Sourcing Nutrient Dense Foods
Let’s dive into how to navigate sourcing nutrient dense foods and getting them into your home! Here’s how we do it outside of what we grow on the farm:
Azure Standard:
When I think of Azure Standard I think of Costco - but with organic, fresh from the farmer produce. Bulk buying organic foods had been a saving grace for our family and keeps us out of the grocery stores more often than not.
If you don’t have an Azure account set up, use my link to create one (it will give me $25 as a referral thank you & you’ll help support feeding our family and our animals!)
The way Azure works is you make an account and choose a drop location. This location will be pre-set up and hopefully somewhere local to you as more locations are popping up left and right. Don't be surprised if you have to drive 30 minute to an hour to get to a drop if your area is underdeveloped. You have an option to create a local drop if you can gather enough people in your community to place local orders.
Once you choose your location, you then start loading up your cart. You can find ALL kinds of organic or speciality items through their site. We purchase feed for our animals, plant starts, bulk gluten free grains, raw cheese, peanut butter, beans, mylar bags, fresh produce - SO MANY THINGS come from azure.
Now, I’ll be honest - all good things have pros and cons… the downfall with Azure is that you have to be at the drop to pick up your order (or have a friend who can grab it for you). Sometimes the drop times change last minute and you do need to stay up on the alerts for the day your delivery is due. With that being said, even with my super busy go go go life - I have never missed getting my items. I have friends and family in the community that I call if the drop time doesn’t work out with my schedule. They help me, and I help them when they can’t make it to a drop. I highly encourage you to get to know the people at your drop location. Get out of the car and create relationships. These people are likely YOUR people if you catch my drift.
At the drop, expect to be a team player (if you don’t have a physical reason not to be) ad you will likely be helping to work with your community to off load the truck and create piles for people to then bring to their cars. It’s such a cool thing to be a part of and really helps connect farmers to consumers that otherwise wouldn’t be connected.
Azure’s meat and produce are top notch - and if you’ve been following the recent “Apeel” labeling (a program created by Bill Gates to cover all produce - organic included - with a powder that will increase shelf stability) - Azure made a firm stance and addressed that they work with local farmers and DO NOT allow Apeel to be sprayed on crops that are sold through their organization. A HUGE reason to shop Azure if you’re not growing everything you consume.
Since you’ll be buying in bulk - make sure that you learn how to properly store and preserve foods. By storing bulk foods appropriately, you’ll be able to bypass the grocery stores and shop from your own pantry!
We will be diving into this topic next month in the CitySteader community and you’ll learn how to dry can, water bath can, pressure can, use a freeze dryer, store in mylar bags, freeze, store in 5 gallon buckets and so much more!
Grocery Store:
Grocery stores are purposely designed to make you spend more money on things you don’t need.
Now while I encourage you to source your eggs, meat and raw dairy from local farmers because they’ll be more nutrient dense and support local - I understand that not everyone is there yet!
Most people run to the grocery stores to restock on household staples - eggs, dairy, meat - etc. If you’ve ever broken down the layout of a grocery store, you will likely find that all of those things are on the outer edges of the store, or in the very back of the store - which causes you to pass by aisles and aisles of items that you don’t need or don’t serve your body. They know that visual exposure on top of successful marketing campaigns with multiple exposures to those products makes it easier for them to encourage you to throw those items (that you didn’t need or plan on buying) into your cart based on an impulse.
So if you’re heading to the grocery stores - here’s the trick:
Shop the outside perimeter of the store.
Often times when our family goes to the grocery store we never even walk the middle aisles. They’re filled with so many tempting and triggering things that make us want to impulse buy!
Another thing we do before we go to grocery stores is we make a list. It sounds so simple but it really does make a huge difference. Knowing what you’re heading in for will keep you from lingering in aisles and help you navigate your needs more efficiently instead of letting your hungry tummies make the choices for you.
Set yourself up for a quick, easy and efficient trip!
Opt for organic produce, grass fed and finished beef, raw dairy (yes, stores do sell it!) etc. Take your time reading the labels and if you don’t know what something means, look it up! There is no shame in educating yourself on the spot - I do it all the time!
Local Farmers:
Get connected with your farming community. Now, city dwelling friends, brace yourself. You will likely have to drive a bit to locate your local farmers - I PROMSE YOU it is worth the investment of your time and your gas. Do the hard work to get connected. It is so important.
If your city is already established with a farmers market, then check those out! That’s a great way to connect with farmers since they’re dedicating their entire day to selling produce and building relationships.
The more you can source locally, the less you have to depend on a grocery story to provide for you! You’ll also be eating locally, which means the environmental factors that produced the milk, meat, fruit and honey are all a part of your local ecosystem! This matters for medicinal reasons!
If you are having trouble locating a local raw milk source - try utilizing this website and see if there is dairy farmer or homesteader near you that can help solve that problem for you!