Really resent bug checking

amother

Orange

Mon, Jul 11 2016, 9:21 pm

Ok, I really resent bug checking. It's really difficult for me because of both the time it takes and the lack of clarity about how to do it properly. I want to eat more healthily and incorporate more fresh salads. Please don't tell me to buy the prechecked - first of all, way too expensive, spoils quickly and has a bad chemical-ly taste. I have some bug checking books, and have looked at the Star K website but our rabbi doesn't hold by all of their procedures. I feel overwhelmed and that everybody says something different and don't know where to start.
Any helpful advice or commiseration would be greatly appreciated!

FranticFrummie

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 6:31 am

I really resented bug checking for a long time. Then one day I found aphids in my lettuce.

I was actually happy! I was so excited, I was like "Hey, I'm actually doing this for a reason!" It was oddly validating.

Now that I've moved to Israel, I have to check everything super carefully. I often have to check things in the grocery store first, before I even think about buying them. There was a whole load of cauliflower that had caterpillars around the stems. Uch! Celery is often full of baby snails. Grains can have pantry moths in them.

On the upside, it means that things have fewer pesticides in them, so, "yay?"

Back to the prebagged lettuce issue, I've found bugs in it. Triple washed, indeed. Rolling Eyes

Lettuce is overrated, anyway. Look for salad idea that call for more shredded veggies that you can do in your food processor or spiralizer. Focus on making light and zesty salad dressings from scratch. Add some grains like quinoia or chick peas, and top with some toasted nuts for extra protein.

My recent post "Salads!" in the recipe section has lots of good ideas for you.

amother

Cerulean

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 7:21 am

I'm with you! I have no real taavah to eat bugs, I just want to eat healthy foods without going nuts. Some of my favorite veggies (artichoke, asparagus) I have not eaten in years because the kashrus guides say they can't be checked.

I wish rabbonim would figure out ways to Mattir eating vegetables instead of "discovering" bugs in an ever growing array of food. I'm not comfortable defying rabbinical authority but I do get the resentment.

Rubber Ducky

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 7:30 am

DrMom wrote:

My first reaction to your thread title was that *I* resent bug-*eating*!

Ask your rav which method he prefers and stick with it. Don't worry abt other methods.

I agree completely with Dr. Mom.

Iymnok

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 7:42 am

It's interesting about lettuce, my mother always grew lettuce in the backyard. (Let's go harvest a salad!) She got about three bugs a summer on it.
Once you're familiar with the bugs in your local, then it's easier to figure the degree of washing and checking.

amother

Blush

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 7:56 am

amother wrote:

This, exactly. So easy to just say assur or make everything overly laborious. This isn't just another little thing, it has a real impact on people's health. I don't eat as much vegetables as I should and the checking is a large part of the problem. And I'm not the only one. And of course, who's checking all these veggies? A few mashgichim in restaurants who get paid to do it, but mostly mothers at home who are just trying to feed their families. If men would be the primary cooks at home, you bet the process would be a whole lot less onerous.

chatz

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 10:33 am

I have no patience to check lettuce, so I don't eat lettuce. There's plenty of fruits or vegetables that are much easier to check.

Make salad using cabbage (prechecked is much cheaper than lettuce). Or Israeli salad. Or rice salad / sushi salad. Or carrot salad. etc.

You can also roast or broil vegetables.

amother

Babypink

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 10:43 am

5mom wrote:

Ask your rabbi what his grandmother did. Follow in the footsteps of our holy ancestors.

What other generations did is totally irrelevant. They did not worry about bug infestation at that time.

People who are not checking certain vegetable are probably eating bugs.

I had a no frum friend who told me that while she was eating broccoli one day she saw tiny green worms crawling around. She had already eaten a few bites and was so nauseated. Nothing to even do with kashrus. You simply don't want to eat bugs/worms no matter how small.

OP - use cucumbers, peppers, avocado, beets, celery (easy to clean with a toothbrush!), tomatoes...
pre checked cabbage is pretty good and not so expensive. I just bought a bag for $1.89.

Why do you read other ways to clean infested vegetables if your rav has his own method?

tichellady

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 11:36 am

Without getting into halakha- for salads, I stick to romaine hearts, baby spinach, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, zuchinni ( spiralized), avacado, peppers, baby carrots and corn- and find that the bug checking is minimal ( romaine and spinach need to be checked and sometimes have a few bugs but are not bad)

Unless you know the vegetables/fruit are infested, you can purée them without checking- so you can also make puréed veggie soup, fruit soup, or salad dressings ( like raspberry lime or mango curry). I also don't find green beans to be buggy at all

5mom

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 12:58 pm

amother wrote:

What other generations did is totally irrelevant. They did not worry about bug infestation at that time.

People who are not checking certain vegetable are probably eating bugs.

Why would our frum ancestors not worry about bug infestation? Was the issur of eating bugs only revealed in 1980? You're right that there's a chance people were eating bugs. I'd bet that the Vilna Gaon and the Baal Shem Tov wouldn't have met contemporary standards.

What earlier generations did is absolutely relevant. Tradition matters.

Maya

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 1:25 pm

5mom wrote:

Well said.

There's such hypocrisy in that statement.
When we want to prove how being "frummer" is mandatory, we'll bring as many stories as we can about our previous generations, but when it doesn't jibe with our new chumrahs, suddenly our ancestors don't matter.

If my mother had a good way to wash and check strawberries twenty years ago, it's good enough for me right now, even if people don't eat strawberries anymore and they can't be found in the local supermarkets.

amother

Bronze

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 1:39 pm

I don't mind checking for bugs but it really bothers me that there are some veggies my rav says is not ok to eat. eg cauliflower, broccoli. Bodek is expensive and not sold near me in any case.
Sad

The Happy Wife

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 4:35 pm

5mom wrote:

Levels of bug infestation in produce are not the same as in the past. The bugs have developed pesticide resistance over time, and stronger pesticides like DDT have been banned, leading to a greater amount of insects in produce.

You can't just do what was done in the past if the present situation is not the same.

mummiedearest

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 5:06 pm

The Happy Wife wrote:

greater amount of insects would actually make it easier to spot them. unless you mean more numerous varieties which may need to be spotted in different ways. I very much doubt that the bugs changed their produce preferences that much, though. I check lots of produce others don't eat, and I find bugs fairly frequently. I'm not going to start holding that checking with a lightbox is necessary, and I'm not going to start believing that any produce is actually assur to use without pureeing.

the halachic requirements haven't changed, how we implement them has. that doesn't mean that checking methods aren't good enough if they were used in the past. the present situation may be more similar to the past than you think, depending on where one's grandparents lived and what the infestation status was there.

imasinger

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 5:36 pm

I take a chunk of time and check enough lettuce for a week.

I'd SO much rather have the annoyance of checking than to have certain foods declared assur. I'll do the painstaking work with broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower. Our sources are usually clean, anyway.

acemom

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 5:43 pm

My grandma used to mention how the berries from their garden were known to be clean only up to a certain time during the summer. Afterwards, they wouldn't use it because of infestation issues.

I'm sure their were time frames for fruits and vegetables as well.

Since produce wasn't so readily available year round, the issue with infestation was different.