Knowing where your food has come from is important. When you follow an ancestral diet, sourcing is just as important as the food you eat.
One of the simple principles I live by is:
Know your farmer. Know your source.
When you think about food this way, the way you shop changes. You look beyond the supermarket shelve and focus on the people behind the food and the passion they bring to producing it.
Here's what my ancestral shopping list looks like, with some links to the amazing producers I get food from here in New Zealand.
Sourcing Quality Meat in New Zealand
When it comes to buying meat, I definitely have opinions about where I buy it from. Price is important, but I'm mostly guided by source.
Our NZ supermarket meat is mostly sourced from the large meat abattoirs and the animal's origin is not recorded. When you care about where your food comes from and the way the animal was raised, that lack of clarity isn't ideal.
That's why I often reach for Harris Meats produce (meat produced by farmers in North Canterbury) or, of course, First Light Farms who do an incredible job with regenerative farming and transparency.
I have also been buying meat boxes from Middlehurst farms in Blenheim. I love the farm to table process that these producers can do now.
I've recently met Fionna from Juniper Hill Farm. She has so much passion about what their farm does. It was really inspiring.
I was lucky to have a chance to sit down with Logan Wait from Earth First Food at Underground Festival, too. His company is doing amazing work connecting the dots between farmers and customers so people can buy directly from producers.
They're all fantastic and I recommend you check them out.
Choosing Ethical Eggs and Dairy
My eggs are mostly organic and always free-range, because honestly, who wants eggs from a sad chicken?
When hens are raised outdoors and allowed to behave naturally, it shows in the quality of the eggs.
The same principle applies to dairy.
The cream I use is mostly organic and raw if I can get it. The closer food is to it's natural state, the better.
Why I Avoid Supermarket Produce
I don't eat any fresh produce from the supermarket. Sprays like insecticides or pesticides or mists to keep the veggies and fruit fresh are suspect!
If I come across a fruit tree in someone's garden, like a fig, I will eat this. Not much, just a taste, but I always prefer food that comes straight from nature.
Farmers Markets: The Best Place to Buy Real Food
Farmers Markets are fantastic places to buy real food.
They're full of passionate producers doing amazing things with real ingredients. When you buy directly from them, you’re not just buying food, you’re supporting the people who grow and produce it.
Artisans who make specialist cheeses from their own milk always light me up. There's a buffalo farm in Canterbury that makes the best soft cheese ever!
If you haven't already I suggest you find your local market and make it a weekly ritual.
You'll meet some incredible producers who care deeply about what they do.
Supporting Local Food Producers in New Zealand
We're so lucky in New Zealand to have the most amazing food grown and raised on healthy land, and produced by passionate farmers whose feet walk their farms every day.
By sourcing food from local farms, farmers markets, and ethical producers, we reconnect with the origins of what we eat.
Let's support local producers and let their passion filter into our kitchens!
