Whole Foods in Canada??

[EllasMum]

I'm in Calgary and I'm pretty sure there aren't any Whole Foods stores here (Calgary moms jump in if I'm wrong!). I do have a natural foods market close to me but haven't been there in a while. Where do you buy healthy snacks etc in Canada? I noticed that Safeway and Co-op stores are both starting to stock alot more organic/healthy choices...

TIA,
Susan (who is not above giving DD *unhealthy* snacks too!) :)

[torontomom]

deleted...

[darby24]

What about Community Naturals? http://www.communitynaturalfoods.com/

Save On Foods is a big chain in the West and has a good amount of natural stuff (of course they're everywhere in Alberta *except* Calgary!) http://www.saveonfoods.com

And yes, we've got one Whole Foods in Vancouver with a second being built.

[bubbaray]

Do you know where the 2nd WF is being built?

FWIW, I prefer Capers & Choices, but I think those are both local to the Vancouver area. I find WF a bit overwhelming and a lot of there products tend more to the gourmet end vs organic, KWIM? I know my friends who are very into cooking love WF, but I'm not that interested in cooking food, so I don't really care if I get a regular lemon or a Meyer lemon (apparently there is a difference!). I also think that Capers & Choices carry more Canadian organic & natural products. I don't know for sure, but that's my sense having shopped at all three.

I agree, Save On Foods has a pretty good selection of organic foods. Second to RCS (see below), they have a reasonable selection of Earth's Best organic jarred baby foods, as well as organic toddler cereals, etc.. Some of their locations (Urban Fare for example) carry Seventh Generation diapers & wipes.

Real Canadian Superstore has an excellent selection of jarred organic baby foods as well as organic and healthier choices of adult foods. I think they are the green label and blue label products (respectively). I don't particularly like shopping at that store, but that is where I found the best selection of organic baby food when DD was at that stage.


HTH

Melissa

Maya Papaya!
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040411/3/4/1/-8/.png[/img][/url]

[EllasMum]

>Real Canadian Superstore has an excellent selection of jarred
>organic baby foods as well as organic and healthier choices of
>adult foods. I think they are the green label and blue label
>products (respectively). I don't particularly like shopping
>at that store, but that is where I found the best selection of
>organic baby food when DD was at that stage.

Hmm. I must have a sub-par Superstore near me! Their baby section is quite limited and the baby food is maybe the most limited I've seen. For Earth's Best, I usually buy it at Co-op stores. London Drugs also has it but if memory serves it is actually cheaper at Co-op. Um, it just occurred to me that Co-op might be a West only chain? I know they have it in Saskatchewan and I think (?) they have it in BC but not sure about elsewhere. It is sort of like Safeway only you can buy a 'share' in it (costs $10 or something for a lifetime) and then if you spend enough at the end of the year you get a rebate cheque. Hmm maybe with all the baby food I've been buying I'll finally get a cheque! :)

[bubbaray]

Our Superstores have about 1/4 to 1/2 and aisle of Presidents Choice organic baby food. When I was buying it for DD, they had pretty much every food that they had in regular food. They also had organic baby cereals (rice, oatmeal, etc.).

I've never seen or heard of Co-op stores. Maybe they are in rural BC?

I don't recall Earths Best at LD, but it was over a year ago that I was buying baby food for DD, so things could have changed.


Melissa

Maya Papaya!
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040411/3/4/1/-8/.png[/img][/url]

[darby24]

Whole Foods is coming in the new CrossRoads building at Broadway and Cambie. http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/newstores.html#bc

I haven't been to Choices in a long time and have issues with Capers (FYI; they are not Canadian anymore, they are owned by Wild Oats.)

While I don't do all my shopping at WF by a country mile, I do find the specialized items I need for myself and my sister finds the items she needs for her boys.

And just remember the whole Loblaws chain for Presidents Choice; Extra Foods, Super Valu, SuperStore, Zehrs, Valu-Mart, No Frills, Fortinos, Dominion are the ones that pop in my head.

From what I understand, all co-op stores do not operate together, some have a couple stores and some only have one. It's all across the West like this. We do have them in the Lower Mainland however the few I know about are in the valley (Aldergrove and I think Abbotsford, but I may be wrong on that last one.) There is also some on the Island and those are connected together (again, correct me if wrong.)

Since we seem to be naming natural stores I'll add Thrifty Foods from Vancouver Island (with stores coming in Coquitlam and Hilcrest this year). Great stores.

[EllasMum]

Just to add another natural store - in Calgary there is Amaranth Whole Foods Market. Really good selection, including the Seventh Generation products, chlorine-free diapers, Earth's Best baby food, Annies... just to name a few. Quite a large store with alot of natural foods and also supplements.

