General Discussion Thread

[urbicande]

For any "organic" food, I always think that! What would non-organic food be!?

Also, Uneducated Walnut award - XD YES! All the yes! I will use this so much...

I have this discussion with a friend of mine -- she asks me if the food I bought was organic and I'm thinking, "Well,  yes, of course it is"

Just remember, arsenic and cyanide are all-natural.

[Athena]

I have this discussion with a friend of mine -- she asks me if the food I bought was organic and I'm thinking, "Well,  yes, of course it is"

Just remember, arsenic and cyanide are all-natural.

So when you see food with "natural flavourings"? Be afraid. Be very afraid.

[Hrollo]

Some of these words actually have specific meaning in culinary context though. It's a bit disingenuous to pretend otherwise. "Organic food" means food grown without industrial fertilizer nor pesticide. That's a perfectly valid thing to want in a food. Likewise "natural flavour" can have specific meanings.

In France, for vanilla flavoured product, there's actually a precise code: you can only be sure there's real vanilla in it if it's labelled as "natural vanilla aroma"; if you only see "natural aroma", it can be aromatics that taste like vanilla but actually come from beetroot or wheat; and if you only see "vanilla aroma", it can be an artificial aroma.

[Purple Wyrm]

Some of these words actually have specific meaning in culinary context though. It's a bit disingenuous to pretend otherwise. "Organic food" means food grown without industrial fertilizer nor pesticide. That's a perfectly valid thing to want in a food.

Oh sure, but I like being a chemistry nerd for humorous effect

I think advertisers have figured out they can put "[anything]-free" on their stuff to make it look healthy... artificial chemical-free, additive-free, etc.

I got extremely mad when they started promoting Chupa-Chups as "98% Fat Free!". Yes, because they're 98% solid freaking refined sugar!

[viola]

Oh hey. It's been a year since I joined the forum. Aaand a year and a month since I started reading the comic (last April).

[Róisín]

Wow! Congrats on the Forumversary, Viola.

[viola]

Wow! Congrats on the Forumversary, Viola.

Thanks! I guess this means I'm not a newbie anymore eh? 

[Róisín]

I doubt you were a newbie for longer than the first week!

[viola]

I doubt you were a newbie for longer than the first week!

I was pretty shy at first

When you've never been active on social media in your life and now in less than a month you have not only posted pictures of things you made but also have 100 posts on the forum.

[Laufey]

In France, for vanilla flavoured product, there's actually a precise code: you can only be sure there's real vanilla in it if it's labelled as "natural vanilla aroma"; if you only see "natural aroma", it can be aromatics that taste like vanilla but actually come from beetroot or wheat; and if you only see "vanilla aroma", it can be an artificial aroma.

Icelanders do something similar, only not about food but stuff sold for tourists. Take the wool sweaters for example: if the label says "Designed in Iceland" it has definitely not been made in Iceland. Likewise if it says "Made out of Icelandic wool", that sadly tends to mean that the wool has been sent to a place where making the sweaters is a lot cheaper than in Iceland  and in both cases the quality is iffy. The only ways to know that you're buying from a local knitter is to either buy a sweater from the knitting association shop on Skólavörðustígur, check the labels for the text "hand-knitted in Iceland" or buy one from a flea market (the tourist sweaters don't end up there because Icelanders don't buy them, they usually know the person who knitted their sweater).

[Yuuago]

Icelanders do something similar, only not about food but stuff sold for tourists. Take the wool sweaters for example: if the label says "Designed in Iceland" it has definitely not been made in Iceland. Likewise if it says "Made out of Icelandic wool", that sadly tends to mean that the wool has been sent to a place where making the sweaters is a lot cheaper than in Iceland  and in both cases the quality is iffy. The only ways to know that you're buying from a local knitter is to either buy a sweater from the knitting association shop on Skólavörðustígur, check the labels for the text "hand-knitted in Iceland" or buy one from a flea market (the tourist sweaters don't end up there because Icelanders don't buy them, they usually know the person who knitted their sweater).

Note to self: things to keep in mind when buying touristy stuff in Iceland.....

[Purple Wyrm]

Oh hey. It's been a year since I joined the forum. Aaand a year and a month since I started reading the comic (last April).

I am continually astonished at how fast some of those among us have climbed the ziggurat. Happy forumversary!

[Ana Nymus]

Happy forumversary, Viola! And many more to come!

[Haiz]

eyyy CONGRATS VIOLA!!! forum sure has changed a bit since you joined, huh? also hi five for starting up with introduction posts about how shy we're gonna be on the forum and then comPLETELY TAKE OVER i mean. become really active. mhm. tha'ts what i meant

[urbicande]

Oh hey. It's been a year since I joined the forum. Aaand a year and a month since I started reading the comic (last April).

Happy Forumversay!