I went for a few things today and was pretty discouraged. Raw nuts were very few and far between, and just outrageously priced! Does anyone have a link to a website where you can get raw nuts and organic seeds for sprouting - like in bulk quantities and fairly decent prices?

i bought some conventional almonds today and they cost a bunch. it's good though, it will keep me from overindulging i think.
sunflower seeds don't cost too much, pumpkin seeds either. and i can grow both of them myself too! and i got some lentils to sprout too, they were cheap.

good luck finding what you need.

I was speaking with the owner of the health food store where I go, and they're having price problems as well on their end... I think it may be related to gas prices, shipping.

In Holland there is a company where you can order biological foods 'en gros', like a retail.
It's a big investment, because you buy like 10 bottles of olive oil, or 10 kilos of almonds at once - but the price difference is huge.
I found it with google. Maybe a same sort of company also exists in the USA / UK.

Yes, I have noticed that nuts have become alarmingly expensive this year. I have lately been using more avocado and fewer nuts.

Sunflower seeds are still cheap. Pumpkin seeds and flax are still affordable also.

I have a couple of Tablespoons of nuts or seeds in my Green Smoothies. I get some of them at....
[www.nutsonline.com]
Their Pistachios are Yummy.....WY
P.S. Don't look so closely at prices. Buy what you need and be willing to spend a little money for it.

Myrte, where do you get it in Holland? I always buy our bulk there, but the bulk is not much cheaper, so you must have found another address. Thanks!

Greenpower

Visit my website and my blog!

[www.natureshealingsecrets.com] (closed on Sundays)

Blame it on "W"....

Yeah, bulk nuts have always been priced high &
raw companies selling them prepackaged at alarming
prices..
Everythings higher now, Tomatoes cost me $5.25 per lb.


Why Vegan?
Because I have the most love and admiration for all animals of the earth!!!
a rawvegan hopeful, rawdev4life!!!

It's also quite likely that comparable conventinal produce is government subsidized while organic and/or raw is not, or at least very little. So those prices would tend to reflect the overall upwards movement of prices since it is costing more to grow and transport.

Wishing you vibrant health

My cost each week at the food co-op has continually climbed over the past two years. I'm essentially buying the same stuff, but the prices keep going up. I did notice after shopping for my mono meals, however, that I was able to purchase a lot more for the same amount. That was because I didn't purchase any nuts, however. Nuts are just too expensive, which is another reason I want to eat less of them.

Lots of love to you,

Wendi
XOXO

yes, explain to me please why a roasted and salted nut/seed which has cost more to produce is priced at half of that of the same raw? it's just silly. pure silly.

coco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> yes, explain to me please why a roasted and salted
> nut/seed which has cost more to produce is priced
> at half of that of the same raw? it's just silly.
> pure silly.

It's all an issue of 'Supply and Demand'. There
are probably 1000 buyers of roasted nuts to every 1 buyer
of Raw Organic. As more and more people start buying Raw Organic,
the prices will drop.....WY

>Tomatoes cost me $5.25 per lb.

Eek! I got them for $0.89/lb at the Asian store a few days ago.

arugula Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >Tomatoes cost me $5.25 per lb.
>
> Eek! I got them for $0.89/lb at the Asian store a
> few days ago.

$5/$6/$7 is not uncommon for a pound of tomatoes here, either... i get them on sale or at local farmers markets for ~ $2.99/lb!

Tomatoes (organic) are $2.89 a pound at our co-op. We are moving to a sunnier location before the end of the year (that's the plan, anyway). We settled on Colorado, but have since changed our destination to Northern California. Does anyone know if the costs of organics in Norther California are reasonable, or not?

Lots of love,

Wendi
XOXO

cost of FOOD in N. CA will not be the issue...
(housing housing housing...)

my brother lived in sebastapol (beautiful rural area outside santa rosa) for many years -- i remember the awesome farmer's markets there, incredible produce, tons of organics... just gorgeous (the place, AND the food).

Ooh, maui_butterfly! I was just telling my husband that I came across some information that there's an area near Santa Rosa that supposedly has the cleanest air and water of all California. I mentioned Santa Rosa, because that's the closest large city in which he can try finding a job.

Was the rural area where your brother lived expensive? We really want to find a place that is rural, but within an hour of a large city.

Thanks for your comment!

Lots of love to you,

Wendi
XOXOXO

It's time for Farmers' Markets to start up again for those of us not living in sunny, warm areas.

Yea!

To purchase a house/land in N. Cal is extremely expensive. Renting there is surprisingly not so terrible, I've heard.

In my experience, you find where you want to live in the world and you just make it work because you have no choice. It's where you're supposed to be. And the way just clears itself for you, things fall in to place for you, opportunities crop up, surprises happen. It makes no sense for me to live where I live. Yet it makes perfect sense for me to live where I live.

What is all this talk about coops? I have heard of it but where do I find one. The only thing here in my town that is referred to as a coop is the big huge grain places. Is that what you mean??



