Village Squire, 1980-04, Page 7Health food stores
The public's concern over nutrition has made natural food
stores thrive in this area. Here are some local stores
responding to the people who want unadulterated food,
good nutrition, variety, as well as reasonable prices.
BY LAURA DRUMMOND
"I would as soon eat the food from a supermarket as I- would
eat the wood from my walls" declares Vivien Dawson in a
matter-of-fact tone.
Vivien is manager of Gentle Rain natural food store in
Stratford. She obviously does not believe in supermarket foods.
She explains, "Whenever I've opened a jar of peanut butter or
bag of flour there, they all smell rancid to me."
Vivien started business 1S months ago, and she does a brisk
business. She's one of the many natural food stores that have
opened in the area recently.
Another such store is Jana Natural Foods, in Goderich. A
husband and wife team opened the store seven months ago.
For the last four months now, Grand Bend has had its own
natural food store. Manager Mary Morrice says business is
"better than she expected."
The natural food store is fast becoming a staple in
southwestern Ontario communities.
Judi McMichael, owner with her husband of Jana Natural
Foods, credits the media for her thriving business. She says
recipes in magazines call for more natural foods such as whole
wheat and wheat germ.
Mary Morrice agrees. She points to the current issue of
Chatelaine. "They're doing a story about food additives. There's
just more concern about nutrition.,1 feel people in the community
are willing to make changes -for health reasons.
"Even Hostess Potato Chips now puts out a "natural potato
chip" made with sea salt."
Vivien Dawson, of Gentle Rain, disapproves of the additives in
food. She is concerned about the toxic acid potassium bromate
used as a dough conditioner in flour for bread.
She says flour is enriched not only synthetically, but in
overdoses. This, she says, is hard on our bodies.
USED TO COLOUR
Yet some people are so used to colour in their food they
consider it natural. Mary Morrice says she has a few people who
will not buy her naturally paler coloured cheddar cheese because
it is "not orange" enough.
For Stratford's Vivien Dawson, vegetarian food has been her
way of life for the past eight years. She belonged to a Natural
Food co-op when she lived in Montreal for 12 years. When she
started to consider opening a natural foods store, she visited
many towns in Ontario and she liked Stratford.
In her store (near the Church Restaurant) the customer
measures out most of the dry goods himself. Customers can
scoop into large plastic pails of buckwheat kernels, triticale
kernels, or unhulled sesame seeds. In another corner on shelves
stand jars of teas--sleepytime, red zinger, morning thunder,
lemon mist and mate orange. She always keeps a pot of hot
herbal tea ready for her customers. and she reserves a special
play area for the children. For snacks she makes her own granola
malt bars and peanut carob balls.
In the summer, she plans to open up the back part of her store
where the customers can take out foods to a picnic area. She
intends to sell "cyrian" or "Bible" or "pocket" bread
sandwiches, a hollow whole wheat bread with a filling inside.
And she will offer home made juice and popsicles made from
natural juices.
VILLAGE SQUIRE/APRIL 1980 PG. 5