Category: Buying healthy food

Updated February 2019

Sometimes I am asked, “Where can I find organic and gluten-free food?” I have listed some of the stores in Surrey, Vancouver and other communities in BC below. When I was dealing with food intolerances in 2003, many of these stores did not exist. Now you can find organic vegetables, gluten-free bread, coconut oil, chia seeds, and more at many local Save-on-Foods, Independent Stores, Superstores, Thrifty’s, IGAs, Safeways and Costco. London Drugs carries many good products for people with wheat-intolerance now as well. But the biggest variety is often at natural health food stores.

Health food stores are a good place to find less common foods (quinoa pasta, spelt flour, tapioca flour) so that you can add variety to your diet and avoid foods you are intolerant to.  They are also a great place to buy healthier versions of some packaged foods.  Keep in mind that even though they are selling it in a health food or natural food store, it may not be healthy for you or anyone else. Read the ingredients and ask questions if you’d like to learn more.  Some of the stores below (like Choices, Stong’s and Donald’s Market) are regular grocery stores that have a large selection of organic goods on the shelf and a variety of organic fruit and vegetables.

In Surrey/Langley/White Rock:

• Nature’s Fare – on 200th near Willowbrook Mall and near Johnston Rd in White Rock
• Choices – in South Surrey on King George Hwy just north of 32nd Ave
• Antony & Sons – in South Surrey at the corner of 32 Ave and 140th
• Organic Grocer – near King George Hwy and 73rd Ave
• Natural Focus – near Scott Road and 64th
• Rustic Roots (formerly Country Life) – on 200th in Brookswood, Langley
• Country Sun Natural Foods – Johnston Rd, White Rock

In Vancouver:

• Whole Foods (my favourite healthier deli) 4th Ave, Cambie, Robson
• Choices   W 16th, W 57th, Cambie, Commercial (formerly Drive Organics), Yaletown
• Greens Organic & Natural Market – Broadway & Maple
• Stong’s Market – Dunbar & King Edward
• Donald’s Market – East Hastings
• Organic Acres Market – Main Street
• Garden Health  – Davie St
• Sweet Cherubim – Commercial (includes a yummy vegan bakery)

In Port Coquitlam/Coquitlam/Pitt Meadows/Maple Ridge:

• Pomme Natural Market  – Lougheed Hwy,  Port Coquitlam (replaced Planet Organic & expanded; good deli)
• Roots Natural – Maple Ridge

In Burnaby/New Westminster/Richmond/Ladner:

• Whole Foods – North Burnaby
• Choices – on Tenth Ave or Marine Way near Boundary in Burnaby
• Donald’s Market – in New Westminster, in the River Market (formerly the Quay)
• Parsley, Sage & Thyme in Ladner

In North Vancouver/West Vancouver/Squamish/Whistler:

• Whole Foods – in West Van, I love stopping here after taking the ferry back from the Island, and in North Van near Lonsdale and 13th
• Nourish Market – Lynn Valley
• Choices – Marine Dr in North Van
• Stong’s Market – Dollarton Hwy in North Van

In Abbotsford/Chilliwack/Mission:

• Choices   in Abbotsford
• Sardis Health Foods in Chilliwack
• Anita’s Organic Mill on Lickman Rd in Chilliwack (flour, lentils)
• The Pantry Natural Foods on 1st in Mission

In the Okanagan:

• Nature’s Fare – Kelowna, West Kelowna, Penticton, Kamloops, Vernon
• Choices – Kelowna, Kamloops & Penticton

Vancouver Island:

• Edible Island Whole Foods in Courtenay (I love this store!)
• Naked Natural Whole Foods – Parksville, Qualicum Beach
• Planet Organic – Victoria
• Pomme Natural Market  – Nanaimo (formerly Island Natural)
• Lifestyle Markets – on Douglas in Victoria
• Whole Foods on Blanshard St in Victoria
• Planet Organic  – on Quadra in Victoria
• Sidney Natural Foods in Sidney

Elsewhere:

• Kootenay Co-op – Nelson
• Evergreen Natural Foods – Crescent Valley
• Salt Spring Nature Works – on Lower Ganges in Saltspring Island

Please let me know – what stores haven’t I included?  Which have opened up recently or closed down? I don’t include supplement stores on this list unless they also sell lots of food.

