After living half a year in the new world, I have grown increasingly accustomed to what it has to provide alimentwise. There are a few things that I have found particularly interesting.
For years I’ve aimed to make better choices. Where I’ve could, I’ve chosen Fair Trade, organic or local products. This has been fairly doable in the native land (read: Finland), although it has definitely been a heavier load on the wallet.
Living in this new world, with its own legislation, provides some new aspects to the whole shopping puzzle.
   GMO / NON-GMO
GMO = gene modification
In Finland, and Europe in general, GMOs are not really common. Because they are not allowed! Well, not at least in the way they are used over here.
I know that almost all crops and plants today have been modified in some way – that’s a given. Even Mendel’s experiment with peas back in the 19th century  was gene modification. But I still feel that there is a difference between what the industry is producing here, compared to what you can find on the market in Europe.
Therefore I’m constantly searching for products that bear a NON-GMO logo. I prefer less tempered food, that hopefully is cleaner and better for me and my family.
   Gluten Free
Now this is very interesting! Gluten free food has almost been like a new fashion movement in the past few years. Here, as in Finland, products that don’t contain gluten have a gluten free logo, like pasta, cookies, ice cream, bread, wait, what? Ice cream? Why would that have gluten in the first place?? Well, apparently the industry adds gluten to many products to make them somehow better. Whatever that means…
    Organic food
Organic food can be found in stores, but it’s obviously pricier. I would love to see a bit more organic fruit and vegetables in the assortment. I choose organic products whenever I can.
Grass fed meat
Beef has a special mention on the package if it has been fed with grass, so that’s apparently the better choice you can make regarding red meat. I just wonder what on earth the other cows are eating, if they don’t eat grass…
And having tried the grass fed meat, I have to say I’m not entirely thrilled. It has been packed so tightly in the package that it’s easily chewy, which is very unfortunate. I once made meatballs of it and they turned out way too dry…
But, at least they are trying.
No added growth hormones
No antibiotics
Vegetable fed
This is the scary part. A lot of meat have big labels with no added growth hormones, no antibiotics, vegetable fed and what not. Needless to say, I  try to avoid meat or dairy products that lack any of these statements. It just makes you wonder what the poor animals are fed and how they are raised…
Origin of food
Where I come from, the store is obligated to provide the source of the product. That means that you as a consumer know where your food comes from (more or less). For fruit and vegetables, that means country of origin on the price tag. For meat, it can be as precise as the farm where the animal was raised. Here you can barely find where your tomatoes or apples come from, which feels odd for someone who’s used to knowing where their food was produced.
Conclusions
As it is, I aim for healthy living, which includes healthy eating. To reduce the amount of toxins, chemicals and medications in my food and in my body, I choose non-gmo, organic, fair trade, etc – whenever I can. It might be a heavier load on the wallet, but I feel it’s worth it.
CC
More on the topic:
NON-GMO
USDA ORGANIC
THE GLUTEN INTOLERENCE GROUP
FDA GLUTEN
with daring steps 