Organic Pizza – Why not?
We have had mixed opinions over the years on the whole organic movement. One of our main points against (specifically in regards to “packaged goods,”) is that other than some words and logos – you have no true way of knowing (chemically) what is inside.
You have “blind faith.”
Maybe the word “organic” itself is enough to make people believe (and pay 3x more) for this magical food (which still has pesticides!) Also – because of the “fanatical” ways people get about organic food products. Borderline cultish. But do you ever wonder why it’s impossible to find FRESH organic pizza anywhere?
Why hasn’t that “movement” made progress into the pizza world?
Definitely say “no” to GMO!
One thing we’re not big fans of is Genetically-Modified food – GMO’s.
While proponents say that GMO is necessary to “feed the world,” we feel otherwise – and think it’s to make the BigAg companies (and their shareholders) richer and richer.
GMO wheat. GMO corn. Add in chemically processed (and sugar-laden) sauces, rBGH / rBST filled cheeses, and more – and pizza itself may be one of the unhealthiest things you can eat (and that’s beyond the blood-sugar curdling spike you’ll get by eating one single slice!)
Organic + Ancient Grains = Nowhere to be found
Some internet searching in the area shows VERY FEW “organic” pizza places. Try it yourself and see.
Many area pizza places DO offer “Gluten Free” pizzas – but they are GOD AWFUL. You’re better off eating a styrofoam coffee cup slathered with ketchup.
We did find one company that makes both Gluten-Free / as well as ancient grains and sprouted grains pizzas. A company called Better4U Foods. I recall seeing one item at our local Shoprite, but I haven’t checked recently.
You can also have some luck at Whole Foods – but the pickin’s are slim. Amy’s also sells (mostly) organic pizza.
But still, it’s frozen food. There has to be a better way!
Why Ancient Grains you ask?
My research (as well as my own experimentation) leads me to believe that ancient grains (including wheat) are almost in an entirely different league than modern-day “maximum output” GMO grains that large agricultural companies use to increase profitability. Simpler structure. Easy to digest. Minimal Glycemic impact.
I also believe that the so-called “modern” grains are the main culprit in anything related to “gluten intolerance.”
But as Erin Elizabeth says “Not Gluten Intolerance – but POISON Intolerance.” (Read that link – interesting article.)
Ancient Grains are the real deal!
We visited a rustic bakery / farm in western New Jersey this past summer – and tried some of their ancient grains bread.
Bobolink Dairy & Bakehouse in Milford, NJ.
We discovered them when we bought our Holland Grill from the same town.
As someone who is more in-tune with their body than ever before – I can tell you that ANY time I’ve eaten wheat (especially hero rolls, and other soft, white-flour based carbs), pain and inflammation would result. Why for decades of my life prior to going low-carb could I not figure that out astonishes me.
I always thought I over-ate. Not the case.
Nowadays – even if I “cheat” just a little bit – my body can feel it. (For instance, we were at an event earlier this year – and I had – literally ONE bite of a whole-grain roll – and was suffering for a couple hours after). Wheat is not your friend (Read Wheat Belly to find out more.)
But the ancient grains bread we got from Bobolink was an entirely different story. While I only had one piece at a time – and not often – we did not suffer whatsoever. You didn’t become inflamed. My blood sugar was not impacted. Those (real) ancient grains are the real deal. Sort of the way NATURE intended these foods to be.
Not saying people should stuff loaves of bread down their gullets – but it does allow you a taste of what you’ve stripped from your life for health reasons.
What is preventing Organic Pizza across the country?
Going out on a limb here – because I don’t know why truly organic (and ancient grain) pizza is non-existent for the most part. But I have some ideas. Feel free chime in if I’m off-base.
- Cost. To get (or make) organic and ancient grain pizza dough must be through the roof. I’m guessing at least triple the cost – maybe more. If ALL ingredients were organic (cheese, sauce, toppings), I can imagine a “deluxe” pizza costing upwards of $50. Not a smart business model.
- Control. The pizza-distributors a likely a mafia-like operation. Resistant to change. They’ll be last to embrace any new-fangled “new age” paradigm shift. Maybe that is why 99.9% of pizza places essentially use the same type of ingredients.
- Taste. I’ve honestly never had FRESH organic pizza. Maybe that’s because someone already went down that road – and realized it truly tastes like shit. Perhaps “pizza as everyone knows” MUST be filled with garbage ingredients to get that special taste. Contrarily – maybe it tastes INCREDIBLE! And the thought of $50 pizzas that taste amazing is a double-edged sword. The 0.1% can’t fund all of the nations pizza parlors, that’s for sure.
