Where to Source Whole Foods

Welcome to the Resource section of the Whole Foods Sourcing website. Here you'll find many resources that will help you source whole foods no matter where you live. You can access those resources by clicking on them in the drop-down list under "Resources" in the navigation bar.  But for now, let me go over some possible sources that may be available to you:

Buying Direct From Farmers

In some areas, you may be able to find farmers that are willing to sell you certain food items in bulk. This will depend on what farmers in your area specialize in and what your needs are. But generally speaking, you can find, through a quick internet search at the Local Harvest website.

Local Harvest has many resources, including a great listing here of community supported agriculture (CSA) member farms or you can search by category here. Or to learn more about CSA programs, click here. 

Of course, another way to locate these farmers is to ask at farmer's markets.

Farmer's Markets

You can find farmer's markets almost everywhere, the list is growing,  and many farmer's markets are year-round. Here at Whole Food Sourcing, you'll find resources to help you locate farmer's markets no matter where you live in either the United States or Canada. You can access those resources by clicking here.

Food Buying Clubs

This is an organization of consumers who band together to make large, bulk purchased from food distributors. Doing so enables food buying clubs to cut out the middleman--the store where these food products are generally sold--and therefore cut the cost of the food.

It takes quite a lot of time and energy to start and run a food buying club. But the rewards may be worth the trouble. I'll be researching and writing more about food buying clubs very soon, so stay tuned.

Urban Farms

If there is an urban farming organization in your area, you may be able to buy direct from them. Or maybe even trade your time helping on the farm for fresh food.

Community Gardens

This is slightly different than urban farming in that the main goal is growing food by and for the community members, not to sell to others.

Growing/Raising Your Own

This is very similar to community gardening, except that you're doing it completely on your own with whatever space and resources you have personally available. Space can be very limited and still produce a significant amount of food. So don't let your current limitations hold you back. More on small-scale personal gardening coming soon to Whole Food Sourcing.

Organic Box Delivery

This is a service in which a company provides you with organic produce and delivers it right to your door. 

There are literally hundreds of businesses offering delivery of organic produce locally. I'm currently researching the biggest and best for you. In the meantime, you can search "organic box delivery" on Google. Be sure to include your city or town name in your search.

Your Local Grocery Store

Don't overlook the obvious. There are still many wonderful whole foods available at your usual store. They may be more expensive than sourcing them the other ways I've listed here, but you can use them until you build up another local source of whole foods that works for you.