In the original style from the November 1977 newsletter

The Health Food Industry of today has come a long way since 1960, when health food store operators were referred to as faddists, health nuts and queers. Doctors like Dr. Kirshner, M.D., author of Live Food Juices were jailed for making written claims that raw juices are beneficial to one’s health and well-being. The road to better health was a difficult road to build. It was paved with sacrifice, patience and no remuneration. The fight for freedom to choose the kind of food and food supplements each person wishes to use seemed endless. Verbal protests, signed petitions and signs like “the nutritionist of today will be the doctor of tomorrow” were our only ammunition.
Seventeen years have passed and some of our hopes have been realized. Faith and hard work have paid off. More than one “New Breed of Doctor” are assisting our ailing humanity with better nutrition, prescribed by these fine men whose main interests are not just the “buck”.
The junk food manufacturers have fought us with expensive radio and T.V. ads, brainwashing our children and grandchildren. Lately however, I’ve noticed that the great giants are crowding in on our health food bandwagon. I seem to hear a voice saying: “If you can’t beat them, join them”. I’m glad that voice does not come from the mouths of our members. We, the health nuts, will go down in history as being the modern pioneers who revived our forefathers’ ways of eating and keeping well. We refused to use foods chemically preserved and coloured for a long shelf life instead of a longer human life.
November being the month of remembrance seems like an appropriate time to remember the commencement of the Health Food Dealers Association of B.C. and the National Health Food Dealers Association of Canada. It was on the 15th day of May, 1964, when the first association was organized in Arthur Thrun’s basement of the Hunza Health Food store on Broadway, in Vancouver.
Several unsuccessful attempts had been made prior to this date to organize a provincial or a national association. Some people tried to carry on in their own little shell and do their own little thing and let the ambitious group carry on. There is always room for some to ride on someones shirt tail.
Arthur Thrun was a man of action and humour, even though he was our oldest member. He called everyone he knew and asked them to attend a meeting and hear the message Ed Moxie, the former and first owner of Nature’s Path Health Foods of Vancouver, had to convey. The meeting was well attended. Ed arrived a bit late looking very perplexed, as he had no idea that he had to deliver a message of some kind. After everyone was seated, Mr. Thrun said: “I had to get you all here somehow. I’m putting ten bucks in this hat and I’ll pass it around for you to do likewise. I hope we can collect enough money to start the Health Food Dealers Association which is long overdue. I hope this day will be a day to remember.”
Everyone present contributed and the contents of the hat added up to $175.00.
Temporary officials were elected. If my memory registers right, they were as follows: Mr. Arthur Thrun, President, Mr. Ken Ward, Vice-President, Mrs. Margaret Thrun, Secretary, Mrs. Ella Brizneck, Treasurer, and Mr. Bill Blane, Mrs. Florence Hogg, Mrs. Helena Blum, Directors.
We set up all night until 5 o’clock in the morning drawing up a constitution for the Association. Present were Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Thrun, Mr. Ken Ward, my son John and I. We did this to save money. The lawyer ironed out some of our “kinks” and ordered a seal for our new-born association. We were now a signed and sealed organization ready to build that road to better health!
Meetings were held twice monthly, mostly at Thrun’s place and sometimes at Ella’s place on Kingsway. The secretary’s files were kept at Thrun’s place because it was more convenient to do so. Recruiting new members was, in my opinion, the most difficult task any one of us attempted. Letters were written, phone calls were made, and personal visits to prospective members were not neglected. Most of the personal visits were fruitless. Everybody not interested claimed that they were too busy to bother or couldn’t afford the membership dues, which were very nominal indeed. We edited and printed two Health Food Dealers Digests using the Gestetner and assembling the pages by hand. Many long hours were spent in Thrun’s basement and Ken Ward’s
basement turning the Gestetner round and round.
We sponsored speakers, held conventions and yearly meetings in the Manhatten Hall on Broadway. We could not afford to rent larger halls. I advertised the use of health foods with natural food smorgasbords, served in the Nordic Centre in New Westminster. Admission was 50 cents per adult and children were free; this included meals, lectures and free recipes.
There was never any money left over, but the public had an opportunity to taste good food and try to prepare some themselves. We also had one such session in the Manhatten Hall. Those were the days, when all work was considered “work for love”. We didn’t mind it; we all were younger then, bubbling over with enthusiasm.
The year 1966 was approaching and we began to plan a National Association, which should originate in Toronto. We needed a National Vice-President to start the ball rolling in the East. He would have to be a Torontonian and one knowledgeable in the business. We immediately thought of Al Smith and elected him by proxy. We kept our fingers crossed and hoped that he would accept the position.
Mr. Al Smith did accept the position of Vice-President in person when he and Mr. Mike Carley, of Ontario, attended the April Convention of 1966, held in the good old Manhatten Hall.
We now formed two associations: The B.C. Chapter and the National Association with offices in Vancouver for both associations. The elected officers for the B.C. Chapter were: President, Ken Ward, of New Horizon Health Supplies, New Westminster, Vice-President was Helena Blum, of 3-way Health Store, Vancouver, and 2nd Vice-President was Florence Hogg, of Natural Health Products, Langley. I was eventually appointed Secretary-Treasurer.
The National elected officers were: President Arthur Thrun, of Vancouver; 1st Vice-President Sloan “Al” Smith of Toronto; Executive Secretary Margaret Thrun; 2nd Vice-President Victor Baich of Nanaimo; Treasurer Ella Birzneck of Burnaby.
In June of 1966 the Ontario Chapter was organized. We were now on the way to getting organized across Canada, with plenty of hard work ahead for all concerned.
At present we are a much bigger and stronger Association but we have not yet reached the pinnacle of our goal. We can anticipate more battles to fight for our human rights. The bigger the army, the easier the burdens can be coped with. More members are needed. I would like to add that many more strong links should be added to our chain of strength. More strong shoulders should be put to the wheel of “Better Health for All Humanity”, so you strong fellows don’t hesitate to offer your services. To those who have not yet joined the Association, or have dropped out... Wake up, Think and Participate.

Editor's note: The national headquarters were originally located at 2813 West Broadway, Vancouver - just two blocks from Common Ground's current location.