Buying "clean" foods

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Babydollbussells
Babydollbussells Posts: 8
in Health and Weight Loss
I am trying to eat as clean as possible. No boxed or canned foods. Very limited frozen as well. But I am having trouble figuring out where to buy these foods. I want to buy naturally grown foods until I can plant my own garden next year. I also want to find naturally raised animals. But where do I shop to find these type foods? I have no clue where to look. I have tried looking up local farms that will sale their produce or even let me pick my own and buy but am having no such luck. If anyone could give me some ideas to get me started I'd greatly appreciate it :).

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  • soymilkcoffee
    soymilkcoffee Posts: 171
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    Go to localharvest.org to search for the closest farmer's market to you.
    Also make sure you know what kind of "naturally raised" meat product you want. The terminology can be tricky. For instance, there's a big difference between cage-free and free range chickens.
  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,873 Member
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    1. Reconsider canned and frozen vegetables. They are picked at the height of ripeness, so they can be healthier than stuff from the stores, and rinsing pretty much gets rid of any added salt.
    2. You should be able to buy meat on the internet. Search for phrases like organic, free-range, pasture-raised.
    3. See if there's a community garden thing. A lot of places have coops where you volunteer a weekend or two and some money, and then you get produce in-season year-round.
    4. Any farmers markets nearby?
  • laus_8882
    laus_8882 Posts: 217 Member
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    Find a farmer! I used to get a 1/4 of a cow and a lamb every now and then. The animals were raised and slaughtered humanely, wandering about paddocks and eating lots of nice grass while being loved by a small family of pasturalists. Well, as loved as animals headed for the dinner plate can be. I worked out to about $16/kg which for grass fed meat is ridiculously cheap here. Obviously that was averaged out from sausages to eye fillet, but my calculations still showed it a better buy than my butcher. Shame I no longer have space to store a large amount of meat.

    Seconding the frozen veg thing. I don't care for canned vegetables because I wasn't brought up on them, but frozen veg is a great addition to the diet and generally fairly nutritious. It could also help you ease into a different style of eating. Rather than being overwhelmed with a load of fresh produce, meat, wholegrains, etc... you would be able to start slowly and work your way up to whatever your ideal "clean" diet happens to look like.
  • taylor5877
    taylor5877 Posts: 1,792 Member
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    1. Reconsider canned and frozen vegetables.

    and most veggies can be bought without salt added. I pop a can of veggies or beans almost daily.
  • Foodie711711
    Foodie711711 Posts: 137 Member
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    Dont know where you live but maybe there's one around you. I've recently been going to Whole Foods and I love it!
  • WhatDoesLisa
    WhatDoesLisa Posts: 214
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    Do you have a Whole Foods near you? That is a good place to start especially if you are looking for organic meats. I don't know about you but I have 4 organic farms (one with meat) about 10 square miles from me, tons of farmers markets etc. A lot of farmers can't afford the organic certification but they are still using organic practices.

    Get into the car and cruise around your area and see what you can find. Also check out the "Dirty Dozen" and the "Clean Fifteen", not everything has to be organic to eat well. I have them saved in my phone for grocery shopping.

    http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/2012-dirty-dozen-plus-clean-15-buying-organic-000700620.html
  • laus_8882
    laus_8882 Posts: 217 Member
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    Btw, where do you live? I know it's late in the season in the northern hemisphere, but if you're in a milder climate you might still be able to get a few things growing. Why not put in a crop of, say, arugula, which goes from seed to harvest in about 40 days (stagger your plantings otherwise you'll end up with loads of it all at once), and likes cool weather. That way you'll have had a crack at gardening this year and should have some dark green leafy veg to show for it.
  • Babydollbussells
    Babydollbussells Posts: 8
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    I am in North Carolina.
    Btw, where do you live? I know it's late in the season in the northern hemisphere, but if you're in a milder climate you might still be able to get a few things growing. Why not put in a crop of, say, arugula, which goes from seed to harvest in about 40 days (stagger your plantings otherwise you'll end up with loads of it all at once), and likes cool weather. That way you'll have had a crack at gardening this year and should have some dark green leafy veg to show for it.
  • Babydollbussells
    Babydollbussells Posts: 8
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    I understand that the vegetables are picked at their max benefit time, however the things added to the cans to make them preserve freshness and have a long shelf life are not healthy for our bodies. I don't expect everyone to agree with me or even to view it like I do but that is why I, personally, am not using canned vegetables. I do use frozen some but still would like to have fresh as well. :) And thank you for all of the other information.
    1. Reconsider canned and frozen vegetables. They are picked at the height of ripeness, so they can be healthier than stuff from the stores, and rinsing pretty much gets rid of any added salt.
    2. You should be able to buy meat on the internet. Search for phrases like organic, free-range, pasture-raised.
    3. See if there's a community garden thing. A lot of places have coops where you volunteer a weekend or two and some money, and then you get produce in-season year-round.
    4. Any farmers markets nearby?
  • GalaxyDuck
    GalaxyDuck Posts: 406 Member
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    Check out this site for meats/dairy/veggies around your area:
    http://eatwild.com/

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