I would like to get organic products including food and materials that my family uses at home. Does anyone know a truly reliable source/place to get them? Thanks a lot.
Both Santa Cruzand Cottonfields have a service where they can prepare a week’s worth of veggies for a “family pack”. These are big stores and quite reliable. You can also purchase organic onbline, also as a weekly package, with delivery. Same with milk. Four Wayalso delivers two bottles of organic milk a week, or you can order other brands from the stores.
I recommend the Fourway milk delivery. Cottonfields is good too; their greens are usually 3 for $100. You can also buy organic veggies in most large supermarkets; look for the words
有機
and higher prices (greens usually $55 per bag at Wellcome, for instance).
Another good outlet is the 248 (organic farmer’s market) booth in the food court of the Mitsukoshi just north of the Vie (formerly Warner’s) cinemas near city hall. They have organic meats and seafood as well as produce. The shrimp and clams there are good.
Also, put ‘organic’ in the search function, and search thread titles, returning topics; there’s a lot of info on this already.
I usually buy my organic stuff from the Tongyi Youji (Uni-President Organic Foods) and Li-Ren, but that’s mostly because those are my only two options down here.
However, my father-in-law frequently chastises me for this and tells me I’m wasting my money. “Taiwan doesn’t have an environment for organic food” Well, he said that in Taiwanese, but his meaning was that no food grown in Taiwan could really be “organic” and so I was wasting my money. Money I should be spending on his beloved daughter and grandchildren. Now, I’m not really sure what to believe. Certainly the recent news about dozens of different kinds of pesticides being found in supermarket fruits and vegetables would give anyone pause. Even when I buy non-organic, I usually prefer to buy from the local open-air markets. Somehow it feels safer, although that’s probably just what I tell myself.
As an aside, I often get the feeling these days that a large group of people are trying to poison us - what with the ractopamine, plasticiziers, pesticides, and whatnot. Who are we to trust?
Cottonfields and the Housewives Association. The latter actually began in the 90s as a group of housewives who were worried about food saftey. You need to get a membership (NT1000) and attend a short lecture on what they are and what they do. But if you can’t trust these people then there is no one to trust.
there are often locally owned ma and pa organic shops. the ones i see are fairly well stocked in the grains and cooking department, these guys i have never seen do fresh produce/meat. dried foods adn canned stuff mostly. also mostly imported (USDA Certified).
Tanho Organic Supermarket has seafood, pork, chicken, duck, everything but beef. Veggies, grains, milk products. Soaps, clothes, cleaning stuff. And its own bakery.
A lot of good info to “digest”. Thank you very much for all the thoughtful posts. Notes taken!
I am seeking the contact information for English-speaking organic food stores throughout Taiwan. I am a nutritionist and want to speak with the stores professionally and as a customer. I want to visit the website, and visit the physical store. Please contact me: tamarosher@gmail.com
I am immediately interested in organic food stores in Taoyuan County.
I remember two organic stores:
生機超市 near 天母Baseball Stadium
O’life near NTNU in 師大
Just throwing my 2 cents into the ring. 
“Organic” does not mean pesticide-free. I don’t know how it is in Taiwan (yet) but I would not assume organic produce is any better than regular produce (though it will almost certainly be more expensive). Regardless of whether you buy organic or “conventional” produce always remember to wash your veggies thoroughly.
[quote=“Xeno”]Just throwing my 2 cents into the ring.
“Organic” does not mean pesticide-free. I don’t know how it is in Taiwan (yet) but I would not assume organic produce is any better than regular produce (though it will almost certainly be more expensive). Regardless of whether you buy organic or “conventional” produce always remember to wash your veggies thoroughly.[/quote]
On the whole, I’d agree with you. If you’re buying your produce from a group like the Homemakers’ Association (主婦聯盟) you can purchase produce that has been rigorously tested for pesticides, herbicides, and hormones. But yes, always wash. I grow my own veggies and I definitely don’t use pesticides, but I still wash them before I eat them. Otherwise, I might eat a few grasshoppers and caterpillars.