Healthy Shopping Resources: My Top 5 in Marin County
When it comes to food, the level of quality and care in sourcing products is paramount. You will have heard me say over and over again about the healing powers of nutrient dense SOUL Foods: seasonal, organic, unprocessed and local.
Meat – I get most of my meat from Prather Ranch as they have a stall at the Sunday Farmer’s Market in San Rafael. Be sure to try the juicy pork chops with the bone in, and I say the more fat the better the flavor (make sure you eat it all up too haha). If I can’t make it to the market, I also like the meat (and pork chops) from Belcampo in Larkspur Landing. Both of these high quality butcher’s also have stores in the city (SF) too.
Produce – You feel so much more connected with your food when you shop with pleasure at the vibrant San Rafael Farmer’s Market on the weekend. It is by far the biggest and the best around (although there is usually a market on in Marin almost every other day of the week too). When: Sunday’s year round from 8am-1pm at the Marin Civic Center. Hot tip: go early to beat the crowds or go towards the end to get the best deals.
Seafood – I get most of my fish from “Fish” located in beautiful Sausalito right by the water and docked boats. There is a little “fish market” inside the restaurant on the right hand side, so skip the long line for lunch and get something fresh to take home and cook up for dinner. The halibut, trout and salmon when it is in season are my personal favorites.
Healthy meal delivery service – Thistle
Thistle is an ultra nourishing meal delivery service, supplying Bay Area wellness junkies like myself with super fresh, organic, gluten and dairy free food that tastes amazing. Plus, they are sustainably minded with yummy goodies being delivered in eco-friendly packaging. From Thistle, you get delicious, nutritionist-designed meals delivered right to your door, making it an easy way to eat healthy. So if you want to eat better, save time, and feel great, enjoy 20% off first order with the code BALANCE20.
Hot new discovery - Sakara Life
SF get on it: Sakara Life from NYC and more recently LA, has just arrived in the Bay Area offering an organic meal delivery program based on a whole-food, plant-rich diet that includes fresh, nutrient-dense, and delicious ingredients that make you feel your best, glowing, and sexy self. The Sakara Life centers on the idea of making the right choices for your body because you want to, not because you have to. Sakara is not just about eating clean - it’s about living clean. I was fortunate enough to meet and hang out with the founders Danielle and Whitney, who are total sweethearts and truly live by this philosophy. Enjoy Toasted Coconut Granola with Goddess Mylk for breakfast, followed by the Daydreamer Soba Noodle Bowl for lunch, and The Red Beet Burger for dinner. Drooling yet?!
Mindful grocery stores - Good Earth (Mill Valley and Fairfax) and Driver’s Market (Sausalito)
Good Earth are currently at 98% organic but always striving for 100%. As organic becomes more and more widely available, they are able to switch the last few remaining outliers to organic. The Bakery & Café makes goods in house, from scratch with 100% organic ingredients. The produce is proudly 100% organic with total distance of sourcing listed. Their Kitchen & Prepared Foods is 98% organic, made in house and mostly from scratch. They use Fishwise to regulate where seafood was caught and whether or not it is sustainable. The beef is grass-fed, chicken mostly organic (none eat GMO feed), and while pork is much harder to source organically, they do not allow any pork raised on GMO feed in the store. They stock mostly grass-fed cheeses, made from local and sustainable farming practices (no organic standards for cheese exist yet). Grocery items are approximately 97% organic with no known GMO products in store. Impressive right! This is how the food we buy from our local supermarkets SHOULD be!
Driver’s Market, owned by two brothers, has a very clear goal when it comes to running their grocery store… “To connect people with each other and to the foods that they eat. The food that you put into your body is of the utmost importance. In a world where it is increasingly difficult to know where the food on our plates comes from, we strive to offer foods that you can trace back to the people who grew and produced them. Today’s grocery shopping experience, with all of the choices and the uncertainty about food quality, can be a daunting experience. That’s why it’s important to us that you can trust all of the food on our shelves, because we have done the research for you.”
Join me for a free 30 minute healthy jump start call to establish your wellness goals and discover how I can support you in eating right for your unique body type, so that you can look and feel your best on a daily basis.