The nut case checking back in. I eat a lot of fish when in the Quetico. It seems to me that being in the park is about as natural, non-civilization experience as one can have in the world today. I thought others might agree with me that dragging a lot of processed unhealthy food along would be a somewhat counter to that. I am surprised at the responses. I guess QJ participants are more into insulting each other than anything. I'll try to do more of that but it's not easy for some of us.
Jon

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I'm a firm believer that 75%+ of illness is lifestyle related.
However that other 25% is genetic and while I don't think eating organic is a bad thing, I also don't think it's the answer to everything either.

Depending on the chemical used/how its used and the type of item it's used on, organic may or may not be a better option.

Take grapes. They come in a "hard case". If the chemical used is to keep the bugs from devouring them and isn't present in the soil/water as they grow, then cleaning them with the proper solution makes them every bit as healthy as organic ones and at a much cheaper price.

You could grow a food item without any chemicals added and depending on the soil/water that's used, it could still get "organic" chemicals introduced into it without your knowledge.
Remember many toxic substance are "organic". We all know now how bad Radon is for you.

Rather than making a blanket statement about only eating organic, I think you/we would be better served in saying we as consumers should become better educated across the board about were/how are food is grown/raised/processed and not get caught up in the mantra of whatever diet/lifestyle that's the hot one of the moment.

I believe knowledge is the key to health and moderation should be your guide in all things.
I wouldn't hesitate to eat fish from the BWCA/Q in moderation IF fish was a regular part of your diet.
If your only eating fish a few times a year mostly on your wilderness trips, I wouldn't worry at all.

Like Kerry says, everything on EARTH is polluted to some degree. Stress is the biggest disease cause/precursor of all. Worrying about every little thing you consume is worse than occasionally eating something that may not be the best for you.

Making/dehydrating your own meals is the way to go if your worried about content.
You can make things at a fraction of the price and since your going to consume them on your trip, you don't need all the additives necessary for a long shelf life.

If you do little research, you can make any recipe healthier by substituting for the "bad" items and adding extra spices/seasonings to replace the taste that fat provides.
I do it all the time with recipes I see in the media. I just "tweak" it healthier and no-one is the wiser.

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a (1) : of, relating to, or derived from living organisms <organic evolution> (2) : of, relating to, yielding, or involving the use of food produced with the use of feed or fertilizer of plant or animal origin without employment of chemically formulated fertilizers, growth stimulants, antibiotics, or pesticides <organic farming> <organic produce>

That common assumption hasn't been lost on the marketing industry. From fabric to food items the marketers, especially the multi-national food makers have found that slapping the "organic"label on an item means you can charge a lot more and depending on the product/item, it may or may not be any healthier/better than the non-organic item. There are standards but even they can be confusing and people are notoriously lazy when it comes to reading labels. They see a big organic label/sticker and that's as far as they look. Worse case scenario the mfg's just admit they were confused and re-label the product.

You would think the definition is fairly concise and simple enough, but in the days of corporate lawyers/ techno babble and parsing of words and meanings there is a lot of "wiggle room" involved in the term "organic".

Best advice is to make sure your getting what you think you are and is the extra cost in many cases warranted

Jon, you said, "I personally believe if you don't eat organically, cancer is in your future".

And I stopped paying attention.  Not because there isn't a germ of truth in that statement, but because when people make rash generalizations about such things, I figure they have an agenda that is far beyond anything that my small knowledge and experience can contribute to.

My mother-in-law is ninety-four years old.  She lived on the same farm for almost her entire life and to say the farming methods there were NOT organic is perhaps an understatement.  (chemical fertilizers, pesticides, weedkillers, etc.)  Drank from a well on the property, ate mainly vegetables grown on the farm, and mainly meat grown on the farm, and for many years drank raw milk from cows on the farm.  No cancer.  She has four living children, all in their late 50's to mid-60's now.  No cancer.

Now she may live to be 100, so cancer may still be in her future.  And my father-in-law did have cancer, so he might prove your theory.

We should all eat healthier foods than we do.  And we should all make an effort to find out how our food is grown and prepared, if that is possible.  But if we eat in a healthy manner for fifty or forty-nine weeks out of the year, and we relax those standards a bit on vacation, (as most of us probably do), I really wonder how serious that becomes in the grand scheme of things?

I sympathize with you, Jon, that you didn't get a lot of serious information from this group to help in your quest.  It just occurs to me that this group is more into other things than a fine-tuned organic diet.  So, really, you did get an answer to your initial question.  It just wasn't the one you were hoping for.

"I am interested in others attempts to eat organically while canoeing".

It would appear that no one here, except possibly Kerry, makes much of an attempt.

I hear what you are saying, Kerry.

But what you are saying and what Solotripper are saying is about "eating healthy".  To me, that is a very different thing than "eating organically".

I am not saying that on vacation we should all just eat junk food.  I actually make a spaghetti sauce (for my whole-grain pasta) that is much like Jon's, myself!  We eat whole-grain crackers and natural all-peanut peanut butter, etc.  We watch our sodium and count our carbs, and read our food labels quite carefully.  But it isn't what we eat at home.

But he expressed a deep concern that no one else shares his level of commitment to a truly organic diet in the Quetico.  In reading the replies, I would say that that seems to be true.  And the fact that it disappoints him is unfortunate, but I think the comment about him needing to be more insulting was rather unnecessary.

And I haven't had a Snickers bar in 35 years.