My Story by Jennifer
Griffin
What is an organic health food store and how do you
get one in your neighbourhood? You need the right combination
of people and events to come together at the same time
in the same area. First, you need a David-like individual
who is willing to put everything on the line in the face
of the Goliath-like “food supply” industry.
Second, you need a local populace who is educated enough
and smart enough to support the efforts of such an individual.
Futile bureaucratic attempts to build a strong world
from the top down result in the waste of enormous resources
and valuable time for all of us. A quick look at the
megalithic food supply industry will confirm this. We
have food with a shelf life of virtually forever and
a nutritional quality that barely registers on the scale
of life.
Strong individuals make strong families, strong families
make a strong community, strong communities make a strong
region, strong regions make for a strong nation, and
strong nations make a strong world.
Occasionally the right combination of people comes
together that brings to a community a unique service
to which the people of the community respond. Such an
event occurred in the Austin Heights area of Coquitlam
about four years ago.
After losing her job as a computer programmer, Edith
Harmat was seeking a means of supporting her family and
her community. She was concerned about the lack of good
wholesome food in the shops - food free of additives
and toxins. She was only too aware of the fact that food
laced with man-made chemicals designed to enhance growth
and shelf-life at the expense of quality was detrimental
to the long-term health.
Your body is continually rebuilding, if you give it
real food, whole food in its most unaltered state it
will rebuild stronger and more vibrant. If you give it
garbage food it will rebuild weaker and weaker. After
10, 15 or 20 years the long-term effects of poor nutrition
manifest themselves in many of the chronic disease we
see today - strokes, heart troubles, cancer, diabetes,
and so on. These are not communicable, they can be traced
directly to the foods we consume over the long-term.
While you can and should seek the competent advice of
a health care professional for specific problems, when
you look in the mirror you are looking at your primary
health care provider.
Life is our most precious possession. Be good to yourself
and those you care about, your body is the only place
you have to live, take care of it. Feed it well and it
will reward you with the best health possible.
While “certified organic” and “free
range” were relatively new words for the food industry
these were food practices that Edith was seeking to be
associated with. They identified products that more and
more people were seeking in their quest for better long-term
health for themselves and their families. The right combination
of people and events were coming together in the Austin
Heights neighbourhood of Coquitlam.
Edith took the great risk of investing her life savings
and her future and opened SunFruit Organics, an organic
health food store and juice bar, to supply certified
organic and free range foods. A strong, caring and dedicated
woman, Edith felt this was the right thing to do even
though her store was located under the shadow of a Safeway.
Time has proven her assessment correct. Her business
is thriving. Some of the neighbourhood supermarket chains
have taken notice and have even added “natural”
sections to their stores, although they have trouble
competing with the personalized service that Edith provides.
Good quality whole foods free of harmful chemicals provided
in a warm, caring and friendly atmosphere is a service
the community was seeking and the one to which the community
has responded. The time was right, her decision was right
and the needs of the community are being met. The really
sweet part is everyone is a winner.
Edith can be found at SunFruit Organics, 1041-B Ridgeway
just behind the Safeway on Austin Avenue.
Read Jennifer Griffin's story
of Drive Organics
 Top
|
