When it comes to shopping for healthy foods in a small city like Windsor, ON it can be challenging. We don’t have a Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s or any central store where we can go and purchase all our organic produce, supplements etc. There are still ways to get healthy foods in Windsor but we need to shop at a variety of stores to get what’s required rather than going to a one stop shop like we would be able to in a larger city like Toronto.
We are lucky to have the Zehrs grocery stores and the Real Canadian Superstores (RCS) which are carrying more and more organic produce and other natural foods. The organic produce is always marked with purple on the signs which makes it easy to identify as organic. Zehrs/RCS are great places to buy the bulk of our weekly groceries. A great thing about Zehrs/RCS is they are quick to mark produce at 50% off as it ripens (usually it is only just ripe when it is marked down). I hear that they are now carrying organic chicken too which may be of interest to some people.
Sobeys is another option for a small selection of natural foods and a small amount of organic produce. I rarely go there just because I’m so close to a Zehrs and their selection is a lot better. I make a special trip to Sobeys when my supply of honey is low because they sell a raw, organic honey at a reasonable price.
Enchie Organic and Japanese Food Mart carries a nice selection of specialty foods (wheat/gluten free, dairy free and vegan) that are not going to be found at the local grocery store. This is a nice store for those harder to find items we would normally need to get in a larger city or order online. The prices are a bit higher than we would pay going over to the US or shopping in Toronto but for the convenience of being in the small city of Windsor they are fair. The staff at Enchie is very friendly and helpful. If they do not carry a product you are looking for they are glad to write it down and try and locate and possibly start carrying the product for you. They recently created a membership where you get 15% off your first purchase, 10% off all future purchases and a 1% return at the end of the year. There are other details to this membership. Contact them if you are interested. The membership is $30 which is a fair price and I plan to get a membership soon. The only thing that concerns me with any small health food store in Windsor is the time the product is on the shelf before it is purchased. Luckily there are often expiry dates to help regulate this. Enchie is a great store and I highly recommend it.
Lesley Labbe of Our Farm Organics and Rashel Tremblay have a company named Locally Germinated which sells local, organic produce at the Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market on Saturdays from early June to early October (located at the old bus station). They also sell produce through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.
Natural Earth Organics which is owned by Linda Wonsel has a variety of organic produce that can be purchased at the Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market on Saturdays. She also sells organic produce on Sunday mornings and Thursday evenings at the Riverside Sportsman’s Club. Linda also offers at home delivery of items throughout the year.
Bulk Barn carries a variety of organic items which are labelled throughout the store with green signs. They also have a nice selection of organic teas.
A final health food store that deserves some recognition is Pure Nature. They have 3 locations. One is in St. Clair Beach, another in Windsor and a final one in LaSalle. They carry a variety of supplements, teas and superfood powders.
Since Windsor is so close to the US border people in the city also have the option to go to Whole Foods in the states. There is a Whole Foods located in Troy and another in Ann Arbor. I hear Trader Joe’s has some healthy food options and they are located within half an hour from the US border.
If you would like to learn more or share information on healthy living in Windsor, Ontario you can join our Facebook group – Healthy Windsor.
Online shopping is another option for Windsor residents. If you are considering this route be sure to check out my post on “The Best Online Health Food Stores.”
So, basically, we are lucky to have a number of options for buying healthy foods in Windsor but we need to be willing to shop at a variety of stores to get everything we need.
Share your favourite place to get healthy foods in Windsor, ON in the comments section.
To your health!
Jesse
Just to let you know Linda from Natural Earth Organics will be holding a market style store Saturdays at ShopEco on Chilver Rd starting this Saturday January14th from 10-3pm. They will be there each Saturday with lovely organic goods. The market will be cash only.
Thanks for the information. It’s great to see stuff like this in Windsor. I’ll definitely check it out soon. If anyone has any other information to add to this post please feel free to comment.
When shopping at Whole Foods in Ann Arbour (spelling) do you pay much duty bringing the food across?
Hey DD,
For groceries they don’t charge any duty to cross the border.
Good luck 🙂
This is great! I’m looking to pickup some green powder and vegan protein powder this weekend. Do you think Pure Nature is my best bet?
Thank you!
For top quality green powder and vegan protein powder I would recommend buying them online.
I would stick with Sun Warrior or Healthforce Nutritionals for these products which can be purchased through:
http://www.trulyorganicfoods.com/ or
http://www.upayanaturals.com/ (both Canadian)
Pure Nature or Enchie may have something decent though.
Good luck 🙂
This is helpful Jesse thanks, I’m in from the US tomorrow and teaching a class in Windsor so I don’t want to be scrambling for stuff. Loving all your posts, so good to see you spreading the word in my home town of Windsor. Yay!
You’re welcome Lisa!
I hope your class went well! Let me know next time you are teaching in the Windsor – I might go 🙂
Thanks for the blog compliment!
All the best!!
Doc. I’m a cook and getting more and more interested in my own multigrain yeast bread. The packaged (Robin Hood) multigrain flour…is it any good…or just marketing?
@1f9058bb58a8b271986c22951f6d0987:disqus – I would personally stay away from any Robin Hood flour. Multigrain or not it still contains gluten which isn’t good for anyone. The multigrain has more fiber and probably a bit more nutrition than the white flour but both would be better substituted for a gluten free flour.
Good luck and let me know what you end up choosing!
Whole
Foods is a great name for that place…. because it takes your WHOLE
paycheck to pay for the food you buy. Unfortunately, that money doesn’t
go in to the employees pockets… they still get paid minimum wage, and
when they try to organize a union for better wages and benefits, the
company just shuts down the store and builds a location somewhere else. I suggesting supporting the independent shops, Trader Joe’s, or Zehrs/RCS (as they are at least unionized). Shop local and help the people in your community. There are plenty of options in Windsor/Essex County… you can even just head to the county and buy your produce and meat fresh from the farm. At least then you KNOW it’s organic, and that the company isn’t just tossing a label on it and charging more money. That’s just my opinion though.
Thanks for sharing your opinion Mark.
I agree with supporting local when possible but I still think Whole Foods has its place.
I’ve heard from others that Whole Foods is a great place to work!
I agree, I work in the Detroit area and love to shop at whole foods, all the employees seem to like their job, they are always helpful and friendly and also available to answer my questions. Also to add, their organic produce is still less expensive than our local supermarkets conventional produce and other veg alternatives. I’ve been shopping there regularly for over 10 years, and they do import from some Canadian sources as well at their new Detroit store.
I’m excited to check out the new Detroit store, very soon!
Great article! I live in Vancouver but come back to Windsor at least twice a year to visit family. I ALWAYS gain weight when I come back to visit because I’m eating what my parents eat such as gluten and other foods that cause me to gain weight. I’m really spoiled in Vancouver because of all the healthy food stores we have there like Whole Foods, Choices Market, etc. Such a different lifestyle here in Windsor, glad more big chains here are carrying organic!
Edward – Thanks for the comment! I hope you enjoy some of the healthy options mentioned in the post next time you visit Windsor!