We all have seen food prices rising over the last 6-7 months. Many have speculated on the reasons, I have my thoughts, but I'll let you figure out the reasons for the price increases on your own. I am not going to get political in this post.
Some sources have also indicated that there may be food shortages in the coming months. I don't know for sure if that is true, but why take a chance? It is wise to have a certain amount of food stores away - enough for each person for at least 3-6 months.
This is not such an unusual idea, our grandparents and great grandparents did this all time. The summer months were for harvesting and putting up food for the winter months. All varieties of fruits and vegetables were not available in the supermarket all year long! The first supermarket open in 1916 in Memphis, Tenn. Before that, people grew their own food and preserved it or traded with neighbors. Although times are different and almost everyone goes to the grocery store, I do too, but there are ways we can get healthy, organic foods in bulk to make sure we have enough for any coming price increases or shortages.
Here are some of my sources of bulk foods:
My favorite by far is azurestandard.com. This is a great service for organic and bulk foods. The process for ordering and getting your products from Azure are simple, and there is so much to choose from! Azure is not like any grocery store or food coop. You place your order on their website and then when your products have been shipped, you are scheduled a time to pick up your items at your local drop point, directly from the delivery semi! No middle man which means lower prices for you!
Go to azurestandard.com and create an account. When creating an account you will have to choose a drop to have as your home pickup spot. There are many around the country so it is easy to find one locally.
In the right corner of their website, after you have created your account and chosen your pickup point, you will see the cutoff date to order and then the estimated pickup date. Place your order by then.
Wait for your email which lists your pickup time.
Go to the pickup location and get your items!
Azure has pantry items, meats, frozen items, produce, and household items! It is a wonderful source!
Another source that I find bulk or organic foods for less is thrivemarket.com. This source is not as good as azure for bulk items, but I am able to find organic products for less than I can find locally. At Thrive Market you have to create an account and then you order your products like any other website. They are delivered directly to your door. I like this source because I can source hard to find items.
I also use Amazon to find bulk and organic products. I make use of the Subscribe and Save option they offer. Each month by the 6th, I go through my products to see what I need and what I have enough of and then either skip or cancel that item. Most everyone has used Amazon before so I won't go into the details, but there are a number of products I buy because they are the least expensive here. Some of the items I buy are nuts, boxed tomatoes, vitamins and supplements, coconut oil, cereal, as well as certain items for my business such as cocoa butter and beeswax.
For fresh produce, I find Costco has the best prices and quality. I am able to find organic berries, broccoli, celery, lettuce, spinach and more, this is especially useful during the winter months when I do not have the garden produce available. The trick with Costco, though, is to make a list and not browse the aisles! Your total can add up quickly if you are not disciplined.
A great idea to stock up on quality meat is to look locally for grass-fed beef, chicken, and pork. There are many wonderful farms nearby in which you can purchase bulk meats to have in your freezer. We have our own chickens and process them, but we purchase beef and pork locally when we are able. Check out localharvest.com to find a farmer in your area!
If you cannot find a local meat producer, there are some great options to order healthy, grass-fed and organic meat online. It is important to get good quality meat that is grown without antibiotics, added hormones, or GMO feed. I order regularly from the following farms and we enjoy their products; especially the bacon! fedfromthefarm.com polyfaceyum.com and grassrootscoop.com
There are other places to order online, but these are my main sources for ordering high quality, bulk and organic foods. One complaint I hear often from people is that organic food is too expensive. I believe that we need to learn that eating high quality food should be important. Obviously we have to watch our budget when purchasing things, but shouldn't food be high on the list of what we want to spend our money on? After all you are what you eat! Many people rely too much on convenience food that is very processed, and to be honest, I sometimes use convenience foods too, but whole foods are what is best.
In the coming weeks I am planning to add posts that share some of the ways I use the bulk foods to create meals and snacks. I will also share how I store my bulk foods. I try not to use processed food and use whole foods as much as possible. I understand that convenience foods are sometimes necessary with our busy lifestyle, but whole foods can be convenience foods too, if we plan ahead.
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