Blue Planet is Peaceworks’ non-profit, natural foods, pre-order buying service. It provides access to a wide range of natural and organic foods, including bulk staples and prepared foods, as well as frozen and refrigerated items. BP also offers access to a very wide range of herbs, supplements and health and beauty products.
Buyers pay only pennies on the dollar above wholesale.
Anyone can order. There is no membership fee or obligation to buy with Blue Planet on an ongoing basis. Volunteering is an option, but is not required.
Our Sources: We order every two weeks from United Natural Foods (UNFI) Iowa City Warehouse. We also place once monthly orders with Frontier Natural Products Co-operative and with Select Nutrition.
Frontier & Select Nutrition Orders: Frontier offers a wide variety of herbs, teas, coffees, herbal extracts, body products and kitchen wares. Select Nutrition offers a very comprehensive mix of supplements. The order-by deadlines for both of these are the 25th of each month. We will call you when the order arrives. Catalogs are available for use at the Peace Nook, but extra copies are not available.
UNFI Orders: These arrive every two weeks, on alternate Saturdays. They are due to be place by the end of the day on the prior Saturday. Orders are to be pre-paid, although this requirement can be waived for established members whose accounts are in good order. Orders with prepayment are generally placed by dropping the order off at or mailing it to the Peace Nook. Established members, however, can place their orders by e-mail.
UNFI Catalogs: These are available to be purchased at cost ($1.50 each) at the Peace Nook. One can also use a desk copy at the Nook. At your request, we can add you to the list to receive a PDF of the catalog each month by e-mail. Or you can download a PDF from this website.
Important note: It is essential that you get a brief orientation to this catalog before using it. Not all products in this catalog are available from our warehouse and the prices in this catalog are actually more expensive than what we pay UNFI. Please visit with us at the Peace Nook or call us at 573-875-0539 to get the low down.
Saturday 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Sunday 2-4 p.m.
Monday 4-6 p.m.
We encourage everyone to make an effort to get their orders during these hours. If this is impossible, please call us at 573-875-0539 to make other arrangements.
We charge non-volunteers 15% above wholesale. Those who help two hours on an order are charged 8% above wholesale. Core volunteers who commit to working three hours per month for at least four consecutive months are charged 5% above wholesale. We can take payment in checks (preferred) or cash, but not with credit or debit cards.
All net proceeds from Blue Planet support Peaceworks’ educational work.