I’m glad Trader Joe’s finally made it to Kansas City, but I won’t be shopping there. Trader Joe’s is step forward people who still eat packaged, processed food--out of a bag or box, ready- to-eat or heat-and-eat. Those seeking the best possible health like me, prepare food from scratch, with real fresh ingredients, just as you would find on the plant or the animal with minimal to no processing.
Kelly Hayford, in her book If It’s Not Food…Don’t Eat It suggests switching from processed, prepared foods to natural foods, but only 20% of your food intake at a time, that is, small steps. She also suggests switching from national brand processed, packaged food to health food store versions, then finally to making it yourself from raw ingredients. Trader Joes supports the middle step of Kelly’s approach. It’s a point you pass through on your way to eating healthy. Learn more about Kelly at www.FoodFitnessByPhone.com. She’s spot on!
So where do I shop? If you read Food Conscious each month, you know I sing the praises of CSAs and our local organic farmers markets. I’m grateful for Kansas City’s health food stores and grocers with decent natural foods departments, like Hy-vee. I shop Asian markets for sea vegetables in quantity at a lower price than health food stores. I buy online, too, primarily for nuts, seeds, dried fruits, and smoothie powders like carob and mesquite. I find the nuts and seeds in the bulk bins go rancid very quickly and there are great quantity discounts on the web.
RawGuru - www.rawguru.com.: Rawguru is my source for high quality, unpasteurized, truly raw nuts. Did you know that US grown almonds must be pasteurized before sale or that most cashews are steamed or cooked to remove the shells? I think this explains why most nuts in local health food stores taste rancid to me. Pasteurization, steaming and cooking eliminates beneficial enzymes, too. I buy goji berries, goldenberries and mulberries in bulk from Rawguru for a better deal than the eight ounce packages sold locally. When they have nut butters, they offer them for a great price.
Living Tree Community Foods – www.livingtreecommunity.com: Raw nut butters, like sesame tahini, are notoriously expensive at Kansas City’s local health food stores. Living Tree Community makes raw sesame tahini for 1/3 to 1/2 less. I buy by the case. They also sell wonderfully moist dates, raisins and dried cherries. Their almonds are pasteurized and they are very clear about it, where others aren’t. I respect them for this.
Nuts Online – www.nutsonline.com: If I can’t find it at RawGuru or Living Tree Community Foods, I shop here. They often have fresh, tasty pine nuts when the others don’t.
Thank goodness for Trader Joes, but keep moving forward on your journey to health.
This work by Bethany Klug is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
