Trader Joe's Produce

[darien]

Is it good to buy your fresh and frozen produce at Trader Joe's? Should the frozen ones be avoided? What about their cut and peeled organic carrots and cut up lettuce and spinach in plastic bags? Are these raw? Is it true that Trader Joe's uses Irradiation on their produce?

I know their almonds are pasteurized, but what about the walnuts, cashews, and other nuts and seeds in plastic bags?

Also, what makes pasteurized almonds so much worse than unpasteurized ones? I don't have a Whole Foods near me. The only other stores nearby are things like Ralph's, Von's, Herbie's, and Stater Bros and they aren't better with produce than Trader Joe's, right?.

[spicyfull]

If I see something at TJ's that I want........I buy it.

[holistica]

Is it good to buy your fresh and frozen produce at Trader Joe's? Should the frozen ones be avoided? What about their cut and peeled organic carrots and cut up lettuce and spinach in plastic bags? Are these raw? Is it true that Trader Joe's uses Irradiation on their produce?

I know their almonds are pasteurized, but what about the walnuts, cashews, and other nuts and seeds in plastic bags?

Also, what makes pasteurized almonds so much worse than unpasteurized ones? I don't have a Whole Foods near me. The only other stores nearby are things like Ralph's, Von's, Herbie's, and Stater Bros and they aren't better with produce than Trader Joe's, right?.

Frozen produce, as a general rule, is questionably raw no matter where you go. Freezing has some effect on the food's nutrient value and enzymes... But on rare occasions, I make exceptions personally as long as the produce isn't "in sauce" or "in butter" or something to that effect.

Most of the pre-cut stuff in a standard grocery store isn't cooked. I don't know about TJ's.

I can't help on the irradiation query either.

Pasteurized is a fancy word for boiled... Thus, cooked. Raw almonds are so hard to come by thanks to our wonderful government "saving" us from "potential" salmonella poisoning.

Cashews are almost never raw anywhere. See article (http://www.rawfoods.com/articles/rawcashew.html)

Most raw nuts, if they're actually raw and the store cares about profits, will be kept refrigerated. "Raw" walnuts that are just hanging out on a shelf somewhere are questionable.

[darien]

So none of the nuts in the plastic bags are raw. What about the seeds sitting on the shelves in plastic bags? And what about canned food? I never see olives available for sale outside of cans. I thought freezing didn't have any negative effects on fruits or vegetables. I always get frozen broccoli, frozen organic blueberries and other berries from Trader Joe's instead of the fresh ones.

[holistica]

So none of the nuts in the plastic bags are raw. What about the seeds sitting on the shelves in plastic bags? And what about canned food? I never see olives available for sale outside of cans. I thought freezing didn't have any negative effects on fruits or vegetables. I always get frozen broccoli, frozen organic blueberries and other berries from Trader Joe's instead of the fresh ones.

Nothing in a can is raw, ever. It sounds like you should do some more reading on raw food in general before your next shopping trip.

[RawKnitster]

Less processing is probably better, so something washed, peeled, and bagged would be my second choice, but anything organic is going to be better than non-organic.

If I didn't have a good local source for non-pasteurized almonds I would buy them pasteurized because I want almonds included in my diet. I don't really care whether the other nuts I buy are truly raw or organic. If I could afford it I would buy all my nuts from the raw vegan store, but I can't afford it so I'm not going to worry about it. My diet is still better than 99% of the people on the planet.

Raw olives can be dry cured and sold in bags, or brine cured and sold in jars. You probably won't find them except from a store specializing in raw foods.

[papiyonmov]

If I could afford it I would buy all my nuts from the raw vegan store, but I can't afford it so I'm not going to worry about it. My diet is still better than 99% of the people on the planet.


Amen!
Let's just do what we can and not stress about the rest!

[juliebove]

I guess it would depend on your TJs but the one here never seems to have fresh produce. I have bought stuff there a few times that looked fresh, but it wasn't. The problem is everything is packed in plastic so you can't really see what you're getting.

[darien]

So what store specializing in raw foods does everyone get their olives from? I really like olives, especially the green ones. Should I just get them in cans?

What about flax seeds in plastic bags, sunflower seeds in plastic bags, walnuts, in plastic bags, organic extra virgin olive oil in a glass container, coconut milk in a can, blue agave nectar syrup in a plastic container, cinnamon and other spices in plastic containers from Trader Joe's? Are those raw? If not, how do you get those items?

