Health Food Store (HEALTH AND LIFESTYLE)

HEALTH AND LIFESTYLE

It is amazing how one concept or idea can stick in you head for a long period of time and influence how you think. I tend to be a very opinionated person. I try to monitor this as best I can by gathering facts and information prior to making an opinion. This is not always easy for me, but at least I do recognize that I do this. I try to remind myself that one bad experience should not be generalized.

Back in the late seventies when I was in college I shared a house with nine other women. I knew two of the women from high school. Six of us share a kitchen on the main level of the house and four shared a kitchen in the lower level. It was interesting as college students to see how we all prepared meals. I made a lot of sandwiches and ate cold cereal. The woman that was considered our “house mother” ate only natural foods. She and her parents had lived in a commune that served only organic foods that were raised in the compound.

One day we were the only two in the house. She asked me if I wanted to go to the health food store with her. I did not know there was such a place in the city where we attended college, so I agreed to go along. The health food store had whole grains, spices, dried fruits and organically grown vegetables and fruits. It was not very well cared for. I saw mouse droppings in several places and the place had a funky smell. I helped my house mate carry her things to the car and then into the house and I never set foot in a health food store for ten years.

Ten years later I was married and we were living in another city. I was making a special recipe for a family gathering and needed a spice that I was not able to find at any grocery store. One clerk suggested that I try the health food store because they had a large selection of fresh and dried herbs and spices. She gave me directions on how to get there. I was reluctant to go into the health food store, but I wanted the recipe to turn out so I went. I was pleasantly surprised at the health food store. It was clean and well organized. They had wonderful herbs and spices that were in bulk so you could buy small or large quantities. They also had natural juices and many different grains. I had passed the store numerous times without stopping because I had generalized that all health food stores would be dirty and smelly. I now shop their frequently.

HEALTH AND LIFESTYLE - Health Food Store