Purchasing produce

[twinyoga]

Does anyone purchase their produce at a place like Sam's, B.J.'s, or Cosco?

I am going through so much romaine, spinach, carrots, bananas, apples, oranges, cherry tomatoes, etc., etc. that I'm thinking maybe it will be better to buy it at a warehouse type store. I think we're going to go to Sam's today to check it out.

My husband doesn't eat much raw, but between myself and the twins we can eat 5 bananas a day! And that's not on a day when I make smoothies or ice cream.

I'm sure the produce won't be organic...so that leads to my second question:
If I buy produce that is not organic and wash it with "produce washes" (the all natural, organic washes) will that make a significant difference in removing the pesticides and such away? What do you think?

Thanks. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

[love6kids]

Does anyone purchase their produce at a place like Sam's, B.J.'s, or Cosco?

I am going through so much romaine, spinach, carrots, bananas, apples, oranges, cherry tomatoes, etc., etc. that I'm thinking maybe it will be better to buy it at a warehouse type store. I think we're going to go to Sam's today to check it out.

My husband doesn't eat much raw, but between myself and the twins we can eat 5 bananas a day! And that's not on a day when I make smoothies or ice cream.

I'm sure the produce won't be organic...so that leads to my second question:
If I buy produce that is not organic and wash it with "produce washes" (the all natural, organic washes) will that make a significant difference in removing the pesticides and such away? What do you think?

Thanks. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

In an ideal world, we would buy everything organic, that's for sure. However, that's often very difficult to do, not only for expense, but for convenience. I do buy a lot of my produce at Costco, as it's always fresh. That's very important to me. I wash it well, and think very good thoughts for health benefits, and enjoy it very much while I am consuming it! :D

[spockafina]

I buy the majority of my produce at Costco - it's SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than the grocery stores. I get my bananas, oranges, watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, and baby carrots there, as well as pecans and walnuts. Every week I buy 4# bananas (only $1.25), a watermelon, 3 cantaloupes, and 3 pineapples - all for about $20. Every-other week I buy the oranges and carrots.

I use a fruit/veggie wash from Trader Joe's. I guess it works. It's better than nothing, eh

[twinyoga]

Well, we went to Sam's and I loaded up on produce and some frozen fruit. Though it's not organic, it's an option, and I'm glad I got such large quantities. Lots of green smoothies!

But, oh boy, do they sell SAD food! It was painful to see.

[CAdreamer]

I thinks it's important to do what you can in buying organic, but keep within your budget. We buy organic greens for juicing because we feel that they are probably more susceptible to the pesticides, and it is less easily washed off. The rest of our produce is US grown and comes mostly from Costco and Sam's, or a local warehouse grocery. We're not able to buy entirely organic, and if we did our choices would be more limited.

[autumn4596]

oh I'm glad this topic came up, I was feeling a bit bad about getting my fruits from Sam's club because they sell so much SAD food....thats good I'm not alone. I try and get organic produce when the prices arent much different..sadly...my budget does not allow a complete organic raw diet. :(

[ajay5150]

Sam's Club is Wal-Mart. Maybe get in touch with local organic farmers and see about getting wholesale prices from them. Think globally act locally. Please don't support Wal-Mart, Costco, Morrisons, Kroger or Aldi Foods if you can help it.

[autumn4596]

ajay5150,
how would you go about getting wholesale prices from them? amd what is rhe difference between the "wholesale" price and the prices at the farmer's market?

[twinyoga]

To be honest, I've used some of the produce I bought from Sam's today and I can really taste the difference between it and the organic produce I usually buy. I'd rather eat a little less than buy more "bad quality" to save some money.

Anyway, it was an experiment and I will enjoy what I bought.

The idea of contacting a local farmer is a great idea, though. Thanks!

[swiddweas]

Wallmart sells wonderful fresh produce. I have bought my produce there before and will continue to. They also sell organic produce, and quite alot to my surprise. It is always so delicious, I have never met an apple I didn't like. Or a carrot, radish, cucumber,,ect. ect. ect.from Walmart.

swid

[askcassyfirst]

The Cosco near me does have some organic produce, including field greens. They often have organic green beans in the freezer, as well as organic juices, and yogurt which my husband uses to make smoothies. Most of my organics I buy from the local grocery, as our farmer's market here in town does not sell organics. They have a lot of nice things locally, but they are all conventionally grown.

I buy mostly organic, especially for thin skinned things. I don't care for the taste of conventional carrots, so that is one thing I ALWAYS buy organic. Likewise with greens like lettuce, and fruit like apples.

Berries it is hard. We eat so many! I buy a lot of those conventionally grown...I figure the antioxidants help to cancel out the chemicals? LOL :) Probably cancels out the good I am doing by eating them. On the other hand they are very high in fiber, which helps in other ways.

I do my best, and although the washes can help cut the oily residue of many pesticides, I follow up with periodic herbal organ cleansing products (like milk thistle, triphala, etc) on a regular basis to make sure that my body is able to detox the unavoidable chemicals and pesticides I am consuming with my conventional produce.

It is hard to be ALL organic, but I try as best as I can.

My two cents.

Cassy

[RawTruth]

There are a couple of ways to approach this. All take a bit more time and effort than just going into a warehouse store and buying. However, if you're willing to do a bit more to guarantee both getting organic (or just high quality) for lower prices AND not support Walmart's continued foreign worker abuse and them keeping their U.S. workers close to the poverty level, here they are:

1) Talk to the produce manager of your local store and ask him or her for the name and contact info for the distributor they buy from. Be sure to ask what their cost is for X amount (whatever you'd need/buy a week, for instance). This works particularly well for organic bananas. Then you contact them directly and make a deal -- $X for X amount. Sometimes they will deliver it to the store and you just have to be there to pick it up, but this can be negotiable.

