Where We’re Grocery Shopping During the Pandemic
To be completely honest, part of me felt tempted to keep my favourite finds to myself, but I’ve ultimately decided that’s not the most neighbourly approach. ;) I thought I’d share where we’re buying our groceries and what types of items we’re getting where…
Our Local Hutterite Colony
I stumbled upon my new favourite food supplier by a post that came across my Facebook feed from a small community group from our area. Someone shared that the Holden Colony had a food trailer at a mercantile just a few minutes away from our house so I rounded up the kids and headed there… Coincidentally, after texting my friend to let her know, we ran into our bffs and had the bonus of a social distance visit! Hahaha
Back to the food… They have the most plump chickens I have ever bought (like at least 5 meals for a family of 4 from one chicken!), an amazing array of fresh produce that they pick from their greenhouse daily, eggs, bacon, and great extras like local honey, pickles, and frozen blueberries! You can actually order on their website too and either pick up at the Colony (makes for a nice drive!) or they have locations they deliver to. Y’all, it’s all SO fresh and tasty! Hello most amazing cherry tomatoes I’ve ever eaten!
You can find their website here.
Tofield Packers
If you’re heading out the the Holden Colony, you might as well swing by Tofield and grab some meat! I was searching for butcher shops near me and thought we’d give Tofield Packers a try… I have been super impressed with the beef we got from them and will be making another trip out their way soon to replenish our stock. Normally we keep more beef in our freezer, and only recently finished the 1/4 cow that we purchased but, as Murphy and his law would have it, we hadn’t been keeping the same stock in our freezer since we’re planning on moving and didn’t want to have too much… Great timing! LOL We bought ground beef, steaks, and delicious beef jerky from them!
They don’t have a website so I’d suggest calling before you head that way… You can find their Facebook page here.
Our Local Grain Farmer
Ok y’all, this grain thing I’m getting into deserves its own blog post (and I am working on that) so I'll try and keep this short. After getting a bread maker and discovering how much fun that is, we decided to take it one step further and start grinding our own grains. We’ve literally just started doing this so we’re far from experts but its such a fun thing to be learning about right now. There are a few other local places but I’ve just placed my first order of wheat berries from Strathcona Stoneground Organics. .
You can find their website here.
Walmart
I’ve been doing online grocery shopping through WalMart for about a year now and have actually really enjoyed it. They don’t have quite the same selection of organic and natural foods to fill all of our needs but they’re constantly getting more and the prices on their other items are definitely great! This is where I get our milk/cream/cheese/yogurt as well as a lot of our canned goods, baking supplies, and spices. And I’ve been very impressed with them through this whole pandemic… I’ve been able to place an order for pick up the next day and there was only one item, on a several hundred dollar order, that they didn’t have in stock!
Save On Foods
I actually really like the selection at Save On but their prices don’t tend to be the best. This is where I’ve had Shane go (he’s the only one in our house doing any shopping during this whole thing) if we’re low on fresh items. He said its been a great experience - not crazy packed and not picked over. Except flour and yeast, we all know how that’s been! LOL Except he was able to get flour on his last trip there so yay!
Superstore
Truth be told, I have mixed feelings about the online ordering set up from Superstore but they have some of my favourite products so I still use it - it still beats actually going into a store; even when there isn’t a global pandemic. I really like their PC Organics line of frozen veggies and they’re something I always keep on hand. As well as the Free From frozen chicken breasts and the regular PC frozen fruit (I’m kind of a big frozen mango and frozen coconut fan!). They also have my absolute favourite organic shredded coconut that I always make sure I have lots of in my pantry.
I want to end with this… I have loved being able to discover new places in my community to get our food and I’d encourage you, even if you’re not in my specific area, to do the same! My hope is that we will continue to support our local farmers when this is all over!
Until I blog again,
Alex
