The local sources listed in these pages have been reported by WAPF members in the Calgary area and collected for our group to share with others. Availability and companies change over time, so please do a little research before driving long distances to reach any of these places.
If you have any sources that are not on this list that you would like to see added, please contact the chapter leader. Thanks!
When looking for nutrient-dense, sustainable food for your family, consider the impact your financial vote has on your immediate community. When making your choice, consider prioritizing what is most important and available to you at the time:
Good choices – your whole, unadulterated, unprocessed food is local; purchased from the farm gate or from the producer directly. This ensures it is picked as fresh as possible, transported as little as possible, and pays the farmer first.
Better choices – your local whole food is grown/raised with high regard to the animals, land, humans; local food is grown/raised without sprays (herbicide, insecticide, pesticide, fungicide), synthetic inputs (chemical fertilizers) and the fossil fuels used to manufacture and apply them. Look for organically-grown and naturally-grown. You know your grower/rancher family.
Best choices – certified organic, certified humane, meets new Canadian Organic Standards (2010), or you know who’s grown/raised your food and trust their practices (certification IS expensive). Land management is sustainable (holistically-grown, biodynamically-grown, organically-grown, ‘beyond organic’) and the farmer works toward building up the soil for future generations.
Your producers’ families are people whom you respect and who love what they do because they FEED YOU!
When you can, consider making choices which ensure a respect for the land, soil, and living creatures which sustain us all. Supporting our local producers now means they’ll be here when oil prices spike up and stay up and imported California food becomes really pricey. Think about tending your own food garden for the closest proximity to your food supply, and greatest appreciation of same. Backyard chickens are a reality in Brooklyn, Seattle, Vancouver, and hopefully, Edmonton. We’ll try again in Calgary. Speak to your City Counselor about making it a reality here. A biologically-perfect protein, they may as well eat up those dew worms and convert them into food you actually want to eat. Buy bone-in meats and use the bones, feet, hooves, organs to make nutrient-dense broths for soups and cooking grains. Inexpensive meat cuts and organ meats make some of the most nutrient-dense meals for very low cost. Smart home economics often equals better health when implementing old-fashioned food preparation methods.
https://www.agric.gov.ab.ca/app68/organics – organic growers listing from the Government of Alberta. This list has additional producers who may not be certified organic but operate as such.
www.eatwild.com Many of the following producers are listed on this website. All use humane, low-stress techniques with their animals. Please check with the individual farmers for the specifics on purchasing (harvest dates, selection, quantity, pricing). Ordering in advance helps producers plan their business, too; please consider doing this!
