Food Products
A very important step to becoming a vegan is finding reliable food source. While growing your own garden is an excellent source of food some of the time, you will probably want to find a nearby store with health food products.

There are three types of stores that carry health food you may be able to find in your area. The first and easiest, but also most limited, is to check your local supermarkets and large chain grocery stores for a health food department. Most will have some section that they consider health food.

Unless you are fortunate enough to have a large health food department, you should also look into dedicated local health foods stores or co-ops. Check under "Health" in the yellow pages. Call or visit several stores and find out what they sell. The most common problem is finding stores that are to small to serve your needs.

The latest health food store trend is new, large health food chain stores that are opening new locations all over at an astonishing rate. One of these ideal stores is Whole Foods. Whole Foods has a large selection of health food products, plus a bakery and cafe in most stores. They also maintain an excellent web site, including a complete list of their many store locations.

The most important thing to remember is that just because you go to a health food store, doesn't mean everything is vegan or healthy. You should still read the ingredients on every product you buy. Check out our list of What not to eat and What do vegans eat.

You may also want to visit our Store Discussion Board, where you can let others know of your questions, findings, or suggestions on shopping for vegan foods.

Pangea: http://www.pangeaveg.com/. Pangea a strictly vegan store and mail order company and sells a large variety of vegan products (ranging from foods to clothing to nonleather shoes and accessories to vegan body care).

Real Goods: http://www.realgoods.com. "Real Goods," as a term, describes merchandise that provides honest value within a context of environmental responsibility. Any item that satisfies these dual criteria can claim the title of "Real Goods." Offering a wide variety of earth-friendly products, Real Goods has grown to be one of the biggest earth-friendly retailers in the world.

EnviroShop: http://www.enviroshop.com. All products sold are environmental, cruelty free (no animal testing or ingredients), and socially responsible!

Kokopelli's Green Market: http://www.kokopelliltd.com/Green_Market/. All products are both earth- and producer-friendly: from the earrings produced by single mothers in India who are paid a fair wage, to natural personal care products that neither contain nor were tested on animals, to products that clean effectively without damaging the environment.

Going further: Yahoo!. This is a link to Yahoo!'s directory of eco-friendly retailers.

Works Cited