Product Standards Help You Eat Healthfully

 
 
 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 

It should be easy to find healthy food to eat, but sometimes it’s not that simple. Between reading complex ingredient lists to navigating that hazy description of “natural” food, it’s tough to know what’s healthy — or what products could be hiding chemicals or ingredients you want to avoid.

That’s where your local co-op can help. At Lakewinds, we have strict product standards, only allowing items in our stores if they meet our specific criteria. You don’t need a chemistry degree to know that you’re eating healthy food. You can shop with confidence, knowing that what’s in your cart supports healthful living goals.

Produce

As you strive to eat healthfully, you may try to avoid eating conventionally grown produce found on the “Dirty Dozen” list. Or perhaps you try to eat local produce when it’s in season.

The Lakewinds’ produce standards ensure that we carry organic fruits and vegetables when possible. When it’s not, we source non-organic varieties from nearby farms that use sustainable practices. Imported produce is Fair Trade when it comes from regions that otherwise have poor labor conditions. We’re also committed to carrying only Certified Organic varieties of produce on the “Dirty Dozen” list, which includes bell peppers, celery, spinach, strawberries and more.

However, we do make an exception for locally grown apples that use IPM (Integrated Pest Management). IPM orchards use beneficial insects, environmental factors, physical controls such as mulch and traps, and other sustainable strategies, using pesticides minimally and only as a last resort.

Meat

Lakewinds holds it meat producers to very high standards as well. Beef is either grass fed or organic, from local, family farmers. Our meat never has additives, preservatives, nitrates or nitrites and is never given added growth hormones, steroids or antibiotics. We work closely with our local farmers, who use sustainable practices and treat animals ethically.

According to the Mayo Clinic, grass-fed beef may have some heart-health benefits, including less total fat, more omega-3 fatty acids and more antioxidants. Eating meat from your local co-op means the meat is healthier for you and also better for the environment.

Body Care

At Lakewinds, we believe that what we put on our bodies is as important as the healthy food we eat. Our body care standards reflect that, requiring products to be free of artificial fragrances and unhealthy ingredients, and never tested on animals. Read more about our banned ingredients.

Other standards

These standards infuse the rest of our store as well. We support sustainable seafood practices that are in alignment with Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch recommendations. Our milk is organic and/or rBGH-free, never given added hormones or antibiotics. Our eggs are local, humanely raised, vegetarian fed, and never given added hormones or antibiotics. And the list goes on and on! Read more about our quality standards and how they help you find healthy food to eat.

When you shop the co-op, it supports a healthful life. Our product standards at Lakewinds reiterate our focus on organic, local, Fair Trade, sustainable products whenever possible. We want to support a healthy planet, a healthy community – and a healthy YOU.