Product Standards

At Lakewinds, we work hard every day to make sure that the products you buy are healthy, free of harmful ingredients and additives and processed in an environmentally responsible and humane manner. With these principles in mind, we have created a set of standards that all products carried must meet. We will operate by these standards unless the membership lets us know that they want it to change. While we will do our best to see that products in the store always meet these standards, sometimes manufacturers change ingredients and fail to inform us. Should you find any products that do not meet these stated standards, please let us know.

Prohibited Ingredients
While there is a longer list of ingredients that we will not allow in our products, there is a short list of the 8 “big deals” that we strictly prohibit. Check our website for the longer list of prohibited ingredients in our products.
Produce: Lakewinds maintains close relationships with local and regional farmers to provide the best tasting, freshest produce possible. More than 95% of the produce we sell is organic and grown without artificial pesticides or fertilizers. When organic varieties are not available or out of season, high quality non-organic produce is offered. To the extent feasible, we try to always show preference to local growers.

Meat: Our meat department complies with all ingredient standards set for the company. We offer a full line of fresh and unique meat products including beef, pork, lamb, buffalo, chicken, turkey, game and other specialty products intelligently sourced with emphasis on the following principles: Seafood: We support sustainable seafood practices. As such, we have chosen to follow the recommendations of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program. This program rates seafood choice according to environmental criteria, including the method used to catch the fish and whether the seafood is abundant, endangered or threatened by overfishing. The categories are Green–a best choice, Yellow–a good alternative and Red–fish to avoid. As we source seafood, our goal is that most of our seafood is green with a limited amount yellow. We will never source seafood from the red list.

Grocery: Our grocery buyers give preference to organic, local grocery items packaged in an environmentally responsible manner. Our bulk products include a wide selection of high quality, organically grown flours, grains, seeds, beans, nuts, coffees, oils, and sweeteners. All grocery and bulk products have been checked to ensure they do not contain any of the prohibited ingredients listed on the website.

Eggs & Dairy: Lakewinds sells only eggs from hens that are raised cage-free on local, family owned farms. The use of antibiotics is prohibited and the hens are fed only 100% vegetarian feed. Certified organic eggs come from hens raised on certified organic feed.

As a natural foods retailer, Lakewinds supports natural milk production methods and has obtained affidavits or letters of assurance from our dairy providers that make certain they do as well. All our dairy products, including milk, yogurt, butter, sour cream, cheese, ice cream, kefir–are produced without the use of artificial growth hormones to increase milk production, including rBGH.

Cheese: We feature a wide variety of local and imported artesian cheeses. Our local cheeses are sourced primarily from family farms in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. The local offerings have expanded dramatically over the last few years with outstanding quality. Many of the cheeses we sell are organic and all have been produced without the use of artificial growth hormones.

Bakehouse: All of our bread is made from scratch daily to ensure the highest quality, freshest products. We use organic flour as much as possible and never use artificial colors or preservatives. While the lack of preservatives means our bread does not have a long shelf life, we believe it is the best tradeoff.

Deli & Bakery: To ensure the highest quality, most of our deli and bakery items are made from scratch with a focus on creating healthy, delicious prepared food. To the extent possible, we use local, seasonal and organic ingredients and prohibited ingredients will never be used. Meat and seafood used in our recipes follow the same guidelines as the items sold in our meat and seafood department.

Body Care: We believe that what we put on our bodies is as important as what we eat. All skin, facial and body care products sold must be free of artificial fragrances and have been developed without the use of animal testing unless required by law.

Nutritional Supplements: All of our supplements must comply with the following requirements: Download the product standards brochure
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