2) Join or start a co-op. There are instructions and contacts online and, also, I know at least one person on this forum has experience doing this herself.

3) There are farmers groups who will deliver whatever is fresh and picked locally to a central location. You pay a certain amount per week or per month for this. Then, you just drive to that place (often an organic restaurant or health food store) and pick up your stuff. Of course, you have to take whatever it is that week, but, it is grown locally and organic.

4) Best of all -- grow your own! That's the absolutely cheapest and best way of getting organic food! Plant fruit trees. If you rent, you can get dwarf fruit trees and plant them in a pot. Grow lettuces and other veggies. If you can't or don't want to plant in the ground, use earth boxes or use the square foot gardening method or even hydroponics. If you absolutely don't have anyplace at home to plant, most towns have community gardens, and the volunteers who run them are usually so excited to help newbies.

Finally, sometimes it helps to balance things out mentally. I know organic costs more than conventionally grown and most of us have to stay within a food budget. And -- we all are doing the best we can. (I still use the grocery store flyers and can't resist canteloupe at 3 for $1, for example.) But, I really shop around for my organic produce and find farmers' markets to be the freshest and usually the cheapest. Even when I have to pay a high price, though, I try to keep in mind that no matter how expensive it seems, it's still cheaper than if I were to buying meats, dairy, and processed food ... and, more importantly, I'm saving by buying no aspirin, cold medicine, cough drops, lozenges, mints, Starbuck's, biscotti --- AND no doctor's visits, no prescriptions, no x-rays, no multi-vitamins, etc. etc. etc.

[ajay5150]

ajay5150,
how would you go about getting wholesale prices from them? amd what is rhe difference between the "wholesale" price and the prices at the farmer's market?

try contacting these folks

Santa Clara County Division of Agriculture
1553 Berger Drive
San Jose, CA 95112
Phone: (408) 918 - 4600 (Main Phone Line)

Ask them for a list. They may have a website or a free publication with a list of local farmers you can call to inquire about wholesale. Search around online with keywords like farmers, organic, *your city/county*... the difference between wholesale and the prices at the farmers market is that the wholesale prices will be cheaper becuase you are buying more at once. To my knowledge you can't really buy wholesale unless you buy a large number at one time.

Another suggestion I have that may work for some areas is organic produce delivery. There are now companies who collect a selection of fresh produce from local farmers and will deliver them weekly or bi-monthly to your doorstep. Usually this is cheaper than buying from a store. Maybe not cheaper than wal-mart or costco. But you can feel better about it becuase you aren't supporting international slave labor corporations.

here's one of those companies in the south bay.

http://www.commongroundinpaloalto.org/index.asp?page=eating

here's another for the seattle and portland folks.

http://www.pioneerorganics.com/(oyldcmb0y3ql0y45uwwtsom4)/Default.aspx

[ajay5150]

Wallmart sells wonderful fresh produce. I have bought my produce there before and will continue to. They also sell organic produce, and quite alot to my surprise. It is always so delicious, I have never met an apple I didn't like. Or a carrot, radish, cucumber,,ect. ect. ect.from Walmart.

swid

are you being spiteful? :(

companies like wal-mart are ruining small business and fair trade organic farming everywhere. Supporting them will likely increase prices for organic produce in the long run. Have you ever heard of the business practice called "dumping"? Wal-mart are masters of this atrocious technique. They come into town with products set at outragously low prices to drive their competition under. Once the competiton is gone they begin raising the prices and then hold a monopoly on that product in that area. When you shop at wal-mart you aren't paying for the real deal. It costs big money to farm. So if it's cheap, there is most likely something fishy about the whole operation.

BTW just becuase it says organic does not mean it is fair trade and it also does not mean it hasn't been genetically modified/engineered. All the organic certifications are different. USDA organic has the lowest standards from what I've read.

I'm hoping people will exercise these types ethical considerations when they shop for all things, not just produce. Do the research and learn about where things are really coming from and how they can be so cheap. Learn about which companies own which other companies. Did you know Coca-Cola owns Odwalla? I just learned that recently. Indian farmers spray their crops with coca-cola and other soft drinks becuase it's more effective and much cheaper than the leading commercial pesticides. It's kind of scary to think that a company who makes their billions by selling poison guised as a beverage is marketing Odwalla, a supposed healthy product. Not to mention Odwalla just released an "organic" line of drinks. People who normally wouldn't buy Odwalla now probably will just becuase it has the word organic on the label. I'm sure they use the lowest standars of organic that they legally can. Not that this information is of direct concern to raw foodists (becuase odwalla is pasteurized) but it's one example of how sneaky these big companies can be.

[sweetgoddess]

Another suggestion for finding organic or naturally grown ( as not all small farms can afford the certified organic status) is to hunt down local farmers and join a CSA. ( Community Supported Agriculture)
What happens here, is that you basically buy a share from the farm.

Every week you either pick up or have delivered a box full of what is in season and has been harvested that week, everything from fresh florals and herbs to fruit and veggies. Most will work with you to be sure you get the amount and variety you want!

With most CSA's you get a newsletter keeping you informed about what is happening on the farm, what will be harvested soon , tips etc. ALso, some will let you come tour the farm, others will let you pick your own produce etc.
A fabulous way to support local small farmers and stay on top of who is growing you're food and how. It helps make your food so much more personal and you can see before you're eyes the love that is going into you're food.

Blessings~

[twinyoga]

Wow. Great information!

I've contacted local CSA's and they were filled for this year so I will probably join next year. Remember, Cleveland OH doesn't have much produce in the winter (locally that is). So I have to depend on grocery stores.

I'm still researching, and I think the best option is to talk to the produce manager at our local store that uses local farmers. In fact, I think I'll do that today.

Thanks.