If you would like to switch your diet over to more traditional, unprocessed foods then it definitely takes a mindset shift. It’s totally worth the health benefits, but you do have to change not only the way that you prepare your food but also, often times, where you buy your food. Having to find new food sources can be an obstacle in getting started with eating healthier so I have provided you with a list of my favorite ways to source whole food ingredients.
Grocery Store
What they sell:
Ok, so this one is pretty obvious, but if you have a local grocery store you’re used to visiting then this is a great place to start. They may sell more whole foods options than you think.
Look at the products that you normally buy there, and see if they have any alternatives you can get that fit in with the traditional foods diet.
Do they offer any pre-sprouted grains? Or perhaps some local grass-fed beef?
My favorites:
My favorite thing to get at the grocery store is definitely produce. Farmers markets are great, and it’s also great if you are able to join a local CSA. But for many people those aren’t realistic as a sole produce source throughout the year.
Personally, I just try to follow the dirty dozen and clean fifteen lists when buying produce.
I also use the grocery store to supplement some of the things I generally source elsewhere. For instance, I try to get most of my dairy and eggs from my local raw dairy pickup, but I am still figuring out what amount is going to work best for us. So sometimes that means getting some of our dairy from the store if we run out too soon.
If you need to supplement just try to get the best options that your grocery store offers.
Costco
What they sell:
So obviously Costco is best known for selling things in bulk. This can be really great for the traditional foods diet if you know what to look for at a store like this.
Try to get unprocessed items, like produce, that you don’t have to eat through super quickly (unless you have a large family).
A great thing about Costco is that they are constantly changing what items they offer based on consumer demand. For example, I just recently saw that they are now offering sprouted oatmeal, and they now offer a number of gluten-free products.
My favorites:
I focus most heavily on getting produce from Costco. My favorite thing to get is big bags of frozen produce, such as broccoli, green beans, mango, strawberries, blueberries, etc.
When you buy frozen produce it won’t go bad the same way as when it’s fresh. I always keep frozen vegetables on hand for dinner in particular. And frozen berries are great for things like smoothies or cooking on the stove with a little sweetener and/or water to then mix into yogurt or oatmeal.
A few other things I like to get at Costco are potatoes (ultra cheap, whole foods meals that go a long ways), onions, bananas, tomato sauce, and their organic salsa.
Realmilk.com
What they sell:
So realmilk.com isn’t who actually sells the milk, but rather it’s a site that allows you to search for sources of raw milk. You can use their “Real Milk Finder” to click on your state and see a list of the registered raw dairy providers and where they are located.
My favorites:
I found my local dairy pickup through realmilk.com, and I use them to buy my family’s milk, sometimes cream, and eggs. They also have some great meat options that I occasionally use.
Eatwild.com
What they sell:
Like realmilk.com, eatwild.com does not do the selling themselves, but rather connects you to farms. You can click on your state and find local farmers and what kind of meat they are selling, making this a great source for finding whole food ingredients.
You do need to be aware, though, that the farmers listed here are typically selling in more of a cow share format rather than by cut. This means that you buy a whole portion of a cow or pig, such as a whole, half, quarter, etc. The larger the percentage you buy, the cheaper it will be for you.
My favorites:
I haven’t actually sourced my meat this way yet because we aren’t in a place in our lives to make a huge purchase of that nature, but I think it is a great option for a lot of people.
You can save a significant amount of money buying your meat in bulk directly from a farmer, and hey, then you have good quality meat for months and months on end!
Crowd Cow
What they sell:
Crowd Cow sells a variety of meat products, and you can even shop by farm to see where your meat is coming from. Not every item that they sell is grass fed or completely pasture raised, but most every item has that as an option.
What’s really fun about Crowd Cow is that they offer the typical meat products, but they also have a lot of different options than what you would probably find at an average grocery store.
A few I am interested in trying are their ground wild boar, ground bison, and duck leg quarters.
You can purchase a Crowd Cow box as either a one time purchase or, for a discounted price, a subscription box.
My favorites:
I love getting staples that I use a lot, like ground beef and ground turkey, from Crowd Cow. In my next box I plan to get a bunch of chicken cuts and a good amount of beef bones for making bone broth in my new Instant Pot.
Compared to a lot of the other subscription boxes I’ve looked at, their prices are on the cheaper end (their grass-fed ground beef is actually super cheap), and the boxes are completely customizable.
You can use my link to get $25 off your first box.
Azure Standard
What they sell:
Azure Standard is a company that sells mostly natural, organic foods, and they ships items in two different ways. You can either have them shipped directly to you (although I have found this option to be quite expensive) or you can choose a drop off time and location to pick your order up at.
They offer a large variety of items, including bulk pantry items, meat, and dairy.
My favorites:
The best use I have found for Azure Standard is in buying bulk pantry items, such as dried beans, pre-sprouted brown rice, pre-sprouted wheat berries, date syrup, and the like.
I also plan to buy a bulk order of grass-fed butter and eventually some raw pepper jack cheese, as they have the best price for raw pepper jack that I have been able to find (we aren’t a cheddar family).
Thrive Market
What they sell:
Thrive Market is a membership based online grocery store that sells a whole bunch of different healthy foods at a lower price than what you will often find them for at the grocery store.
So think Whole Foods pantry items with a discount.
They have the option to filter your search based on your specific diet, such as gluten-free, paleo, raw, vegan, etc., and you can find condiments, dried goods like beans or grains, baking items, syrup, honey, oils, and any number of other things.
My favorites:
When I first signed up for Thrive Market, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t really sure how much I was going to use it. I initially signed up because they offer a trial period so I figured if I didn’t like it I could get my money back.
Well, I actually have ended up really loving them. My favorite items so far have been the Jovial diced tomatoes, Jovial einkorn pasta, coconut aminos (healthier substitute for soy sauce), house brand maple syrup, steel cut oats, sucanat, pork lard, date syrup, and condiments.
And mine and my husband’s absolute FAVORITE has been their house brand, whole bean coffee. We are pretty picky about our coffee (we have a super expensive machine and everything), but we both love this stuff. We got their house brand breakfast blend, and I think I would possibly keep the subscription just for the coffee alone!
If you decide to sign up for a membership then make sure to use this link so you can get 25% off your first order.
Don’t feel overwhelmed with trying to figure out where to source whole food ingredients as I have done the heavy lifting for you! Give these places a look, and you will probably be able to find much, if not all, of what you need to start your journey to using whole food ingredients and eliminated the processed foods from your diet.
For more information on the traditional foods diet check out my post What Is a Traditional Foods Diet (And Why Should You Switch To One)?
Do you have any sources that you love for buying whole food ingredients?
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
