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Need some advice!
Started
by Elizabeth
on August 24, 2012
I just read The Kind Diet and I fell in love with it. I would love to go all vegan but I live in a very small town and we don't have a store that sells many vegan ingredients. I was wondering if there was some other way to purchase things I might need to make the recipes in The Kind Diet?
Online shopping does make things easier! Though, I couldn't find all of the ingredients either when I started as some of them are American and I couldn't find similar where I was and on top of that, I didn't want ingredients that were too crazy in the beginning ... so I ended up buying a few cook books and finding a few blogs that had just simple recipes. All grocery stores have rice, beans, veggies, greens, nuts, seeds and fruit ... so that's all you really need and you can expand once you've got some good simple dishes under your belt. The more you search and read books, blogs etc and visit your supermarket the more you'll discover and work out what you can put together. It's easy after a while!
As Kirsty said all you really need is the stuff you will find in your basic grocery stores. You don't need all the tofu, veggie burgers, and fake cheese to go vegan. In fact, all those things are processed and should be enjoyed in moderation anyway.
All grocery stores have brown rice, beans, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and fruit. In my small town we have a tiny IGA and it carries all of this. If not, Walmart definitely has everything. I can even find soy powder and agave nectar.
Also, in my town if you request something for the store sometimes the owner will consider putting it on the shelves for you. So if there's something you'd really love, you can always ask.
Thank you everyone for your advice. Very helpful!
Elizabeth, good for you!! This a great opportunity for you to grow a garden! If you don't have much space Alicia just posted some super cool indoor hanging garden supply(cool little pockets that hang on the wall/door) where you can grow indoor veggies. If you just can't wait to grow a garden than try taking the ingredients they do sell in your town(maybe they don't sell kale or bok choy but they do have romaine lettuce and spinach) and substitute them. You could also plan a fun road trip when you have a day off (plan ahead online and bring a cooler in the car) and stock up on good fruits and veggies and other ingrediants and then store or freeze them when you get home depending on the food item. You could also google grocery delivery services online. You can ask your local grocery store to carry the items you need or see if they will special order. Do you have kind friends? Ask them to write letters w/you to your local grocery store saying they should carry more vegan or veggie friendly foods and give them a wish list. I know this won't instantly do the trick but they're some ideas to get the ball rolling.
I recently joined foodie pen pals. You get matched up with a "pen pal" each month. You mail somebody a package of food(no more than $15 in cost) and somebody else mails you a box. I always say I'm a vegetarian and you can also list allergies and request healthy foods or vegan foods or whatever you want. Might be a good way for you to try out new food and get some items you can't find in your town. google foodie pen pals! I just sent my third package, it's really fun and free other than the package you send each month under $15. :)
Good luck!
I probably live in as small a town as anyone (5,000 in my town, 14,000 in the whole county) and I've found a kind diet to be way easy. Like everyone else says, one key is to just focus on the produce, beans, rice that we all have access to. I've never cared too much for the vegan cheeses or other dairy and meat replacements, which is okay because they're processed, expensive and hard to find. If I'm ever traveling I do weird things like buy giant bottles of ume plum vinegar to bring home, but I really don't find I'm missing anything I need (my local Kroger has ground flaxseed, raw cashews and tofu, which are the most exotic ingredients I buy). Friends who are gardeners is also always helpful!
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