# Affordable, accessible raw food in British Columbia's Okanagan region?



## yuriy (Dec 23, 2012)

I moved to the Okanagan a few months ago and am struggling to find a raw food. My 6 y/o has spent her entire life eating Surrey Meats' "Crudo" raw, but that's not sold in the Okanagan, and an 8-9 hour round trip for dog food is out of the question. Their products (beef, bone & veggie variety) ran about $90/44lbs.

I've visited seemingly every local pet/produce store, and the only options I can find are 2-3 times the cost. I've been feeding Grand Cru Red Meat (dehydrated kibble) for about 1.5 months now, and I'm not thrilled with it. Liza doesn't always want to eat it, has rather large poops, and they are never as solid as I would like. No comparison to the raw she was on, and this still runs $150/month.

Is there anyone somewhat local that can point me in the right directions? The local stores/vets/dog owners I've interacted with so far have not been of much help. Everyone points me to the same stores/products, which are very limited and very expensive.

As much as I would love to convert her to more human-like BARF food, it will never happen. She will literally starve herself to death before she eats something she's not thrilled about.


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## Mary Beth (Apr 17, 2010)

If the shipping costs would be within your budget, I would suggest contacting Surrey Meats and explaining your difficulty. Perhaps, they may be able to sell and ship it directly to you or could recommend one of their retailers who would be willing to ship it to you. The other option, if you haven't already done so, would be to ask one of your local sources if they would be willing to special order the food for you.


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## Cascade (Mar 5, 2017)

Have you tried Healthy Spot in Vernon? You can ask about ordering in bulk and get a discount. Message me and I can get you some prices and get you set up with a deal.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Could you consider raw from scratch by contacting local (hobby) farmers? I just got about 40 pounds of lamb organs and tripe for 50 cts a pound. I got this contact through Craigslist. It is quite different than buying it packaged though


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## yuriy (Dec 23, 2012)

Mary Beth said:


> If the shipping costs would be within your budget, I would suggest contacting Surrey Meats and explaining your difficulty. Perhaps, they may be able to sell and ship it directly to you or could recommend one of their retailers who would be willing to ship it to you. The other option, if you haven't already done so, would be to ask one of your local sources if they would be willing to special order the food for you.


I happened to be in Vancouver yesterday, and picked up a whole bunch of meat from Surrey Meats. They mentioned there is a guy that makes weekly trips from Vancouver to the Okanagan and delivers their food for $10/box. I'll likely be taking advantage of that service down the line.



Cascade said:


> Have you tried Healthy Spot in Vernon? You can ask about ordering in bulk and get a discount. Message me and I can get you some prices and get you set up with a deal.


That's actually where I bought the current, dehydrated food. They don't bring in Surrey Meats food - something about it being "too fatty." They did have some selection of other raw meats, but all a lot more expensive than what I'm used to (which is not cheap to begin with).



wolfy dog said:


> Could you consider raw from scratch by contacting local (hobby) farmers? I just got about 40 pounds of lamb organs and tripe for 50 cts a pound. I got this contact through Craigslist. It is quite different than buying it packaged though


Yes, that's something I'm hoping to work out in the near future, too. Not only for the dog's food, but for myself, too.


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## Cascade (Mar 5, 2017)

@yuriy there are some options you can get at healthy spot that aren’t too bad such as mountain dog food. I think the chicken veg and fruit is around or under $2/lb. Protein balance is just over $2 ish. If you have freezer space to get a bulk order you can get a better deal on it as well. They can also get in Rocky Mountain Raw which isn’t too bad price wise. I had some prices per lb made up for someone that was looking to buy 100lbs at a time and with a discount it wasn’t too expensive at all. If you want I can run some numbers for you and get you price per lb.


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## yuriy (Dec 23, 2012)

Cascade said:


> @yuriy there are some options you can get at healthy spot that aren’t too bad such as mountain dog food. I think the chicken veg and fruit is around or under $2/lb. Protein balance is just over $2 ish. If you have freezer space to get a bulk order you can get a better deal on it as well. They can also get in Rocky Mountain Raw which isn’t too bad price wise. I had some prices per lb made up for someone that was looking to buy 100lbs at a time and with a discount it wasn’t too expensive at all. If you want I can run some numbers for you and get you price per lb.


That does sound pretty promising. Unfortunately I just stocked up on several months' worth of food at Surrey Meats. I'll see how things go when we get closer to running out of this batch, and maybe I'll give you a shout then? Thanks for the info in either case!


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## Cascade (Mar 5, 2017)

yuriy said:


> That does sound pretty promising. Unfortunately I just stocked up on several months' worth of food at Surrey Meats. I'll see how things go when we get closer to running out of this batch, and maybe I'll give you a shout then? Thanks for the info in either case!


Sure just give me a holler and I can help you out


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## yuriy (Dec 23, 2012)

Thought I'd update this thread for anyone viewing it in the future.

I've found a great supply of dog food at Sundowner Meats in Lumby, BC. Price is about $1.99/lb if you're buying 100lbs, but I believe it's cheaper (per pound) if you buy more. Food itself is beef and veggies, frozen into large tubes and pre-cut into hamburger-sized patties.

You do need to place an order (reservation) over the phone a few weeks in advance, as the food almost always sells out. The same place also has great human food.


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