Alternatives to shopping at Whole Foods
I have often written to keep it organic whenever possible. I have always had easy access to fresh organic foods, but many of my readers might ask - Where do I get organic produce? Health food stores are but one option. Like many, I have a love/hate relationship with Whole Foods Market. They are just so expensive! I shop at Farmers Markets whenever I can. But there is one more option.
If you are lucky enough to live in certain cities, you can have organic produce delivered to you on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. An additional benefit is that this produce is usually fairly local and in season. Try getting that from any grocery store! The fresher the produce, the longer it lasts. I have focused here on local delivery.
I found a lot of good links and info at www.greenpeople.org
Check the websites below to see if they deliver in your area.
United States
Arizona
Boxed Greens
Organically Grown For You
California
Guerilla Organics
Planet Organics
LOVE (Los Angeles Organic Vegetable Express) My personal fave 
Colorado
Door to Door Organics, Colorado
Florida
Orlando Organics
Harvest Cycle I love this one: they deliver by bicycle!
Off the Vine Produce
Delicious Organics
Illinois
Oakville Organics
Garden on Wheels
Michigan
Door to Door Organics
Minnesota
Biologique Foods
New York/New Jersey
Organic Direct
http://www.doortodoororganics.com
Home Delivery of organic produce, fruits, vegetables, wheatgrass, bulk organic produce, organic fruit baskets and sprouts throughout PA, NJ, MD, WV, CT and NYC
Full Plate Farms Collective
Snow Bird Natural Organic Foods This one has some non-organic meats, poultry - “Natural” not being equivalent to “Organic”
My Farm Share
Bogo Food
Teri’s Dairy
North Carolina
Absolute Organics
Oregon
Organics to You
Organic Wagon
Home Grown Deliver
Pennsylvania
Door to Door Organics
South Dakota
Rosin Organics: Some delivery services available, but no website yet. 605-649-724
Texas
Windy Acres Farms: Located in North Texas - Not sure if they deliver - Phone: 972-757-0554
Washington
Wildly Organic
Blueberries and More Organics
Wisconsin
Keewaydin Farms Not sure if they deliver.
Canada
Alberta
Fresh Organics
British Columbia
Ladybug Organics
Organics at Home
Sunshine Organics
Share Organics
Manitoba
To Your Door Organic Store
Nova Scotia
Sunset Acres
Ontario
Green Earth Organics
New Terra Natural Food
Organics Delivered
Nature’s Way Organics
Europe
United Kingdom
Zonker
Abel Cole
Spain
Ecolur
Australia
Frank’s Organics
Abundant Organics
Green Line Delivery
India
Panchvati
Aarogyam - Farmers’ Initiative for Organic Foods: Call 91 9969022192
Please comment if you have tried any of these services, if you find wrong information, or if you know of any other services not mentioned, so I can add them to the list.
Posted in Healthy Foods, Resources |
By Frank on May 23, 2008 | Reply
Pioneer Organics, now called Spud… is a great service in Washington.
By Stefanie on May 24, 2008 | Reply
Thank you, Frank.
By Pennie on May 24, 2008 | Reply
Hi!
Also try Local Harvest: http://www.localharvest.org/, there is a lot to this website, but one thing is that you can sign up for notices delivered to your email when local growers have goods.
Those in my area do not offer home delivery, but some deliver to businesses (Farmers & Plant Markets, etc.) very close by. Some of them you go directly to the farm, which is kind of nice too and then some you can do your own picking. All nice options and I think it is good to “pick” your own food :).
Also, some of these small family farms cannot afford the USDA organic certification, but they consciously grow their offerings in healthy soil/environment, taking great pride and care not to use chemicals, pesticides, herbicides and so on.
Take Care,
Pennie
By Pete on May 25, 2008 | Reply
spud! is a pretty cool option, I use them here in Portland OR. They buy really local, and they show you your food miles for everything I buy.
By Stefanie on May 25, 2008 | Reply
Thank so much to Pennie for your comprehensive comment. Makes me think - there are a number of farmers that don’t deliver, but to whom consumers can come - can perhaps carpool to save on gas use - to pick up the goods. Some of these farmers are mentioned on the site mentioned in the article: http://www.greenpeople.org. Pennie has me thinking of going a little further - about working on a page with not only delivery, but local farmers and sites like she mentioned - http://www.localharvest.org . I hope readers will make suggestions - word of mouth is worth 10 web pages in my opinion. There might be farmers without web pages, no?
Also thanks to Pete for his comment on Spud. It is nice to know the services that are working, and working well.
By dr vic on May 27, 2008 | Reply
Glad to see the alternatives to Whole Foods. Since these stores opened I have questioned their commitment to anything but the dollar. While other local stores carry organic produce, Whole Foods says they are not available. This just means that they don’t go out of their way to provide organics. Dollars first, customers second. It’s a shame that they’ve been so successful in fooling people into thinking they run a health food store. — Dr Vic, nutritionresearchcenter.org
By Suzanne Ahmed Leonora on Jul 8, 2008 | Reply
Hi, Stefanie — hope all is well. Good entry, important topic. Another option is “community supported agriculture” (CSA — Google it), in which you get your produce from a specific farm, delivered or semi-delivered on the subscription model. By “semi-delivered,” I mean delivered not to your door but to a local drop-off point. One farm serving the San Francisco area is Eatwell Farms, which has a good website that explains the system, along with links to help you find a CSA farm. Seasonal, organic, reasonably priced food, and direct support for an actual farm. Nice, huh?
By Stefanie on Jul 12, 2008 | Reply
Thank you for your suggestions, Suzanne. CSA sounds like a fantastic way to go. I will do some research for various localities for a new post.