After visiting my naturopath at Living Wellness Center, I stopped in at a new health food store that has not yet officially opened.  Almost everything in their store is organic and some is unique to the area.  It is called Antony & Sons, and is located in Elgin Corners – the corner of 32nd & 140th in South Surrey.  I recommend that you stop by if you live in the area or if you are heading out to Crescent Beach.  They have excellent prices on fresh organic produce (98c/lb for organic oranges!) and great prices on the food on the shelf.  In addition to the oranges and some basics, I bought some dried tart cherries, which I have only seen in health food stores south of the border.  They also have unpasteurized raw almonds, which are hard to find.  It is a family-run store with very knowledgeable and friendly owners.

In the grocery store I see specials on white flour, sugar and walnuts, just in time for baking season.  Consider modifying some of your holiday recipes.  What about using half whole wheat flour?  I recommend Camino sugar (at Save-on and health food stores) as a substitute for white sugar.  It is less refined and easier for your body to digest.  Be careful with walnuts – because they are so high in Omega 3 oils they go rancid quickly.   The process starts as soon as the nut is broken.  Rancid nuts are toxic in your body.  I suggest you buy them in the shell or somewhere they are purchased frequently (I like Costco and Grecos Mediterannean store near King George Hwy in Surrey).  Store all shelled nuts in the fridge or freezer for longer life.

On Saturday I went to the Westcoast Women’s Show in Abbotsford. Bremner’s juice was in the food aisle and we sampled a few of their juices. Yum! They use blueberries from Delta to make their blueberry juice and cranberries from Fort Langley to make their cranberry juice. I like that the fruit is local. The fellow pouring the juice said that some juice companies use juice-grade berries that are not suitable for selling (bruised, not ripe, overly-ripe), whereas Bremner’s uses the highest quality berries. He also mentioned a couple of anecdotes about people whose health conditions had improved by drinking a glass of their juice daily. The health value of whatever you drink or eat will depend on the quality of ingredients and the life energy of the food. My favourite was the blueberry pomegranate juice and my daughter’s favourite was the blackberry juice. Bremner’s juice is available at Save-On-Foods, London Drugs, Choices and IGA.

During the summer we often use our barbecue to grill meat for dinner.  There are many places to buy organic meat and meat without antibiotics in BC and the Vancouver area.  In addition to purchasing it in some health food stores, you can also find it in these stores:

In Surrey/Langley/White Rock:

• JD Turkey Farms – free range turkeys, turkey sausages, meatballs, soup and more.  Other healthier products such as honey and spelt flour are available in their store.  10% discount for bulk sausage purchases.
• Farmer Ken’s Meats
• Heritage Meats – organic beef, chicken, and more
• Thomas Reid Farms – Langley; organic chicken in bulk by appointment only
• Hazelmere Organics – Surrey

In Vancouver:

• Big Sky Natural Meats – beef and lamb from Lumby, BC
• The Butcher
• Tango’s Gourmet Meats – the West End
• Nature’s Prime

In Port Coquitlam/Coquitlam/Port Moody/Pitt Meadows/Maple Ridge:

• Country Meadow Meats – Pitt Meadows
• Hopcott Premium Meats – Pitt Meadows
• Bruce’s Country Market – Maple Ridge
• Newport Village Meats – Port Moody

In Burnaby/New Westminster/Richmond/Ladner:

• Superior Fish Market – Ladner; fish, organic chicken and beef, bison, other organic products
• Queens Park Meat Market – New Westminster

In Abbotsford/Chilliwack/Mission:

• Sumas Mountain Farms – Abbotsford; grass-fed organic beef, free-range chicken
• Little Farmhouse Country Market – Yarrow
• Organa Farms – organic turkey and hogs

In North Vancouver/West Vancouver:

• 3P Natural & Exotic Meats
• British Butcher Shoppe
• Westlynn Meats and Seafoods
• Windsor Meats
• Queensdale Market

For other locations across Canada:

www.eatwild.com
www.certifiedorganic.bc.ca

One of the best places to buy healthy food is at farmer’s markets.  If you also consider the entertainment value of the music, interesting booths and people watching, it is well worth the drive to get there.  My favourite is the White Rock Farmer’s Market, which is on Sundays from 9am-1pm.  I have bought organic cherries, spelt bread, cookies sweetened with agave syrup, unsprayed apples, honeysticks, spicy olives, and much more there.  Almost all of it has been delicious and fresh. I’ve also bought my daughters angel clings for the window and sparkly hairbands.  There are farmer’s markets in just about every city of BC. You can find produce, crafts, jewelery…  They usually open in May or June and continue until September or October.