Organic groceries/Organic Chicken/Meat

Stop and shop and big y both have an organic line that I don't think is any different then other organic food but to be honest I like the 365 line that whole foods sells and it the best price around.

The Tip Top Country Store in Brookfield, MA center has a co-op. The offer meat from a local farmer it comes in a combination of beef, chicken & lamb.

I have had to try to find some natural or organic things for my daughter seeing as her allergies are increasing and I like the selection available at Price Chopper.

Nature's Promise is a scam. It dupes the buyer that it is organic, but it is definitely not organic. Also Nature's Promise chickens are caged and kept in the same horrible conditions as the rest of the caged chickens. Giant and Stop and Shop will do anything to maximize their profits.
Update: I noticed recently that actually Nature's Promise are rather crafty. A lot of their stuff IS organic. And it is fairly well mixed up with the majority of their produce that is NOT organic.

I'm not sure where you are but if you're close to Cambridge or Brighton, produce at Harvest Co-op is often cheaper than Whole Foods, maybe on par with TJ's but the produce isn't prepackaged at the co-op.

We're heading into farmer's market and CSA season so take advantage of those options. Pasture-raised meat can be very pricy at farmer's markets but it's more affordable if you do a meat CSA, like Chestnut Farms.

Best to you!

D.

Stop and Shop Nature's Promise is great -very fairly priced and good quality...I use it all the time. Try it out!

I am not sure where you live, but Debra's in West Concord, Ma sells organic all natural groceries. I have found produce and some groceries to be cheaper than Whole Foods, but you have to be carfeul. Some items there are more expensive. I have never bought meat there.

Hi N.:

I live in the Franklin area. I can find many decent quality organic fruits and vegtables and the Tilton Market Basket. There is a co-op in Concord on Main Street. I get addition produce, bulk nuts, flours, and other baking needs there. Up in Lebanon there is a co-op as well that has a large selection of produce and bulk items.

Another option for organic noodles, the few canned goods like tomato sauce, cereals etc I use Amazon.com grocery subscribe and save prgram. I select the item, how often to deliver it, and it is free shipping.

For eggs, milk, and some beef I go to a local farm. It is very well priced. For chicken I got to Hannaford for the Nature's Place.

Good Luck and have a blessed day!

Jenn

I'm in Maine, so can't give you an exact referral. My best advise is to get to know your local farmers. We found a place in the area where we buy 1/2 cow and several chickens, which is enough to fill the freezer for a year. They are not certified organic (which can be cost prohibitive for the farmer), but the cows are fed at pasture like nature intended and the chickens are out eating bugs and grass. I am more comfortable making old fashioned soup stocks from the bones of these animals than anything found in the supermarket. The initial investment is costly, but comes out to about $3.45 lb for vacuum sealed beef and $2.15 lb for chicken. With the beef, we get everything from the soup bones to delmonico steaks. We also have 4 sources of organic and/or free range eggs in the immediate area. You just have to look for them.

I really like the Stop & Shop's, Nature's Promise products. They (Stop & Shop) has a great natrual foods area.

I buy alot of produce at Whole Foods and find that when I try to switch to Nature's Promise at Stop & Shop the selection of organic produce decreases dramatically. Google CSAs (community supported agriculture) in your area. You should be able to sign up for a share or a half share of vegetables straight from the farm! There are some farms that also do meat shares. If you have a local natural health food store ask about local buying co-ops as well. Good luck!

Check out CSAs! (Community Subscripted Agriculture) And farmer's markets, now that we're getting back into the right time of year for those! New ones are cropping up all over the place, so if you don't find one right away, keep checking. Good luck.

Hi N.
there's a web site called www.organicconsumers.org and it has a variety of info on it... co-ops, health food stores, markets, etc. You can just put in your zip code and how many miles you want to travel to do your search. Hope this is helpful!

M.

Hi N.,
have you tried "Stew Leonards"? They're in Newington on the Berlin Turnpike. you'll find great stuff there.
Also, S&S Nature's Promise brand is organic stuff & really good. my son loves the Soy milk -- wont drink any other.
Good Luck!

I really like the Stop & Shop Natures promise line, no problems with their chicken. Try localharvest.org to find a farm, co-op and csa in your area for bulk meat and eggs.

If you want to go with a market, Hannaford isn't bad for organic. However, I highly recommend a CSA for vegetables during the growing season, and some even go year round -- depends exactly where you are. Check out localharvest.org to find one near you. With a CSA, you pay one price in the spring for a membership for the year, and then you get a share of everything they harvest. You generally pay less than you would buying all the veggies individually, but you do assume the same risk the farmer does if it's a bad season. I don't know where you are exactly, but there's a dairy in Dracut that will deliver organic milk and eggs to your house once a week if you live in one of several towns. For eggs, we have 6 chickens living in our backyard, and we are getting 5-6 eggs most days. They are the best eggs we've ever tasted -- it's like the difference between a summer tomato straight from the garden and a winter tomato from the supermarket. They're actually not a lot of work and believe it or not, they're quite endearing and the kids love them. We're thinking of increasing the flock this Spring. I also really like the fact that between this and the farm (we have a csa share at Bear Hill Farm in Tyngsboro, which we love) my kids have a much better idea of where food comes from. If the idea of having your own chickens appeals to you, feel free to email me for more info. For meat, though I haven't tried it, I have heard very very good things about Blood Farm in Groton. I intend to try them soon.

Yes, you can find "wild harvest" at BJs and other local grocery stores.

I love Natures Promise, and when you buy this brand at Stop and Shop they give you back a $5 coupon towards any Natures Promise purchase!

I love Nature's Promise goods, and I've found they are VERY fairly priced.

You can also join a CSA for meat - we belong to Chestnut Farms in Hardwick, MA and they have delivery spots all over the place - we pick up in Natick. I don't think that they are officially organic, but the animals are raised very humanely and are all grass fed, etc. The meat is so delicious - I will never go back to supermarket meat!

Hi N.,

I don't know where you live, but chances are good that there may be some local farms who raise their livestock sustainably and humanely and maybe even labeled organic. Near me in NH is Miles Smith Farm ###-###-####) they raise and sell highland cattle by the piece or by the cow (1/4, 1/2) and their prices are very reasonable. You may also check the UNH extension and see if they have a list of NH farms who raise organic livestock. I imagine that other state schools would have something similar in other states. Good luck. Another little tidbit... I have 4 chickens and most of the year I get 3-4 eggs a day. I feed organic layer food and table scraps and the eggs are great. If you have the room, zoning laws and inclination, chickens can be a lot of fun. Good luck.

We've been shopping organically for years now and I'm finding I can get most of what I need at the local Stop & Shop or Price Chopper stores. I'm not crazy about their brand products but will buy them if I need to. Supernatural in Bristol is OK, Garden of Light in Simsbury is good too. As long as you're reading labels for surgar, etc., you'll do fine locally. If I could, I would shop Whole Foods every week, it's just not cost-effective.
Hope that helps,
E. K.

All the Nature's Promise things that I've tried have been great. I don't know about extent of their organic farming techniques. They may not be as environmentally beneficial as others but as far as taste goes they are fine. We're vegetarians here so I couldn't tell you about beef or chicken. I've look for a co-op on this side of the state but I haven't had any luck. It seems to be a Western Mass thing. Good luck!
L.