Guest guest Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 Hi all, I just recently moved to Iowa (where I'm from originally) from Southern California and am having a difficult time locating good low-cost whole foods for our family. I am located in Iowa City/Coralville, but am willing to travel to stock up on good inexpensive food. There is one really great whole foods store (New Pioneer Coop) that is high-priced even compared to California and one reason we moved out here is the lower cost of living! My son is vegetarian and my stepkids (who will be with us part-time) are vegan (one because of severe food allergies), so we may not have a lot of choices. I know there was a recent thread about low-cost meals, so we don't have to cover those suggestions again (all great and I will go back and look at those). I'm just wondering if folks have any suggestions about places to find inexpensive organics (especially produce), soy milk, and organic milk (looks like Hy-Vee does have $5.50/gallon milk). I can stick to avoiding the worst pesticide-laden produce and use a veggie wash on others. Anyone out there in Iowa?? If only we had a Trader Joes... Sarah Fraley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Hi Sarah, I am in Chicago, and no, I am not going to suggest that you travel here. I will suggest that you try to find a home-based food buying coop; I used to work for one of the big natural food distributors, and they had several coops in your area. Are there any small produce markets / ethnic food stores around you? They sometimes have less expensive prices than other stores. I can get a gallon of organic milk for $5.00; I bought honey tangerines for ten cents a piece and kiwi for 4/$1.00. (not organic, but right now I can't afford organic " clean dozen " produce). Is there a Costco near you? This is a great option for organic eggs, soymilk, cow milk, lettuce and cereals. Good luck! Robin --- On Sun, 3/8/09, Sarah Fraley <fraley_sarah wrote: Sarah Fraley <fraley_sarah Healthy low-cost food in Iowa Sunday, March 8, 2009, 2:21 PM Hi all, I just recently moved to Iowa (where I'm from originally) from Southern California and am having a difficult time locating good low-cost whole foods for our family. I am located in Iowa City/Coralville, but am willing to travel to stock up on good inexpensive food. There is one really great whole foods store (New Pioneer Coop) that is high-priced even compared to California and one reason we moved out here is the lower cost of living! My son is vegetarian and my stepkids (who will be with us part-time) are vegan (one because of severe food allergies), so we may not have a lot of choices. I know there was a recent thread about low-cost meals, so we don't have to cover those suggestions again (all great and I will go back and look at those). I'm just wondering if folks have any suggestions about places to find inexpensive organics (especially produce), soy milk, and organic milk (looks like Hy-Vee does have $5.50/gallon milk). I can stick to avoiding the worst pesticide-laden produce and use a veggie wash on others. Anyone out there in Iowa?? If only we had a Trader Joes... Sarah Fraley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 I'm not in Iowa- I am in Kansas, and, well, the truth is....for some of those " specialty items " (read: soy milk, etc) you are probably going to pay a decent price. It's so sad. For organic veggies, though, you will probably just have to shop around- go to farmers markets and ASK ASK ASK if they are organic (i've found a lot of the local stuff around here is, even though they are not certified due to the costs/time of actually becoming certified.) Good luck! On Sun, Mar 8, 2009 at 2:21 PM, Sarah Fraley <fraley_sarah wrote: > Hi all, > > I just recently moved to Iowa (where I'm from originally) from Southern > California and am having a difficult time locating good low-cost whole foods > for our family. I am located in Iowa City/Coralville, but am willing to > travel to stock up on good inexpensive food. There is one really great > whole foods store (New Pioneer Coop) that is high-priced even compared to > California and one reason we moved out here is the lower cost of living! My > son is vegetarian and my stepkids (who will be with us part-time) are vegan > (one because of severe food allergies), so we may not have a lot of > choices. I know there was a recent thread about low-cost meals, so we don't > have to cover those suggestions again (all great and I will go back and look > at those). I'm just wondering if folks have any suggestions about places to > find inexpensive organics (especially produce), soy milk, and organic milk > (looks like Hy-Vee does have $5.50/gallon milk). > > I can stick to avoiding the worst pesticide-laden produce and use a veggie > wash on others. > > Anyone out there in Iowa?? If only we had a Trader Joes... > > Sarah Fraley > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 In addition