[bubbaray]

I didn't know Capers wasn't Cdn anymore. Its been about 6 yrs since we left Kits, but at the time I shopped there every few days.

We have a new Choices in the White Rock area and it is lovely. Much nicer than the one at 16th & Macdonald (again, at least nicer than what it was like 6 yrs ago). The prices are pretty comparable to Save On Foods. Interestingly, the selection of organic fruit is worse than Save On's, so I alternate -- one week to SAF, one week to Choices.

ITA about Thrifty Foods. Shopped there all the time when I lived in Victoria (where they originated). I think they have a store in Richmond, but I'm not sure where -- I see there trucks driving there sometimes. If they had a store in my area, that would be my #1 choice. FWIW, some of their locations are owned by the Campbell family (original store owners), and a few are on Vancouver Island (mid-northern Isl) are franchises. The nicest TF's I've been in is the Broadmead one in a suburb of Victoria, which was their flagship store (not sure if it still is).

I didn't know there were Coop stores in the LM. Maybe I'll have to hunt one down and check it out.


Melissa

Maya Papaya!
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040411/3/4/1/-8/.png[/img][/url]

[EllasMum]

Yes I believe Co-op stores used to be mainly (or even, only) in small towns. Calgary has them as large supermarkets with mostly food and small hardware/housewares sections. I know some of the stores in Saskatchewan have animal feed, hardware/equipment etc. I quite like the stores we have here - most of them are nice and bright with wide aisles and good selections. Their regular prices do run a bit higher than Safeway stores (and quite a bit higher than Superstore) but their sale prices are on par with just about everywhere. They have a really nice selection of baby foods - one of the few places I can get the Heinz Whole Grain Rice & Banana which is one of DD's favourites!

[Piglet]

There is also Planet Organic in Calgary and I do a lot of orders through www.spud.ca - organic produce, snacks, etc. delivered right to your door... a bit pricey but saves me a lot of time some weeks. Our Superstore (Macleod Trail and Southland Drive) has a nice selection of organic baby food, I recall. I will be honest though - I never bothered with organic for either of my kids. I would do it for the better flavour, but I don't think the state of our produce is so horrible that I am convinced that organic is the way to go. I was raised in Russia and we barely had any vegetables or fruits. I figure my kids are so much better off with any fresh produce that I can't see the need for organic on top of all that.

[EllasMum]

Yes I'm not super picky about organic - I just keep reading all these posts about neat snack ideas. DD is now just starting to get to the age where she'll be eating snack type foods. Actually today, quite by accident, she had her first sip of a Slurpee! She loves straws but generally can't make them work - except for the little rubbermaid sip bottles, but for some reason the planets aligned today while she was sucking/chewing my Slurpee straw and she got a mouthful of Slurpee! She was quite surprised, and after I got over my fit of laughter, I had to take it away because she wanted more. :) Ah yes, back to the topic at hand. My uncle is an expert in the area of food preservation by irradiation, so he has just recently forwarded me an article about the need (or lack of need, as it turns out) for organic foods for kids. Apparently pesticides are in miniscule amounts in baby foods and what tiny amounts are there are generally gone from the body within 24 hours. So it's not really a big deal to feed children pesticide free foods etc. I have given DD some of the Heinz Organic jarred foods but only because they are only 7 cents more per jar than the regular stuff at my nearest Wal-mart (Royal Oak), and oh yeah I'm a sucker and fall for labels. :)

[darby24]

>I didn't know Capers wasn't Cdn anymore.

yeah it's not something they really want to scream from the rafters. ;-) I thought it was longer than 6 years (maybe 8-9) Although it's not hard to find the info out; http://www.wildoats.com/u/stores/

Interesting how Capers is getting a new store on Cambie. Right down the street from the new Whole Foods perhaps??

Thrifty's does have one store in Tsawwassen - 1207 56th St at Town Centre Mall.

For your Co-op hunting needs; the Otter-Co-op is in Aldergrove. http://otter-coop.com/ However last time I was there, not much organic/natural selections. (Used to buy livestock feed there.)

Sorry Susan for taking us off to Vancouver instead of Calgary! :-)

[EllasMum]

Heehee! Surely it's not difficult to find health food stores in Vancouver. ;)

[Neatfreak]

I was spoiled in Calgary, really - I lived within a 10 minute drive of Community Natural Foods and Planet Organic ... and even the Co-op carried Annie's Cheddar Bunnies. I can't even find Cheddar Bunnies here in NL ... the organic aisle in Superstore (called Dominion here) is the best that it gets.

We were in Maryland last week, and I brough home a bunch of *healthier* snacks for Madeline from Whole Foods and Trader Joe's :)