.

When it comes to eating food, I think we can all be in agreement we want to eat the food and only the food, not some synthetic fertilizer, pesticide, or chemical ripening agent.

But just because it’s organic doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good for you.

Nutritional Benefits

In my head, I can understand why organic food should be more nutritious.  It’s grown more naturally, in cleaner soil, with friendly birds chirping nearby.

I see studies like this and I want to believe them:

But if these dramatic numbers are accurate, why aren’t they reflected on the nutrition labels?  Here is some data on organic spinach:

• Sodium: 65 mg
• Calcium: 8% DV
• Iron: 15% DV

And here is the data on non-organic spinach:

• Sodium: 72 mg
• Calcium: 30% DV
• Iron: 45% DV

There’s also this study from the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture that found no additional nutritional benefit in organic foods, dismissing them as merely a “lifestyle choice.”

For full disclosure, even though the study was supported by the International Centre for Research in Organic Food Systems, the parent organization of the above Journal is the “Society of Chemical Industry.”  It’s possible they’re totally legit, but it seems like a potential conflict of interest where one might question the scientific integrity of the study.  You know, like the Society of Tobacco Industry funding studies that coincidentally arrive at the conclusion cigarettes are harmless.

I anticipate we’ll see more research on the subject published in the near future, but currently the data is inconclusive and there doesn’t seem to be any scientific consensus on whether or not there is a tangible nutritional benefit of buying organic.

What do you think?  Do the benefits of organic food outweigh the extra costs?

We’ve been fortunate enough to never have a strict grocery “budget” per se; I mean we’re not eating caviar, but we’re not eating ramen either.  And I’m like pretty awesome when it comes to maximizing my Safeway Club Card savings.

I looked at 2 years worth of credit card and bank statements.  My method did not account for any cash spending, like at farmer’s markets. (Which really wasn’t that much the last 2 years, but there’s a goal to shift more spending there going forward.)

I also did not include any restaurant purchases.

In 2010, we spent $3735, or $311 per month.  Put another way, we spent roughly $5.18 per person per day.

In 2011, we spent $4254, or $354 per month.  That’s $5.90 per person per day.

Under $6 a day seems remarkably cheap!

I have no idea what happened in January of last year that caused such a spike.  We started eating more of a “slow carb diet” but that really doesn’t explain that large an increase.

The sad thing is we’re getting less efficient in our grocery shopping.  In 2010, we made 115 trips; in 2011, 137.  That means we went to the grocery store every 2.6 days on average.  I would love to see that number increase in 2012 with better meal planning and list-making.

I do most of the grocery shopping, and TJ’s is on the same side of the freeway as the gym.  It’s a little thing but it’s enough to make me prefer going there over Safeway.

That’s all.  How much do you spend on food?  Are you getting a good value?

It would probably be interesting to add in restaurant spending but it’s a lot harder to track.

1. Selection – They’ve got a great variety of food.  Probably not as extensive as Safeway unless you’re looking for a dozen types of Bok Choy, but definitely a wide selection of produce and other foods.  And some stuff you’ll never see at Safeway:

2. Value – The prices are really cheap.  Compared with Trader Joe’s or Safeway for fruit and vegetables, Ranch 99 is almost always a better deal.

“No clean the seeds with this price.”  Love the honesty, and totally worth it to de-seed this wonderful mystery winter melon yourself.

3. Entertainment – You will see awesome food you’ve never knew existed, and read fun signs.

“Preserved Vegetable – Chinese Specialty.”  Does not specify which kind of vegetable might be preserved inside.

“Sweet.”  Ha-Mi Melon for $0.79/lb?  My thoughts exactly.

These factors far outweigh the downsides:

• A certain “aroma” in the store.  There’s a lot of seafood…
• Not a ton of organic stuff
• Off-the-shelf “American” products like name-brand cereal or peanut butter won’t be cheap.