to local co-ops, look to see if there's a Seventh Day Adventist church nearby. They're vegetarian, so they would be able to give you some useful tips. Sometimes they even have their own stores. Also, for things like soymilk by the case, believe it or not you can order from Amazon.com. Liz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 re: organic produce not being labeled: good point! Small family farms have a hard time paying all that money and spending the time to get 'certified'. Sometimes the produce will also be marked 'in transition' or 'transitional' which denotes that they are in process of becoming certified orgnaic. ________________________________ kerri myers <4lilpups Monday, March 9, 2009 7:20:48 AM Re: Healthy low-cost food in Iowa I'm not in Iowa- I am in Kansas, and, well, the truth is....for some of those " specialty items " (read: soy milk, etc) you are probably going to pay a decent price. It's so sad. For organic veggies, though, you will probably just have to shop around- go to farmers markets and ASK ASK ASK if they are organic (i've found a lot of the local stuff around here is, even though they are not certified due to the costs/time of actually becoming certified.) Good luck! On Sun, Mar 8, 2009 at 2:21 PM, Sarah Fraley <fraley_sarah@ > wrote: > Hi all, > > I just recently moved to Iowa (where I'm from originally) from Southern > California and am having a difficult time locating good low-cost whole foods > for our family. I am located in Iowa City/Coralville, but am willing to > travel to stock up on good inexpensive food. There is one really great > whole foods store (New Pioneer Coop) that is high-priced even compared to > California and one reason we moved out here is the lower cost of living! My > son is vegetarian and my stepkids (who will be with us part-time) are vegan > (one because of severe food allergies), so we may not have a lot of > choices. I know there was a recent thread about low-cost meals, so we don't > have to cover those suggestions again (all great and I will go back and look > at those). I'm just wondering if folks have any suggestions about places to > find inexpensive organics (especially produce), soy milk, and organic milk > (looks like Hy-Vee does have $5.50/gallon milk). > > I can stick to avoiding the worst pesticide-laden produce and use a veggie > wash on others. > > Anyone out there in Iowa?? If only we had a Trader Joes... > > Sarah Fraley > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 At the farmers' markets, they are often labeled " no spray " --- On Mon, 3/9/09, jenni claire garverick <jennigarverick wrote: jenni claire garverick <jennigarverick Re: Healthy low-cost food in Iowa Monday, March 9, 2009, 10:04 AM re: organic produce not being labeled: good point! Small family farms have a hard time paying all that money and spending the time to get 'certified'. Sometimes the produce will also be marked 'in transition' or 'transitional' which denotes that they are in process of becoming certified orgnaic. ____________ _________ _________ __ kerri myers <4lilpups (AT) gmail (DOT) com> @gro ups.com Monday, March 9, 2009 7:20:48 AM Re: Healthy low-cost food in Iowa I'm not in Iowa- I am in Kansas, and, well, the truth is....for some of those " specialty items " (read: soy milk, etc) you are probably going to pay a decent price. It's so sad. For organic veggies, though, you will probably just have to shop around- go to farmers markets and ASK ASK ASK if they are organic (i've found a lot of the local stuff around here is, even though they are not certified due to the costs/time of actually becoming certified.) Good luck! On Sun, Mar 8, 2009 at 2:21 PM, Sarah Fraley <fraley_sarah@ > wrote: > Hi all, > > I just recently moved to Iowa (where I'm from originally) from Southern > California and am having a difficult time locating good low-cost whole foods > for our family. I am located in Iowa City/Coralville, but am willing to > travel to stock up on good inexpensive food. There is one really great > whole foods store (New Pioneer Coop) that is high-priced even compared to > California and one reason we moved out here is the lower cost of living! My > son is vegetarian and my stepkids (who will be with us part-time) are vegan > (one because of severe food allergies), so we may not have a lot of > choices. I know there was a recent thread about low-cost meals, so we don't > have to cover those suggestions again (all great and I will go back and look > at those). I'm just wondering if folks have any suggestions about places to > find inexpensive organics (especially produce), soy milk, and organic milk > (looks like Hy-Vee does have $5.50/gallon milk). > > I can stick to avoiding the worst pesticide-laden produce and use a veggie > wash on others. > > Anyone out there in Iowa?? If only we had a Trader Joes... > > Sarah Fraley > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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