In preparation for the upcoming paleo challenge at Crossfit Versatile, I decided to FINALLY put together a list of where I buy my real food from. My bank account doesn’t always allow me to purchase 100% grass fed meat and local, organic produce but I do the best I can and that’s all I expect anyone else to do also.

Beef:

Ingold Farms – The best beef you can find in Greensboro. 100% grass fed AND grass finished beef from happy, free-roaming, well-cared for cows. He stops by Crossfit Versatile just about every Monday around 6pm and is more than happy to sell whole/half/quarter cow shares. Now that the Elm Street Farmers Market is no longer open you can also find Ingold Farms beef at Deep Roots Market.

There are lots of other vendors at the Greensboro Curb Market and the Piedmont Triad Farmers Market but not all of them are 100% grass fed and finished. When buying anything from a local farmer, ask what he feeds and how he cares for his/her animals. You want to find the farmers that brag about how well their animals are fed and taken care of.

Whole foods does carry grass fed beef but it’s FAR more expensive than buying from a local farmer. However, the farmers market isn’t open all that often andthis is a good option if you need some grass fed goodness in a pinch.

I cannot recommend enough that people buy their meat in shares, which means getting 50-250 lbs of meat at a time. For example, a quarter cow will yield about 100 lbs of meat and if you get it from Terry at Ingold Farms, it will cost you about $4/lb. $400 sounds like a lot but realize when you buy a cow share, you’re getting ALL the cuts for $4/lb, not just ground beef. This means ribeyes, NY strips, filets and other highly prized cuts for ONLY $4/lb, a deal that you will not find anywhere else. You’ll need about 1 cubic foot of freezer space for every 30lbs of meat but believe me, a chest freezer is an investment you’ll never regret.

Pork:

Massey Creek Farms at the Curb Market has my favorite pork in town. His pigs are all pastured and only minimally fed grains which is about as good as we can ask for. Rockin’ B Farms at the Piedmont Triad Farmers Market is my #2 pick. You can buy hogs in the same way as cows in whole, half or quarter shares and this significantly drives down the price per pound. Once again, talk to the farmers about their animals and different buying options. If you have the freezer space, the more meat you can buy at a time, the more affordable it will be.

Chicken:

I simply can’t afford to pay $9/lb for local pastured chicken breasts and 6$/lb for whole birds so I buy most of my chicken from Whole Foods. If you can foot the bill, there are lots of options for local, pastured chicken at the farmers markets in town and there’s quite a large difference in store bought chicken and locally sourced fowl.

Seafood:

I need to do more searching for locally sourced seafood but in the meantime, my seafood comes from whichever grocery store I happen to be at. Buy wild caught over farm raised if you have the funds available. Just like factory farmed farm animals, farmed seafood is most often fed soy and other cheap crap which results in far lower quality food.

Butter:

Calico Farms at the Greensboro Curb Market offers grass fed butter from local cows for a great price, $3 for about 7 oz.

Fresh Market carries Kerrygold butter for the best price in Greensboro @ $4 per 8 oz. The Harris Teeter in Friendly Center has it also but it’s much more pricey. Whole Foods and Earth Fare have pastured butter for a price similar to Fresh Market’s, the brand escapes me right now but it advertises “from pastured cows” and “Omega-3′s and CLA” on the package.

Raw Milk:

The only source I’ve been able to find is on Saturdays at the Greensboro Curb Market. You have to get there early (before 9am) in order to get your hands on this SUPERfood because there’s usually not much extra. Talk to the guys at the booth about the CSA program they’ve set up and if they’re taking new customers you can get on the list, pay for 6-8 weeks of milk up front and your milk will be reserved for you each week. This stuff is expensive but it’s soooo worth the price. Bonus points if you buy full cream.

Eggs:

Massey Creek Farms from the Greensboro Curb Market carries my eggs of choice. I’m still in the process of finding a consistent supply of soy-free eggs but for now, Massey Creek and any of the other farmers at the Curb Market Or Piedmont Triad market are going to be your best bet. You can get pastured eggs at Whole Foods for about $6/dozen but there’s no way to tell how well these chickens are cared for and what their diet consists of exactly. Buy local.

Veggies:

Most of my veggies come from, big surprise here, the Greensboro Curb Market. When it comes to produce, you simply can’t find better quality than the plants grown by local farmers. Stores like Whole Foods and Earth Fare source a lot of their produce from local farms but you’re going to pay more and the farmers will see much less from any foods bought out of a store rather than a farmers market. BUY LOCAL.

Fruit: 

Local fruit is hard to come by this time of year so I get mine from local grocery stores. Whole Foods, Earth Fare and Fresh Market have better quality fruit but it’s also going to cost more than Harris Teeter or Lowes.

Current research shows there is a difference in organically raised produce so if you can afford it, go organic.

I buy lots of frozen fruit, usually in the form of the 4lb bags of mixed frozen berries from Costco and you can find a huge variety of other frozen fruits just about everywhere these days.

Raw Honey:

“Honey” is not “Raw Honey“. To get the most bang for you buck, look for honey that is raw, unfiltered, never heated and local. I get mine from the honey guy at the Greensboro Curb Market. His booth is hard to miss, he makes just about anything you can think of out of bees wax and has lots of different size jars of beautiful local honey. This stuff is opaque (not clear) like honey should be and you can actually smell the flowers that the bees visited when you take a whiff of of it.

There are lots of other vendors for local honey at the farmers markets but not all of it is raw. Ask whoever is selling it if the honey is ever heated or filtered and if it is, move on to the next booth.

You can also find raw honey in health food stores like Whole Foods and Earth Fare. It’s most likely not going to be local but good in a pinch.

Coconut Oil:

You can find this superfood just about anywhere nowadays but I get mine in big 2 lb tubs from Costco. It’s virgin, cold-pressed, raw coconut oil, about as pure as it gets. Coconut oil will never go bad so feel free to buy the jumbo containers of it and store it at room temp. Cold pressed is a better alternative than expeller pressed and look for “raw” if possible. You’ll find coconut oil by the other olive oils and dressings or in the international section at most stores.

Raw Apple Cider Vinegar:

Raw Apple Cider Vinegar contains “the mother” which is used to convert the alcohol in hard cider into the acetic acid found in vinegar. I’ve tried lots of different brands and Bragg’s is my favorite. You can find Bragg’s at most health food stores and even stores like Harris Teeter carry unfiltered, non-pasteurized ACV these days.

The most important thing to do when buying food is to look at ingredient labels (hopefully most of the food you’re buying won’t have one) and to talk to the farmers at the local markets. Stores like Whole Foods and Earth Fare tend to carry healthier products that don’t contain High Fructose Corn Syrup and Hydrogenated Oils but you still need to look at labels to ensure that the food you’re buying doesn’t contain any hidden crap.

Please comment if you had questions on a particular food or brand and I’d be happy to do my best to clarify things as much as possible for you.