Fresh meat from local family farms
Buying your beef, chicken and pork locally keeps local family farms in business. It helps the environment by minimizing shipping and maintaining local green spaces. It ensures freshness, and most people think that local food just tastes better.
That’s why Valley Natural Foods is proud to partner with the following local family farms:
- Grazing Acres Bison & Beef in Elko New Market, Minn. (29 minutes from Valley Natural Foods)
- Larry Schultz Chicken & Turkey from Owatonna, Minn. (45 minutes from Valley Natural Foods)
- Ferndale Market Turkey in Cannon Falls, Minn. (45 minutes from Valley Natural Foods)
- Eichtens Bison in Center City, Minn. (1 hour from Valley Natural Foods)
- Hidden Stream Farm Pork in Elgin, Minn. (1.3 hours from Valley Natural Foods)
- Blooming Prairie Natural and Grass-Fed Beef in Blooming Prairie, Minn. (2 hours from Valley Natural Foods)
In addition to benefiting local farms and keeping money in the community, farms that we partner with must abide by standards that ensure the quality and safety of the product. Their methods of growth and production also must be humane. Any producer must be verified and documented to ensure:
- Animals are humanely raised
- Animals have access to clean air, sunlight and pasture
- Animals have 24-hour access to water
- Herds and flocks are not overcrowded
- Farms have clean, well-bedded facilities
- Partners are local producers or processors from a tri-state area (MN, WI, IA)
- Meat is free of added hormones, antibiotics, fillers or dyes
- Meat labeled as grass-fed is 100% grass-fed
- Animals are processed in a local USDA inspected facility
All this means that you can bring quality food to your table and feel good about supporting local farms that do things the right way – naturally.
Sustainable Seafood
At our co-op, we are deeply committed to providing our members and customers with the highest quality seafood sourced through sustainable and responsible practices. Our dedication to sustainability is validated by our adherence to the industry’s most respected standards, ensuring that our seafood not only meets rigorous quality benchmarks but also supports the health of our oceans and aquatic ecosystems.
Valley Natural Foods also knows that maintaining the health of our world’s fish population is vital to ensure that there will be seafood for generations to come. That is why our meat department only buys seafood that meets standards set by organizations such as Seafood Watch and FishChoice.com. We check the standards upon bringing in new varieties, and constantly re-check our current offerings to make sure they still rate “good” or better.
We prefer all of our seafood options to be wild caught. Sustainable wild fishing helps prevent pollution and the use of antibiotics. Certain farm-raised fish and shellfish are raised sustainably and ecologically, and we offer those choices, as well.
We proudly uphold the following certifications:
- Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP): This certification ensures that our aquaculture processes meet comprehensive standards for environmental responsibility, social accountability, animal welfare, and food safety.
- Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) Certification: ASC certification guarantees that our farmed seafood is produced with minimal impact on the environment and in a socially responsible manner.
- Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Certification: MSC certification signifies that our wild-caught seafood comes from well-managed fisheries that maintain sustainable fish stocks and minimize their environmental impact.
These certifications reflect our co-op’s unwavering commitment to sustainability and responsible sourcing. We believe that by offering sustainably sourced seafood, we are contributing to the preservation of marine habitats, supporting small businesses with ethical business practices, and ensuring that future generations can enjoy the bounty of our oceans.
Freshness and flavor may be the most important factors for the food you eat – and we understand that by offering many varieties of fish and shellfish in our frozen and raw fish cases. From snow crab to shrimp, from Canadian walleye to Alaskan sockeye salmon, we’ve got what you need for a tasty seafood feast.
We value your trust and are dedicated to providing you with seafood that is not only delicious and nutritious but also ethically and sustainably sourced. Thank you for supporting our mission and joining us in our commitment to sustainable seafood practices.