organicmama

don't go to supermarkets.i go to sooq al shamal in almurooj area.its an outdoor (fresh fruits and vegetable) farmers market.love it.just take a taxi and shop on my own.
also ther is a chicken as well as fresh fish market.some of the chicken shops sell organic eggs.they r called desi or local eggs.they r not white or clean so u can tell by looking @ them that they r from local hens.they r usually sold out by evening.
i don't buy chicken from them cos the best chicken is sold in Hara-an ethnic area with lots of good stuff.
shamal market also has meat market nearby .again some sell fresh organic lamb,goat beef from india/pakistan delivered every other day.but u have to ask for it or u will get the usual stuff.

EthanB

Dang, you know what's up! I look forward to giving your advice a try. I'm not familiar with Hara-an market - in which area is it?

Ethan

organicmama

HARA is short for hara al wazarat in al olaya dist.
haven't been there yet but have eaten the chicken @other people's houses.told my husband i am not buying the dry and tasteless chicken from supermarket any more.still waiting for him to take me there.
make sure u buy the sr 22 eggs from shamal market.they r worth the trip.

Allwoods Oil

I have been in touch with Ethan about where to find organic stores. I wondered if anybody on here might be able to advise on a related matter. I have used Chinese herbal medicine in the past for a few health concerns, and would like to try herbal medicine again. If I could find a reputable Chinese doc here in Riyadh that would be great, but I suspect if any such thing is available here I it would more likely come in the form of an ayruvedic doctor. Does anyoe have any insight into how I might go about finding a good one? (i.e. one who's going to give me proper herbs and not rip me off in any way?).

Thanks.

P.S. The Store Wars clip was amusing. A good analogy I think!

DesertOcean

Welcome Allwoods Oil!...Can't help you with the herbal medicine stuff but I know they do practice their own brand of traditional medicine here. Hopefully someone knowledgeable in this field will catch your post and help with your request.

Glad you found the Store Wars clip amusing. Here are a couple of documentaries that I found interesting, at least the message is clear.

Food Matters

http://vodpod.com/watch/3700078-food-matters-the-movie

Food INC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC5vQ...44C6A5E2892627

Norm_uk

I couldn't help it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M4MiobwycE

Oh and this: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standa...lthier-blow.do

DesertOcean

I couldn't help it:

Must of been that processed sugar coated biscuit you ate before you posted

Look Norm, I think most intelligent people, or at least those who have done their research on what they eat, would prefer organics over pesticide laden frankenfood. I know most of these vids are US related but big ag knows no borders, especially here in the ME. I've taken tours of some of the large farms here in Saudi and believe me they follow the same practices as you'll find in most developed nations. Infact, I would say it's worse because of the unregulated use of chemical pesticides. Many of the chemicals they use were ban in the uk years ago.

Anyway, lets keep on track...here is another clip on Sugar: The Bitter Truth


Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, explores the damage caused by sugary foods. He argues that fructose (too much) and fiber (not enough) appear to be cornerstones of the obesity epidemic through their effects on insulin. Series: UCSF Mini Medical

Norm_uk

As someone who makes a fuss about putting even sugar in my coffee and who sees the big organic food con is I feel disinclined to reply properly.

However I have to say that your comment "pesticide laden frankenfood" really says a lot about the serious and impartial approach you take to this subject. The fact is that organic methods cannot feed the entire world so we must either ask 3 billion people to go somewhere else or we have to continue to research new ways to feed them.

The only issue we probably agree on is sustainability or rather, lack of it around the world - but that comes back to population...do we feed people or let them starve so that people like us can continue our affluent and food rich lifestyle whilst lecturing to others about not using pesticides or GM crops - safe or not?

N.

DesertOcean

The next time you think about biting down on one of those lovely sugary dates, you might want to consider what it was sprayed with

DAMMAM: About 16,000 date-palm farms in Ahsa, Eastern Province, were using highly toxic pesticides from 1995 to 2008, according to a recent study. This covers nearly 70 percent of date palms in the region famous for its oases.

http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article468352.ece