How To Source Healthy Ingredients for Cooking

Finding healthy ingredients can be challenging, depending on your location. 

In this article, I'll show you some simple sourcing techniques. 

 

Look for Local Farmers Markets

Depending on your local farmer's market, you'll find common foods like fruits and vegetables. Beyond that, you can often find local meats, oats, and herbs.

Don't be afraid to ask the farmers about their growing process. You can find out if they use pesticides, chemicals, etc. Most farmers are proud of their growing techniques and are more than happy to answer your questions.

 

Visit Roadside Stands

Often in farming areas, you will find roadside stands where people sell a variety of fruits and vegetables. These typically come straight from the farm and will be some of the freshest produce that you can get.

 

Shop at a Store With Fresh Bulk Bins

Instead of grabbing prepackaged ingredients such as nuts or oats, look for fresh bulk bins. Whole Foods is one of the many stores that offer these bins. These bins are changed out regularly vs having spent their entire life in a package. 

 

Go to the Butcher For Buying Proteins 

When buying proteins such as fish, red meat, poultry, etc. skip the meat shelves and go straight to the butcher. Not only can the butcher get you the portion sizes that you want, but they can also help recommend their top selections.

A butcher that isn't located in a grocery store will tend to have better quality and selections, they'll also be more expensive. 

 

Read The Labels Before Buying

Before buying any food at the grocery store, you should read the labels to determine what the food contains. If you can't pronounce the name or don't know what the ingredient is, don't buy it.

Typically the closer you are to the source, the likelier you are to find fresher foods with better ingredients (the physical location and the supply chain).  

 


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