Where I buy food

Living in a small town there are not limitless places to purchase high quality or unusual food. 

I've found some out of the norm ways to get some good quality food at good prices.

First I typically shop at Aldi. We have not converted to eating organic fruits and veggies though I am seriously considering reworking our budget to include more organic fresh fruits and veggies.

Second I like Kroger over all of the other grocery stores in town. (I don't shop at Wal-Mart.) I like their e-coupons on their app and I tend to find that they have good prices for the things that I buy.

Non-grocery stores that I buy items from: (These may be referral links.).


Zaycon Fresh. We've only purchase chicken so far, but I know that other people are happy with other meat they have purchased. The chicken breasts are so huge! With Zaycon, you order online and pick up at their designated time (usually a 30 minute window) and location which has been the Church of Christ on Hwy E. When you order you see the delivery dates that are available. I think chicken comes about once a quarter. You have to buy a 40 pound box.

Azure Standard. Azure delivers about once a month. They have lots of organic fruits and vegetables and other non-perishables. I have really liked their apples in the fall. We use route P1. The delivery is at Love's Truck Stop. You have to have a minimum order of $50 without an extra surcharge. I've definitely shared with other people before and shared on pick-up as well.

UNFI. UNFI is a warehouse that delivers in Rolla once a month. If you are interested in this option, I can give you the contact person. As it is warehouse ordering, you have to order cases of things. I have typically purchased spices from this avenue. I really like Frontier Herb spices and get those from UNFI. I will buy wheat berries from here as well as Azure Standard depending on the prices. Most recently I purchased olive oil. 

Amazon. I also use Subscribe and Save from Amazon. If you schedule five items listed under Subscribe and Save for the same date (month), then you can get 15% off each item. You can cancel any order after the first delivery. Some items may be cheaper from Azure or UNFI, but I have a small order and so I'll pay a little extra from Amazon and then it's delivered to my door! I have purchased nuts, dried fruit, popcorn, spices and different oils as well as paper towels and toilet paper from Amazon. Using Subscribe and Save, the items take about a week to arrive depending on when you schedule your group order.

I have not tried Thrive Market yet though I hear good things about this website. I have also found good prices for some items from VitaCost.com in the past as they had better prices than other websites. VitaCost will generally have promotions to watch for to get a percentage off or free shipping.