Small town, very little organic

[Hippo2Hippie]

How would you go about doing raw if you were in a small town in central Missouri with very few organic options and the nearest health food store is 45 minutes away? Is there anything I might be missing out on in my diet, not having farmers markets on every corner, etc!? I have a super Walmart. That's it. Wwyd?

[MysticTree]

You can only do what you can do but at least you have internet so you could order some stuff online.

[Living Food]

Order sprouting seeds online and sprout them; the result will be food even fresher and more nutritious then what you could get at a farmer's market. And it's cheaper, too.

[Hippo2Hippie]

I do order a lot off rawfoodworld.com and amazon. Know any cheaper sources?. I h e been researching sprouting a lot in the last 2 days. I'm excited to start! I live sprouts and they quit selling them here in town. Probably for the better though!

Where do I order them from? What should I start with?

[SunshineMN]

Hi Hippie! (I refuse to call you Hippo!)

I use Azure Standard (http://www.azurestandard.com/) for some organic fruits and veggies (depends on my budget and how much money I have left by the time order week rolls around), and they have a lot of seeds for sprouting, and raw nuts. Normally I would give you this link first Azure Standard Shipping Schedule (http://www.azurestandard.com/publications/azuredeliveryschedule.pdf) to see if one of their routes is close to you but the link is broken. I have informed them of this so hopefully they will get it fixed. However you can call them and ask if there is a drop point close to you. They only charge 8.5% of your order for shipping on their truck. They won't send fruits and veggies by UPS, but they will send most everything else, but UPS shipping is a lot more expensive because it's based on weight.

I did look at my shipping schedule pdf and they do have a route through central MO. It runs from KC on 40 to St. Louis then down 44 back across the state to the west. There is also a route down by Springfield, Mountain Grove over to Poplar Bluff.

I do find their seeds and nuts are generally cheaper than most other places. I've had great luck with their alfalfa, clover, broccoli, fenugreek, radish, lentils, mung beans, rye and green peas. We also love their chia seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts and brazil nuts. In the winter we can usually get 38 lbs of oranges for $23 and I am looking forward to apple picking season for their great apples. Some of their seeds are out of stock until this fall and I'm assuming prices are probably going to go up some depending on where they get some of them from. Azure is in Oregon though and they are not having the drought problems the rest of the country seems to be having so hopefully that will help.

Otherwise, just do the best you can. We can't find/afford organic lettuce but we buy it and eat it anyhow. It's certainly better than processed food from cans and boxes. :) We sprout in glass jars and soon will be getting some nursery flats to grow microgreens such as flax, pea shoots, corn, sunflower greens and cereal grasses like wheat and rye for juicing.

[Raw Angel Mom]

Start sprouting and gardening in plant pot.... You will have something very fresh at least.

Do what you can, you can consider to supplement with spirulina, maca, chlorella, e3live or whatever you feel guided to, if this can bring you peace but i can guaranty to you, that your life will change for the best no matter if you have little option.

In my area, there were no organic food, and when it started, i bought whatever they have. Just buy what they have. Many produce are ok to eat even though they aren't organic, such banana, mango, tomato from green house, etc... Check for a list of food that is ok. Today, i can have far more choice in term of organic food.

You can look to buy with someone else as a coop too.

[drraw]

I would consider making monthly runs and buying produce that freezes well such as bananas and berries.

--drraw

[levamssg]

for sprouting, check out www.sproutpeople.org (http://www.sproutpeople.org). Everything you ever wanted to know about sprouting and a good source of fresh seeds too.
I sprout all of my seeds in the easy sprout containers. Works great.

[Bihaku]

I don't care about organic anymore. Because if I did then I can't buy food cheaply. I shop my produce in a Mexican neighborhood and many of my foods come from Mexico, central and south America where they are notorious of using some pesticides that even the FDA bans in the United States. But it is like shop in Mexican neighborhoods and buy 3 avocados for $1 versus shop at a national chain grocery store and buy one avocado for almost $2.

Currently, I work a parttime job that pays minimum wage until I can get a better job, so I rather eat a lot of produce and be non-organic than buy organic but my food cost half of my paycheck...and I do have other bills and rent to pay. Right now? Screw organic!



How would you go about doing raw if you were in a small town in central Missouri with very few organic options and the nearest health food store is 45 minutes away? Is there anything I might be missing out on in my diet, not having farmers markets on every corner, etc!? I have a super Walmart. That's it. Wwyd?

[Hippo2Hippie]

I do agree with doing what you can. Beats ramen any day!!

[walnutty]

I do agree with doing what you can. Beats ramen any day!!

Yep, same here!