Where Largo Shops - Sunopta

Every week, we will feature one of our suppliers, so you can get to know the distributors behind the produce, products, and labels you see on the shelves of your local organic food store. The more informed you are about where your food comes from - the better able you are to make the best decisions about what you put on your family's table. This week, Largo Organics wants to tell you about:

Sunopta (est. 1999) – canned & dry goods, general groceries, household cleaners, frozen food special shipments.

SunOpta Foods was created in 1999 and through combination of internal growth and acquisitions has grown to become a North American leader in sourcing, organic, processing and distribution of natural and organic food products integrated from seed through packaged products.

Through this evolution a strong and vibrant organization has emerged with a strong commitment to natural, organic and specialty foods and environmental responsibility.

Remember to cook with love, eat slowly, and savour life,

Organically yours,

Largo

Where Largo Shops - Pro Organics

Every week, we will feature one of our suppliers, so you can get to know the distributors behind the produce, products, and labels you see on the shelves of your local organic food store. The more informed you are about where your food comes from - the better able you are to make the best decisions about what you put on your family's table. This week, Largo Organics wants to tell you about:

Pro Organics (est. 1989) – fresh fruits & vegetables, grains, dairy, flours, pulses, rice, sugars

Organics was founded in 1989 by Debra Parker, and has grown from a three person company with half a dozen accounts in the Vancouver area to a staff of twenty-five serving over three hundred and fifty accounts throughout Western Canada.

Pro Organics operates out of a centrally located 16,000 sq. ft. refrigerated facility and maintains two 5-ton 20-foot trucks for local deliveries. Pro Organics began distributing organic produce locally in B.C. because of a perceived demand for more variety, higher quality, better prices, and year-round availability. Debbie saw an opportunity to meet those needs of the local market while doing something she believed in strongly for herself and her family.

Pro Organics has carved out a niche for itself in the organic industry as a quality distributor of fresh and bulk organic foods. Pro feels that its role as a distributor, though small, is a vital one in the organic industry. Pro Organics feels its job is to connect growers with crops to sell with the end user, the consumer, as economically and efficiently as possible.

They don't have a website.

Remember to cook with love, eat slowly, and savor life.

Organically yours,

Largo

Where Largo Shops - Horizon Foods

Every week, we will feature one of our suppliers, so you can get to know the distributors behind the produce, products, and labels you see on the shelves of your local organic food store. The more informed you are about where your food comes from - the better able you are to make the best decisions about what you put on your family's table. This week, Largo Organics wants to tell you about:

Horizon Distributors (est. mid 1970’s as a worker co-op) - canned & dry, general, household cleaners, frozen food special shipments

As Western Canada’s largest distributor of organic and natural products in the dry, chill and frozen , Horizon Distributors strives for excellence in service, logistics and brand management, while providing the finest organic, natural and gourmet products to the marketplace. Horizon Distributors is a privately owned, 100% Canadian company located in Burnaby, BC.

From their roots as a worker owned co-op in the seventies to their position today leading a national network of distributors, Horizon continues to set the pace for our growing industry. They maintain and establish primary relationships with key retailers through their dedication to logistical excellence, personalized account service, a consistent 96% or better fill rate, and commitment to integrity in product selection.

Remember to cook with love, eat slowly, and savour life,

Organically yours,

Largo

Where Largo Shops - Real Raw Food

Every week, we will feature one of our suppliers, so you can get to know the distributors behind the produce, products, and labels you see on the shelves of your local organic food store. The more informed you are about where your food comes from - the better able you are to make the best decisions about what you put on your family's table. This week, Largo Organics wants to tell you about:

Real Raw Food www.realrawfood.com – dried fruits, raw nuts, raw seeds, fair trade cocoa

A family business located in the south end of the Beautiful Okanagan Valley, Real Raw Food works hard to provide unheated, non GMO, pure organically grown foods at a fair price. They learn how the food is grown and processed to insure it is living food farmed ethically and sustainably.

From their home page:

Our purpose is to provide unheated, non GMO, pure organically grown foods at a fair price. That means paying more to the grower in some cases and lower to the consumer in most cases. To do this we go to the source. There we learn how the food is grown and processed to insure it is living food farmed ethically and sustainably. The food is shipped directly from the producer to us for most products.

These foods are what we want to eat but many of them just aren't to be found in stores, so it's symbiotic. Many foods that are called raw are not. Some are dried at very high temperatures, some nuts are heated for shelling and often they are heated by the sun while at sea in the shipping containers to over 170F. None of our whole foods have additives.

Read more!

Why Choose Organic? Read the POTUS' Cancer Panel Report

We've been seeing press releases and commentaries on an important report issued this week from The President's Cancer Panel that has hugely positive implications for the organic food movement - and for the health of North America (because where the USA leads, Canada inevitably follows.

The report urges consumers to choose food grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers, antibiotics and growth hormones to decrease their exposure to chemicals that can increase their risk of developing cancer.

The good people at EarthBound Farms say "This landmark report by a prestigious mainstream scientific panel is recognition at the highest level that the chemicals present in our environment have direct and serious consequences for human health — especially for children, who are far more susceptible to damage from environmental chemical exposures than adults. "

It was submitted to President Obama by Dr. LaSalle Leffall, Jr., an oncologist and professor of surgery at Howard University, and Dr. Margaret L. Kripke, an immunologist at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Established in 1971, the President’s Cancer Panel is a respected, conservative panel of three experts from the mainstream of scientific and medical thinking. One seat is currently vacant; both panel members who submitted the report were originally appointed by former President George W. Bush.

