Least processed and chemically treated food - in a warmer climate???

Are you looking specifically for Europe or elsewhere?

Most produce grown in the Europe is treated with pesticide/herbicide except for that which is certified as organic. Some treatments that are used in the US are banned in Europe.

Ultra processed foods can be found in any European supermarket however the fresh produce sections are larger and better stocked than those in the US. Local produce markets are also a lot more common in Europe although much of what you might find is still likely to have been grown with the use of chemicals.

If I were to choose somewhere warm to enjoy the food then it would most likely be Spain.

Thanks for the reply!!!!!
Open to amywhere!!!!! Prefer to remain as close as possible to the US, but that might not be possible.

Political comment here: I believe Europe bans GMO crops, which have been modified in the lab to resist pests, thereby allowing for less pesticide use, which I think is a good thing for both humans and the environment.

Close to the US. The obvious choice is Mexico. Plenty of fresh markets there.

Thanks!!!!!
Suggestions.....
Best air & water quality where the fresh markets are in Mexico???

Mexico? All the chemicals available here are available in Mexico. I remember after DDT was banned here you could buy it in Mexico for years and years. At least here there is oversight, dont know about Mexico. Best guarantee of a minimum of chemicals is USDA Organic at Trader Joe's grocery store in the US. As for processed food, thats a shopping choice.

Yeah.... Trader's Joe.... got food tested multiple times.... lots of bacteria.... kept getting SICK!!!!! Even organic. Compromised immune system just couldn't handle all the bacteria (salmonella, e-coli, listeria, etc.).
🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

And you expect any place in Mexico or Europe to automatically be better/cleaner/more hygienic by virtue of the country they are in? What i have seen regarding food storage in the EU would be troublesome in the US. Not bad, by any means, but not compliant by US standards.

With fruits and veggies, hard to get sick if you clean them properly. With meat, it's hard to get sick if you cook it properly. With both, you do have to keep food prep areas and procedures clean.

Does anyone know if the EU or any country in Europe has a program like the USDA Organic certification program? I've never seen t, but I live in a back water European nation.

mosccresendajones, I don't know as anyone here can answer questions regarding a diet with as many limitations as you're asking for. Understand that pathogens that can be present in food/water abroad - and that have no ill affects on locals whose systems are conditioned to them - can have completely different affects on travelers for whom those bugs are foreign. Inadequate prep of some foods can just add to the picture.

Honestly, I don't know as there's a place that you could be 100% sure of not having some sort of issue, especially if you already have so many issues at home such as not being able to tolerate organic produce (you do know that some of that produce is shipped here from other countries, right?) I wouldn't expect that to be different anywhere else.

Pretty much ditto to what Mr. E said.

I suppose you could always buy a plot of unused farm land in Portugal or Spain, grow your own fruits and vegetables, and raise your own chickens, pigs, and cows. But you will still have to deal with bacteria. They exist everywhere in the world, outside of a sterilized bubble.

hyper processed and sprayed with chemicals.
The food makes/keeps me sick here in the USA.

What has your doctor determined to be the cause of ( or contributor to) your condition?

Hard to suggest a destination not knowing what you need to avoid .

we haven't touched on the relocate bit... I suggest we work out what you have to avoid, and where, and then see what relocation possibilities there are when we know what the choices are.

I would have thought France which has very strict food labelling laws and an active Bio (European for organic) programme. But do you speak French?

I suppose the OP would need to find out whether he met the criteria for residence in any of the countries he is interested in., before getting too excited about relocating.

I suggest looking into New Zealand.

Yeah.... Trader's Joe.... got food tested multiple times..

Where? By whom?

Does anyone know if the EU or any country in Europe has a program like the USDA Organic certification program?

Yes, the EU has it's own set of certifiable Organic standards and so does the UK, the Soil Association being one such organisation that ensures that organic produce complies with regulation requirements.

"we haven't touched on the relocate bit... I suggest we work out what you have to avoid, and where, and then see what relocation possibilities there are when we know what the choices are."

Not to mention the taxation position.

It's pretty much fruitless to generalize about the food supply of a whole country.