River Willow

a co-op is a co-operative store that is often owned and run by the people who shop there. you can google it to find out more, try the rainbow co-op in san fran. not everywhere has that kind of store, it's a fairly progressive model that you don't often see in smaller towns unless they are hippy-villes, ya know ;D

Pretty much every place I have traveled to has had a co-op--small town in northern MN, a small town in Iowa, Bozeman, MT, Arcata, CA, (the latter two were impressively huge, and these are not big towns) etc--and I currently live within a few miles of several.

But yeah, I haven't traveled to any real conservative places ever. If you ever get that chance to move, I vote for near a coop--they don't get the deals that a corporation like Whole Foods gets (their proft margins are ridiculously high), but they aren't trying to rip you off either, and will genuinely try and support local farmers.

Co-ops are more plentiful now, than they were a few years ago. I'm happy for that!

maui_butterfly, I see what you are saying, but I feel that I do have a choice. I want to live a certain way and it's not possible where I am here so that means I'm moving on to a new place. Things are shifing and moving within and around me and I know it's time to move. ;-)

Lots of love to you,

Wendi
XOXOXO

Really? In the last seven years, where I live, one new co-op opened, but another one closed Most of the co-ops where I live started in the seventies. There actually used to be a lot more but many of them closed die to financial problems. I am glad to hear they are becoming widespread, though. I love co-ops.

Good luck with your move.

Yeah, I shop at a regular supermarket now because
they get everything produce wise (Organic of
course) that Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Fresh
Harvest and Good Earth gets and at cheaper
prices.
In fact, I ask for something and they'll get it
with no questions ask but with people at WF they
give me the funny look/stare.

It's too bad because I always wanted to support
the stores I've listed above but sometimes there
not always better IMHO...


Why Vegan?
Because I have the most love and admiration for all animals of the earth!!!
a rawvegan hopeful, rawdev4life!!!

GypsyArdor Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> maui_butterfly, I see what you are saying, but I
> feel that I do have a choice. I want to live a
> certain way and it's not possible where I am here
> so that means I'm moving on to a new place. Things
> are shifing and moving within and around me and I
> know it's time to move. ;-)

i get you GA. i just have this theory that decisions make us (because whatever happens is what is supposed to happen), and we justify those decisions/actions with our thought processes and think that we "decided" with our minds. as a result of this (relatively new) theory of mine, i have done away with my agonizing pro/con decision-making analyses, the endless listing, comparing, questioning, etc. and let whatever is supposed to happen, happen. go whichever way draws me. i figure its the same RESULT (whatever happens would have happened anyway) but with less time invested and less stress/anxiety about the process. i don't know if that makes any sense, and probably makes me sound like a total flake!!! oh well.

It makes sense, maui_butterfly--you don't sound like a flake. ;-) I follow my intuition on a lot of things in life, and right now it's telling me to get moving. Since my husband is opposed to getting into an RV and just traveling until we find our new home, we aren't able to just see what happens. If we aren't making any motion toward moving, we may just sit here for a very long time. I need the sunshine sooner than later, so we're searching for the right place. Things are falling into place in a way that you are saying: we were focused on Colorado and then a job opportunity took us from thinking of Colorado to focusing on California. We'll see how it all works out; it's fascinating to watch when you know something big is happening!

Anyway, to bring this back on topic, I think we'll find some great health food stores in California. I'm not too sure about the prices of produce, however. :-P

Lots of love to you,

Wendi
XOXOXO

I would love to move away from Alabama. My boyfriend has a great job here though, and we can't just up and leave yet. But in about 10 years, we are wanting to move to California. He is about 20 years older than me and that's when he will retire hopefully. He is such a workaholic and I am so not one! I really wish we could go sooner!

Sebastopol!!! I was born and raised there!!! I always felt like I would wind up there again someday and hope it eventually happens. It's a very ecologically aware place, almost like a mecca of schools and businesses, but expensive to live. I'd live in a chicken coop (not to be confused with co-op) there any day! That whole area (Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino & Humboldt Counties) is awesome! Another area that isn't quite as expensive but is a hip university town with an awesome year round farmers market and a good co-op is Chico. Chico State is my alma mater and my life partner and I met and farmed organically there. They have a raw foods restaurant, too! So yeah, though I now live in shivery Massachusetts at the moment, I'll always be a Cali girl at heart. Good luck with the big move.
Sundancer (missing the sun!!!)

Oh, yeah, to get back on the subject of prices of food, the farmers market in Chico has reasonably priced food, but beyond that, we GREW food there year round!!! Food is increasingly expensive to buy and probably will continue to be so, but remember, in the USA we're so used to paying artificially deflated prices of food due to subsidies skewing the market, so that's what we expect. And remember, you get what you pay for. Between my partner working at the co-op in our town and me doing member hours, we get 23% off everything we buy there.
Also, people need to try harder to make growing our own food a priority, even if it is just sprouting beans and seeds. In the 1980's a friend and I started a buyers co-op, contacting the nearest natural foods distributer and spreading the word. We charged cost plus 10% for those who didn't want to work with us to split up or pick up the food. Now my partner and I have been harvesting food out of our living room since February, and we took a portable garage, added semi-transparent walls and a space heater and have been harvesting out of it (in Massachusetts) for a month. It's fun to watch the cops cruise by our house and slow way down to look in our living room windows at the racks of plants growing under florescent lights. We laugh and laugh!!! But it helps a lot on the food bill. So we just need to be creative.