Where to buy ingredients? Filling the pantry

[AquaFilly]

So many recipes call for things you can't find in stores.

Nama shoyu
celtic sea salt
agave syrup
carob
cacao
medjool dates
nori sheets
sea veggies
tahini
seeds and nuts

I'd like to save money by buying in bulk. So while there is a natural foods store nearby that I'd like to support, I simply don't have the money to pay them 2-3 times the price of these products online.

Can anyone recommend some online stores to buy from? I've been shopping around for a while, but I wanted to see where you all buy from. :)

Also I'm finding it very difficult to find the expiration dates of many products. Nuts should only stay in the freezer for 6 months. Seeds vary quite a bit. What about the rest of the things on the list? I'm afraid of buying a large bottle of nama or tahini and having it go bad before I can use it all.

Thanks for any help you can provide :)

[notwell]

nuts can last longer than 6 mo in the freezer or even the fridge
The Date People: i think many still use for dates. think you have to call
www.datepeople.net?
Everything but Nama shoyu I've gotten from www.dimondhealth.com
Nama shoyu or Braggs can be found at a decent price in the stores

[spicyfull]

I have always like to Shop with more than one store. I get Nuts from Trader Joe's. Fruits and Vegs and Spices from Neighborhood Markets, I just heard Cosco sells Medjool Dates. I just Shop around, someone ALWAYS has a Special around here. Plus I always keep something Growing in the Garden and Summer time I have Fruit from My Trees.......Its a RAWonderful Life.

[RawKnitster]

Once I started shopping around I was surprised at how many places carried the products I wanted. There were only 2 things from your list, raw carob and cacao that I had to order online. Then I found a raw store (Raw Vegan Source) about 15 miles from home that has it all, and so much more.

Whereabouts are you?

As for buying bulk....I start small. Once I'm sure I like it and have a good idea how much of it I will be using, then I will buy it in larger amounts.

[AquaFilly]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! :)

I'm in Baltimore, MD. How do you search for a store that carries organic raw products?

[RawKnitster]

All the stores I know about were recommended by other users. It was always fun to go out and "discover" what each store had to offer. The best suggestions came from posters on RFT that live in my area.

Are there any raw restaurants or organizations in Baltimore where you can talk to locals?

Or you could put up a thread asking where to shop raw in Baltimore. Maybe there are some people here from Baltimore. :)

[AquaFilly]

There is no need to buy Nama shoyu, celtic sea salt, agave syrup, carob, medjool dates. Nama shoyu is fermented soybeans which are highly hybridized/GMO and fermented foods are poison. Celtic sea salt is pretty diluted with chemicals because our ocean is so dirty, try to find Hawaiian sea salt or Himalayan salt, they are worth the price. Try to find raw agave syrup(clear kind) it is the only raw kind or try to find a local raw honey supplier. Carob is highly acidic and I wouldn't recommend you eat it, use cacao instead. Medjool dates are highly hybridized and way too sugary, find different variety it is easy or use figs. Seems hardcore but you might as well do raw right and you'll get over not being able to eat certain foods like bananas and pineapples; I did. Don't listen to all the rawtards who tell you to listen to your toxic body that only works if you're clean and raw for a year or two, everyone is 99% the same, the genes that make people different make up a very small amount of the genetic DNA, we are 95% the same as gorillas and 92% the same as every other living thing. My 2 cents.

I'm very intrigued by all this information. Where did you learn this? Can you link me to any sites or recommend any books on the matter?

Why do you recommend against eating bananas or pineapples?

I did read somewhere that all fruits are highly hybridized or some such thing. Basically that they've been altered to produce a better taste over the years without regard to maintaining proper nutritional value. Wish I could remember the link to that study.

[RaeVynn]

Don't listen to all the rawtards ...
You know, you have a fairly abrasive personality.

Have you read Alissa Cohen's book? Or do you just like blasting other people's opinions for the fun of it?

[debilana]

Please do not use the term rawtards. I find it highly offensive, just like using retard as a term- and I am not easily offended.

I come here for some peace and encouragement. not to hear nasty words and have someone else viewpoint slammed in my face. Please remember this is Alissas site, not anyone elses.

[debilana]

Have you ever worked with mentally disabled people? Ever cleaned the vomit off a thrashing , sick young man whos parent dropped him off at a group home because he was a retard and an embarrasment to the father? In my world, calling someone a retard is just like making fun of someone for race. You cannot control being mentally disabled, so the slam is cruel and variations of it are just mean.

This is a place of compassion. I really wish you would be a bit kinder in your comments. I am sure you are a fine young person, but that attitude will not help the world at all, and it is harmful to the nature of this board.

[Sunboy]

What I did was scout out Lassens and WHolefoods to suss out what had the best vibe and least processing. Then, I found that iherbs.com and mountainroseherbs.com had the best prices and in bulk, if you like to purchase large amounts.

For example, at Lassens, they wanted 30 bucks for a tub of chia/hemp/pea powders and at iherbs, it was 16 dollars for the same thing, same brand!

check it out.

[Sunboy]

Also this, our local Farmer's Market is every sunday. Great food, great prices. Until I started asking the big question. Is it organic?

Well, 9 out of 10 vendors said NO, it wasn't, it was just pesticide free. I get all my greens from Wholefoods, cuz at least they certify their produce as organic.

Sure, i'd like to support farmer's markets, but hey...organic is organic and everything else, isn't.

EOR

[debilana]

I have read Alissa Cohen's book and I gave that person my opinion, as for the "rawtard" statement, if Alissa Cohen has a problem with the word she can let me know, it is just a word.

I guess she let you know, since you got banned=)


Sunboy- we have a lot of non organic farmers in our farmers markets too- but please remember, its not ALL about organic. Organic can mean a huge farm in CA where they grow mass amounts of greens and sell under an organic banner- but its not sustainable at all, becuase it is a huge, massive operation. Many local farmers cannot afford to get the organic label, per say, but they use organic methods and do grow sustainable food. I can tell a huge difference in quality between a grocery store organic greens mix and the fresh fresh ones from my farmers market.

WF also sells conventional produce-so they are not making a statement - they are just trying to make a buck. I love WF, actually, but I adore my local co-ops and farmers markets much more. Please support your local farmer, or this nation is going to turn into one giant mass produced strip mall, if we don't watch out=(

[supersonic_528]

I was also thinking about this question -- where to buy stuff.. WF does have almost everything, but they don't necessarily come cheap. So sometimes I buy things from the organic section of our conventional grocery store, in case it has what I'm looking for. I don't get many of the things there, for which I go to WF.

Thanks for the links. I wanted to ask about online stores but here on this site, sometimes such posts get removed (I find this very frustrating and personally don't agree with such rules).

[notwell]

besides expensive, most in the stores isnt raw. like health stores when u find out who makes them and then find out they actually process i t in some way and its not raw but the package says it is

[Sunboy]

WF...very pricey. I avoid when there are other alternatives. And i've seen a great difference between a farmer's market in Ojai and the one in Valencia, to be sure. My point in being organic was mainly about avoiding frankenfood/GMO, which I failed to mention in the previous post. Raising four boys ALONE on my income has always been a challenge in the food department. The years of being vegetarian, then vegan, and finally switching to raw has some costs attached to it, esp when one wants the best food for young and growing bodies.