“We wanted to let people know that we’re concerned, and that they should be concerned,” Professor Leffall told the New York Times.

It’s likely that industry interests will come out harshly against the report, and that there will be loud political wrangling over what to do about it. But with statistics showing that 41% of Americans will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives, and that some cancers are actually becoming more common — especially in children — it would seem that the report’s recommendation of immediate action coupled with future prudence in the approval and use of environmental chemicals would be an easy middle road to take.

Why choose organic?
You’ve heard it from us before, and we’ll keep saying it: When you buy organic produce, you’re choosing food grown without synthetic chemicals, using sustainable farming methods that protect the environment. Eating organic helps reduce your dietary exposure to pesticide residues — which is especially important for children, whose developing bodies are particularly vulnerable."

We couldn't have said it better. But the New York Times certainly can - read their op-ed piece - it isn't often that a mainstream paper like this comes out so strongly in praise of 'alternative choices".

The full 240-page report is available online - give it a read - pass it on to friends who are may not understand why you make the food quality choices you make. Help them find affordable organic food sources. Cook together with whole food ingredients to share your learning curve. Make food a family event - from shopping to cooking - to even growing a windowsill or container garden if you don't have lawn to rip up. Know that eating whole foods, organic foods makes a difference to your family. It's the truth.

Remember to cook with love, eat slowly and savor life.

Organically yours,

Largo

Blue Earth at Midday

The Largo Seed Team spent a wonderful couple hours at Blue Earth Organics (1855 Portage Ave, Winnipeg) as we continue to work on the operational details of making organic food as accessible and affordable as possible for as many people as possible - while sustaining healthy businesses. Epic Win - things are coming together nicely.

Tyler and Breanne are fabulous people who run a great little store with everything you need to have a happy healthy well-stocked organic kitchen. They also bake their own bread (we were there when it came out of the oven - it smelled delicious!) and Tyler makes a great espresso! We did some shopping, to tide us over until the first Largo order (first week of May).

If you are looking for a way to provide your family with affordable organic food - contact us at largoorganics@gmail.com - or go visit Blue Earth Organics to experience the friendly environment and fabulous organic alternatives to almost every food item in your kitchen pantry. (And then there is the selection of environmentally friendly cleaners and laundry supplies .....)

Remember to cook with love, eat slowly, and savour life...

Organically yours,
Largo

Largo Organics is Ready for Clients

Interested in learning more about a new way to use the power of "community buying" to put healthy organic food on your table as affordabley as possible? Welcome to Largo Organics - the new organic produce and bulk food ordering service that is working with Blue Earth Organics (Winnipeg's hidden treasure of organic food stores - located at 1855 Portage Ave).  

The High Cost of Eating Organic

Organic food is more expensive to buy wholesale than non-organic foods.  It also has a very high markup, due to shorter shelf life and lower demand in the market place (though that is demand has risen in recent years - prices have not come down accordingly). Our price comparison research tells us that organic food is generally marked up over cost anywhere between 45% up to 185%, depending on where you shop.  We support the need for every business to earn a fair profit, but this puts organic food out of the reach of many families.  

You can get organic food at many main-stream grocery stores at a lower price than at some organic food specialty stores, but some of us don't like the main-stream store experience, or have concerns about food handling, freshness, and carbon footprint.  Some of us prefer to support local businesses rather than large chain stores.  Some of us prefer a more communal food experience, where healthy food and home cooking become part of our social life, family values, and community building.

LARGO - A different way to shop 

Largo hopes to offer good service and good value to anyone who wants organic food, at affordable prices, along with supporting a local business, and creating a slow food community for those who want to learn how to cook with more natural and whole ingredients.  We also want to give people the opportunity to share in the food distribution chain - getting closer to the sources of their food, by supporting local farmers and food producers.

Why Largo? It means "slow" in Italian, and is used in musical notation.  We are believers in the "slow food" movement - where meals are made (not microwaved) and savoured.  Some of us even make our "scratch" from "scratch" as the old joke goes.

Our plan? We want to leverage the best practices of co-ops and food buying groups against the realities of whole-sale distribution and bulk ordering requirements to minimize shipping costs, maximize food freshness and have affordable pricing.  We plan to expand our product offering as we are able, and will eventually include many organic options to everyday foods, spices, raw nuts, flours for baking, etc...  We have a commitment to "local/regional" when possible, and want to minimize the carbon footprint of our food purchases.  If food is travelling to our table, we want to make sure it is sustainably farmed, organic/certified organic if possible.  We can also source gluten free, vegan and vegetarian alternatives to many "regular" food products.

 

Want more information to see if you and Largo are a good fit?  Email us at largoorganics@gmail.com to learn more about how ordering your food through Largo can save you money, and connect you to better quality food, and other people interested in healthy and sustainable eating.

Thanks for your interest - and if it is a good fit for you - we hope to have you join us!  Remember to eat slowly, and savour life!

Organically yours,

Largo Organics

Largo Organics is comprised of a buying team with over 15 years of consumer goods purchasing experience for a Big Box store and a small food cooperative, and a client services team with over two decades of cat-herding,  team building and event planning experience.  We work with Blue Earth Organics (est. 2007) to provide a food ordering service that can make organic food affordable for everyone.