I love perusing new grocery stores, farmer’s markets and community gardens in search of the best wholesome local food. However, wholesome does not equal wholesale prices.
Ever since I watched Oprah’s staff go vegan for a week and listened to the complaints as well as the accolades of how much better they felt and some staff members actually lost weight, I’ve been in search of the wholesome vegan and vegetarian brands mentioned on the show. So far, I’ve only found the website and their fan page, I have looked in 4 stores in the Cleveland suburbs including Marc’s, Aldi’s, Acme, and Whole Foods Market and haven’t found one of the brands mentioned.
I did, however, find several other “meatless and soy-free” frozen products, which wasn’t what I was looking for since I really like the soy products and not the vegetable protein crumbles that resemble meat. These generic and name brand products were outrageously expensive for such a small serving. For example, 1 box of meatless chicken patties cost nearly 6 bucks and only contained 4 patties. Products such as these do not fit within my small monthly food budget for 2 people.
My son and I did find fairly good prices on organic and specialty dairy products and soy milk. We have taken a liking to soy milk both for drinking, adding to morning coffee and cooking with it. And it seems to last a little longer in the frig too.
Overall, I found 4 out of 5 items on my small grocery list at Whole Foods Market, and a couple other inexpensive items including frozen soy beans and organic yogurt. My total for about 15 items…$33.64. Between local farmer’s markets, Trader Joe’s, Aldi’s and Whole Foods I think I might be able to squeeze in some wholesome meals that are both vegetarian and non-vegetarian.
Where do you find the best prices on organic foods, or wholesome local foods in your neck of the woods?