- Texture. The same with taste, it’s possible that by using real ingredients – “pizza” just isn’t pizza anymore. Doesn’t hold up, falls apart, frustrates everyone.
Who knows. Maybe I’m late to this game – and it’s all been figured out already. But based on my observations – I doubt that. Pizza may the “final frontier” for the healthy revolution to conquer.
(PS – if anyone knows of a TRUE ancient grains / organic pizza place that they can vouch for – please email us with the details!)
With all due respect, you’re not “off-base”, you’re on glue! Organic pizza! Ancient grains! Well, I happen to grow an ancient grain–amaranth, aka kiwicha–and making a bread out of it that doesn’t fall apart, never mind if you put anything on top of it, is just about impossible without adding all sorts of other things; same goes for quinoa, which I’ve also grown. Pretty much all the fruit and veg I eat is “organic” not because I believe in the pachamama but because I grow it myself and don’t spend money on fertilizer or chemicals: lots of compost takes care of num. 1, and bugs, well, you wins some and… What I harvest that the birds haven’t got to first, I eat; any surplus goes to the family and it also gets used in trade for cheese and such. I make my own pizza and it’s as organic as I need it to be, because I don’t have a wheat problem, if indeed it is a problem. The tomatoes, the sauce, the green peppers are all from the garden, fresh in season or conserved at home out-of-season.
Just remember, when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore, not organic.
We visite Italy two years ago. I ate bread and pizza to excess and never once had a problem, bloating, stomach acid.
To a person, all o f us felt great after eating REAL FOOD.
Shit on a shingle, I thought this was going to be another #PizzaGate article. Sorry, but I’ve got no appetite for pizza anymore. Those sickos have ruined it for me, probably forever.
If you eat so much Pizza that you think you will be endangered by the GMO ingredients in it, you will probably die of Pizza before the GMO’s become a problem.
Organic is a handy term when you are buying individual items in the grocery store. But food prepared in a restaurant, e.g., pizza, contain probably 20+ ingredients that would all need to be organic to make the pizza organic. Thus, finding an “organic” pizza parlor is difficult to say the least.
But if you really care about what you eat, make the pizza yourself. Start with some European flour for the dough. It is not anything like the flour sold in the US which is modified to handle Roundup and other wonderful additives. Then make your own sauce with organic tomatoes, or if you are lazy like me, buy some organic pizza sauce or better yet, buy some pizza sauce from Italy (it is available in stores).
Then find some Italian sausage made from pigs that were pasture raised on local small farms. Add in some organic vegetables or vegetables grown locally on small farms and presto, you have a great pizza that even the gluten-intolerant members of your family can enjoy.
You will notice a simple concept in all the ingredients above. They either come from Europe or local small farms. If you just avoid US industrial farm foods, you will be much better off.
This is pretty darn close.
http://americanflatbread.com/about-us/philosophy/
Thanks for the comments – as you can see it’s not easy to find.. or just hard to do yourself. I guess you’re right. If you relly enjoy pizza to the max – then you’ll probably have to eat a few tons of it before the bad stuff kills you.
The whole organic food industry is a racket you know.
https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4019
While the GMO issue is separate (and does bear some looking into — and some skepticism), the organic movement has, much like its sister movement: environmentalism, taken a lot of study away from rational science and towards a bunch of mumbo jumbo which has more to do with New Age quackery (and corporate profits) than logical attempts at bettering either food or conservation.
Or as a veterinary science prof used to tell me: rattlesnake venom is “natural and organic”…doesn’t mean you should ingest it.
After switching to organic foods, I realized my constant (and costly) sinus problems were caused by something in regular food. Since I switched, I don’t have sinus problems any more.
I want real food and not chemicals or GMOs, and that’s the reason I switched to begin with. GMOs are not allowed in organic food. And I won’t buy anything that contains high fructose corn syrup. Any corn I buy is organic because I don’t want anything containing GMOs and the majority or corn in this country is GMO.
I’m don’t get weird about eating organic everything all the time. But I make sure my milk, eggs and meats are organic and pasture raised. I can buy fruits, like oranges or lemons, and vegies, like broccoli or peas, that are not organic and it doesn’t cause problems. And if it has thick skins, I don’t bother buying organic, like bananas. But if I’m eating the skins, I try to buy organic.
I have no problem eating regular food when I go out to eat, but to be honest I don’t go out to eat that much any more.
All I can say is since I switch to organic, my health is better, and that’s all I need to know.
As far as organic pizza, I’ve bought Amy’s organic pizzas at the store, and they’re not bad. They also have gluten-free but I don’t like the taste. Usually gluten-free stuff is made from rice, and the taste is just not appealing. The store I shop at has also started stocking it’s own brand of organic and gluten-free pizzas.