"It's pretty much fruitless to generalize about the food supply of a whole country. "

You're probably looking for someplace too poor to afford to use pesticides and such. Small(er) farms. A lot more subsistence farming. Any place that can do larger scale can do chemicals. Perhaps borders to transport (like Islands) keep farms small as well.

Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Caribbean Islands, and (as has been mentioned) Mexico, come to mind. But even there it's going to vary. Just possible you can find areas. Posts here about Oaxaca Mexico seem like that might fit.

Or perhaps you could contact organizations like Organic Farming standards and ask if there are communities that practice such. Religious organizations like (IIRC) Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah Witness, others have long had fairly strict vegetarian diets and might know of communities like that in this country.

Good luck!

JC, thank you. I have never seen any indication of conformance to any organic standard displayed in any market or on any product here. But I will pay more attention.

have never seen any indication of conformance to any organic standard displayed in any market or on any product here.

I have no idea what it's like in Hungary. Almost all German supermarkets (including discounters) sell organic food, including meat and vegetables. In German it is called "Bio." And there are now a lot of supermarkets that only sell organic food.

You also have a good chance of getting organic food at the farmers markets, as they often don't come from large producers. Just ask.

I buy 99% of my vegetables and fruit at the weekly market near my home from the same vendor. For example, I trust his family grown organic cucumber from Lake Constance more than the organic cucumber from the supermarket that comes from Romania (just one example).
I simply believe him that he really works with farmers in Sicily who actually grow organic tomatoes year-round. I prefer that to the organic tomatoes from South America from the supermarket.

So there are many options, and in the end, in addition to official organic labels, it's always a matter of trust.

But from my own experience, I can say that you can definitely buy more unprocessed organic food throughout Europe than in the US. I always sorely missed that when I was there for an extended period. OK, it was in N.C. ... in big cities, things would have been different. I always liked the farmers market in New York, for example.

Mignon, I love when I learn things on the forum.

The EU Organic program is controlled by each country individually. The only thing that appears to be mandatory is a commitment to follow the rules and an application. Inspections may never occur .... but i presume that depends on the country.

This is the symbol to look for in the market https://icon2.cleanpng.com/20180624/tt/aazpk0pij.webp. I dont recall having ever seen it in the stores in Hungary, but now that I am familiar with it maybe I will.

Since it appears to be easy and inexpensive to get, if I dont see my local saturday morning produce market farmer/vendor displaying it I will presume that he does not comply. To think because a farmer is small that he wouldnt use chemicals to increase his crop yield and provide better for his family is maybe naïve.

The term unprocessed as it relates to fruits and vegitables pretty much includes all the produce in every market, organic or not. Well apparently almost nothing would comply so the new term seems to be minimally processed. https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/processed-foods/#:~:text=Unprocessed%20or%20minimally%20processed%20foods,nutritional%20content%20of%20the%20food.

Facinating subject

In Germany, there are four categories of processing: unprocessed (fruit and vegetables, for example) to highly processed (ready meals). And everything is available in organic or non organic.

Otherwise, the EU organic label is a bare minimum. As you can vividly imagine, the EU can only agree on a minimum of rules here, because not every country would have accepted very strict regulations. Therefore, each country has its own labels, ranging from strict to very strict. In Germany, you'll find medium-strict labels on organic foods in supermarkets, because big companies are often behind them. But of course, only official labels are valid. So, nothing that someone just printed in their garage. Then you'll find the 'Demeter' label, and they're really super strict.

And then comes what I was talking about my weekly market. It's about trust, and the fact that after many years, you simply notice whether someone is selling you vegetables that are overloaded with chemicals. The taste is completely different and the look as well. But I leave it up to each individual to trust their vendor or not. I am generally a rather suspicious person (probably typical German), but here I can trust.

It also depends on the country whether it's even necessary to plaster everything with labels. I trust the Italians and French to recognize what really good food is, even without many labels. While we Germans seem to trust more in labels.

And we split between unprocessed / little processed organic food lovers and processed / highly processed non organic food lovers :-)
A very heated discussion about how we can get low-income people and children/young people, in particular, away from highly processed food. How can we get families to cook for themselves again, etc. Organic food is, of course, a question of money in Germany, because it's considerably more expensive.