[fruitandveggies]

I haven't been to a store that sells raw olives. All the olives on the bar at Whole Foods are cooked. I get mine online at Naturalzing.com, but there are a lot of raw online stores that sell them.
The flax seeds in bags are probably okay, sunflower seeds..maybe not. No, I highly doubt the spices are raw. If you get that blue agave make sure it says RAW, not processed over 118 degrees. EVOO MUST say 'cold pressed' for it to be raw.

Honestly, I never give Trader Joes my money. They steal other companies' foods and repackage them, plus almost all of their sad produce department is packed in plastic. Not very natural to me!

[Cerellia]

What about the seeds sitting on the shelves in plastic bags? And what about canned food? I never see olives available for sale outside of cans. I thought freezing didn't have any negative effects on fruits or vegetables. I always get frozen broccoli, frozen organic blueberries and other berries from Trader Joe's instead of the fresh ones.

With seeds it's mostly a matter at what temperatures they have been dehydrated. Most of them are dehydrated slightly to hot (45°C or so). Wether ot not I eat them, I base on wether they sproud or not. Sunflower seeds usually sproud, pumpkin seeds not. But maybe that's different in the USA.
Untreated olives are totally different from the ones you normally get. They are extremely bitter but once you got used to that they taste really nice. Really raw olives without any additional preservatives, I have only gotten from a special online store. If you don't mind them being preserved in oil and sea salt, you might these such in shops. As for green olives, they are unripe and thus not recommendable for raw foodist.
Freezing does destroy nutriens but not as much as cooking does.

[Zuri]

Check this out. I replied to the question about TJ's toward the end of the post.

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=36876&highlight=trader+joe%27s+irradiation

[darien]

Check this out. I replied to the question about TJ's toward the end of the post.

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=36876&highlight=trader+joe%27s+irradiation

I went to Superfresh's site but there are no stores near my zip code. At Safeway I found a few, but they listed Von's in the results. Is Safeway Von's or a separate store? And is it better to buy produce from there than Trader Joe's? What other stores could I look for besides Whole Foods?

[Zuri]

I went to Superfresh's site but there are no stores near my zip code. At Safeway I found a few, but they listed Von's in the results. Is Safeway Von's or a separate store? And is it better to buy produce from there than Trader Joe's? What other stores could I look for besides Whole Foods?

I'm not sure Darien. I'd look for local mom and pop health food stores, and if I still wasn't finding what I needed I'd make due with what is being offered in my area.

[annavon]

When I was eating cooked vegan/vegetarian, I loved Trader Joes. I practically lived on their organic black beans and brown rice. However, now that I am doing raw, the only thing I buy at Trader Joe's is their frozen berries (if they have the organic ones). I don't like the quality of their veggies and I find them over-priced. Frozen veggies are usually blanched. My local Costco carries some Organic veggies (carrots, spinach and lettuce) and some frozen organic fruit.

[darien]

When I was eating cooked vegan/vegetarian, I loved Trader Joes. I practically lived on their organic black beans and brown rice. However, now that I am doing raw, the only thing I buy at Trader Joe's is their frozen berries (if they have the organic ones). I don't like the quality of their veggies and I find them over-priced. Frozen veggies are usually blanched. My local Costco carries some Organic veggies (carrots, spinach and lettuce) and some frozen organic fruit.

So it's okay to get the frozen vegetables from Trader Joe's? Are they raw? How can you tell if they're bleached? And what's wrong with the quality of their vegetables? I got Trader Joe's raw organic almonds from Spain today instead of the normal raw almonds. Not sure if they are pasteurized or not. I am soaking them now. How will I be able to tell?

[RawKnitster]

So what store specializing in raw foods does everyone get their olives from? I really like olives, especially the green ones. Should I just get them in cans?



I don't think raw olives come in cans. I've only seen them in bags or jars. Alissa has two kinds of raw olives in her store. I get the same type from a raw store that is about 15 miles from my house. Both the black greek and the green stuffed are excellent. Kind of pricey, but they last a long time. I eat 5-6 olives once a week as a special treat, usually in a salad The green olives are my favorite.

[raw runner]

we have trader's joe in belgium too lol...i bought lastly mixed nuts and pecan nuts.I also bought their creamy and crunchy peanut butter...but i know it's not raw even the nuts seem strange to me...lol/////