Sticky:- Advice For Newbies Wishing To Slowly Ease Into A Raw-Animal-Food Diet

Here’s an  advice-thread on where to buy high-quality raw animal food(I’ll be updating it over the next week and would appreciate no posts in this thread, thanks):-

1) Avoid supermarkets like the plague. Supermarkets are extremely hostile to competition from smaller better-quality food-producers, and are keen on mass-production which always results in lower-quality, in the long-run. Also, they tend to be very expensive if you want to get truly high-quality food from them, and most of their foods are heavily adulterated with chemicals and additives/flavourings which is a no-no on a Raw-Animal-And-Veg-Food Diet. Plus, given their centralised structure, it’s often impossible or very difficult indeed to find out about where their foods originate from(ie whether they’re genuinely grassfed or fed grain during the feedlot phase etc.)
There are a very few organic-oriented supermarkets which occasionally have low-quality but acceptable foods(eg:- Waitrose in the UK, or Whole Foods in the US(otherwise known as “Whole Pay-Check”  because of its extortionate prices). These should only be relied upon in extremis in the short-term,  as they’re so expensive and provide so little value for the money.

2) Buying direct from (organic/100% grassfed) farms or via farmers’ markets. This is the option favoured by most. Farmers’ markets aren’t that great in the US, according to reports(apparently, many are only seasonal and offer only fruit and veg) – so most USers buy direct from farms either via a delivery-service to their home or they pick up their order from a local farm. But, elsewhere such as in the UK, they are well worth visiting. Some farmers’ markets are linked via associations such as the London Farmers’ Market Association at http://www.lfm.org.uk/.  Ethnic markets are also a good bet as they can provide raw foods normally unavailable in that country(eg:- Chinatown, Brixton).

*Tip:- When visiting farmers’ markets, I’ve been astonished to find wild game meats at astonishingly low prices, far lower than the standard prices for organic/100% grassfed meats, despite the fact that wild game meat is nutritionally superior to grassfed meat. For example I’ve paid from 7 to 13 UK Pounds Sterling for a whole wild hare carcass, 4 UK pounds for a wild mallard duck, 13 to 15 pounds for 20 extra-large (double-) oysters etc. Cuts down considerably on food-costs , this way.

3) Remember that raw organ-meats are typically much cheaper than raw muscle-meats.

Here’s a link to a site offering tips on how to buy organic food cheaply:-

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cheap/20040901a1.asp

Here are some standard organic food directories for the US(including some major farms):-

http://www.burgundypasturebeef.com/public_home.php

http://www.eatwild.com/   

http://www.localharvest.org/

http://www.mountroyal.com/

(You can get (US) human-grade raw-food for pets here):-

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/CarnivoreFeed-Supplier/

http://www.northstarbison.com/http://www.texasgrassfedbeef.com/

http://www.westonaprice.org/localchapters/index.html

Canada:-

http://www.totallynaturalbeef.ca/

Here are some for the UK:-
http://www.seedsofhealth.co.uk/resources/meat/index.shtml   
http://www.littlelocalfood.com/

http://www.bigbarn.co.uk/

http://www.alternativemeats.co.uk/asp/

Also, just Google for “grassfed organic” farms in your local region/county/State and you should find plenty of farm-websites where you can contact people. Here’s a tip:- In the UK, if you want very high-quality (but pricey) food, Google for “saltmarsh-fed” lamb/mutton/beef or “heather-fed” lamb/mutton.

(One method that some RAFers use is to form a Cooperative in their local area and buy foods in bulk, to be sent to one address to be picked up by the other RAF residents. That way, delivery-costs can be kept to a minimum).