Organic food in supermarkets

Edwardia

Kirri spill more deets please, what did you buy ? Is it worth me putting on my list of shops to visit ?

Kirri

Edwardia wrote: »

Kirri spill more deets please, what did you buy ? Is it worth me putting on my list of shops to visit ?

I'd say yes if you're up in the area but it's not big like the other org chains - I went to the Balham one, did you say in the thread your trains come in via Clapham Junction? If so it's only a few mins from there via train, 1 or 2 stops depending on which train. It's not as big as the Planet Organic I'd been to in London but not sure why but I much prefer it, it's just a really nice shop. There was also a large Sainsbury's and Waitrose round the corner which is handy - I went in Sainsbury's to pick up some of the own brand org dried pasta though that's gone up in price - prefer Seeds of Change really.

I got a mix of organic and hard to find vegan items that aren't all organic but are stocked which is handy - was on a mission for more oddment items than a normal food shop - I need to go back as I already had a list and just couldn't carry any more!

Got things like wraps, Swedish Glace in choc (non org but vegan and lovely!), yeast flakes, pumpkin seeds, Ecover items, pinto bean dip, Natracare items (they have the full range not held in the supermarkets), vegan choc desserts, flavoured tofu, coconut non dairy choc yoghurts, Whole Earth cola (love this but expensive!), mixed peel - can't find the Crazy Jacks organic peel in any supermarkets! Yeo Valley butter was the same price as Sainsburys though they may be locally price matching as they had a few signs around the stores saying what they were cheaper on. They had a really lovely Christmas food display that I want to go back and look at, good veg selection though no UK salads that I could see (were Italian), good bread selection, I didn't look close at the meat but had a fair selection - there was just SO much choice in everything and so much stuff the supermarkets don't stock - I waste so much time visiting all the supermarkets trying to scrape together what I want but think it's quicker to get on the train to get it all in one place and for the extra choice. Prices didn't seem bad either, I got the choc desserts cheaper than Morrisons.

They also had things that you could buy loose/weighed up ie olives, various dried items like oats, cereals etc, think they had coffees as well, good freezer selections inc ready meal type food, excellent cold fridges I could have bought loads from.. and a great selection of natural toiletries - I was after some more Lavera stuff, they also had all the main brands, Dr H, Green People, Weleda etc.

Edwardia

bump for karlie88 come say hi :T

karlie88

Good evening everyone. I've been kindly invited by Edwardia to this thread.

Just quickly want to mention that I purchase a couple of my spices/seasonings from buywholefoods online. Particularly keen on the sumac...although it's currently out of stock.

Edwardia

Sounds interesting I'm wondering how carby vegan ice cream might be, need to investigate that

Yep it certainly is a pain going round the supermarkets. My local Morrisons sells organic baked beans and that's it. Sainsbury's has a fair bit, Waitrose too but next town. Tesco organic meat I won't buy, the quality isn't good.

What I do now is order on Ocado for the weekend and if I mooch round shops with my mother I use the Ocado on the Go app on my BlackBerry and if something is cheaper I delete if from the order and buy in store.

I think I may well mooch round the shops by myself and do an organic trek and then end up with Leonidas chocolates to eat on the way home Not very low carb of me

Edwardia

Hi karlie88 welcome thanks for the tip - what do you think of their service ?

bornintoit

Just wanted to say hello and good evening all

Sorry to lower the tone but I have been eating a mixture of organic and non-organic (due to not wanting to waste the non-organic I already had in) since Friday and I have noticed that my number twos have no residue (nothing on the tissue after wipe). I have read before that this is a good thing so I don't have a problem with it I'm just curious if this could be due to the organic food perhaps? Has anyone else noticed this?

Kirri

^ must admit I've not read anything about that and organic food, I would have thought more likely to be type of food consumed but no idea..

Edwardia - http://www.swedishglace.com/products/rich-chocolate/
How does it compare?!

I prefer Waitrose/Sainsbury's on the high st but both are a car/public transport journey away.. I'm going to boycott Morrisons as much as poss, let alone they are useless for organic and seem to have reduced their range, they are going to move into importing a larger proportion of meat which has less welfare standards than the bad UK industry even, just to keep it cheap - it's cheap for a reason!

Welcome Karlie

bornintoit

Kirri wrote: »

^ must admit I've not read anything about that and organic food, I would have thought more likely to be type of food consumed but no idea..

Edwardia - http://www.swedishglace.com/products/rich-chocolate/
How does it compare?!

I prefer Waitrose/Sainsbury's on the high st but both are a car/public transport journey away.. I'm going to boycott Morrisons as much as poss, let alone they are useless for organic and seem to have reduced their range, they are going to move into importing a larger proportion of meat which has less welfare standards than the bad UK industry even, just to keep it cheap - it's cheap for a reason!

Welcome Karlie

Thank you for the reply I know it's not a nice topic.

I wish I lived nearer to a Waitrose I could get a bus there but I wouldn't be able to buy as much as I would like being as I would have to carry it back so not very cost effective really. I'm hoping it's not too long before they deliver to my area.

Edwardia

bornintoit you've managed to ask a question I've certainly not been asked before but er the answer would be no residue. I was a lacto-veggie for eleven years and IIRC the same happened then. I'm thinking that it may be a combo of less processed food and more fibre ??

Years ago being veggie was difficult and always meant cooking from scratch but now veggie junk food is everywhere. It's now possible to get organic ready meals eg both Abel & Cole and Ocado stock the Pegoty Hedge range. However these are ready meals on a different plane, no-one would twig they weren't home-made.

Kirri I'm afraid the Swedish Glace is probably a tad carby for me at 25g per 100g. I normally eat things which are less than 10g per 100g and have a rough limit of around 50g carbs per day but it's ballpark these days rather than really strict.

Pre-organic I used to get away with 2 scoops of Kelly's of Cornwall clotted cream ice cream (currently £2 for a litre in ASDA, 3.99 everywhere else) as least carby nice tasting ice cream.

Mackie's organic vanilla I don't like and OH's second Commandment is There is no ice cream other than Green & Black's organic chocolate ice cream and I don't get to eat much of it.

Re: Waitrose it's difficult, we've only had deliveries here about two years though the store has been going for a lot longer so I sympathise.

If you can get free slots with Ocado they stock a lot of Waitrose lines. People with cars or not-too-expensive cab fares could use the Waitrose click & collect ie you order online and collect on a day/time you choose. We don't have a car as we live 5 mins walk from station and there's a bus top like 2 mins away.

I'd email Waitrose and whinge. I spotted vans flying about which were delivering to a couple of local hotels and whinged that if they were delivering here anyway why wouldn't they let retail customers get deliveries.

I do use Sainsbury's for beef and lamb as they do some good stuff. Also like their organic mayo and olive oil. There are two Sainsbury's here one which seems to do virtually no organic and a bigger one which does.

Oxfam www.oxfam.org.uk/shop > Ethical Collections has some organic beauty stuff ie lip balms 2.99, soap 3.49, bath oil 6.99 shampoo and conditioner 3.99 Only brand I noticed was Faith in Nature.