A Health Food Store
Means a Healthier Community
Any store gathers a community of like minded people. A feed
store attracts the agricultural community, and an auto parts
store gathers those interested in motor vehicles. People make
political and social choices when they shop: they "vote
with their dollars," deciding who and what they will
associate with and support.
A health food store first and foremost offers a community
another way to make informed consumer choices. It can gather
people from many walks of life around the issues of environment,
agriculture, health, social justice and economy. It creates
community health on many fronts. It recognizes the value of
offering a community food with organic certification, high
nutritional value, proven health benefits, and lower levels
of processing, as well as foods which are necessary for special
diets and produced relatively locally, providing environmental
and economic stability.
Health food stores can support holistic health and healers
through education and by helping people make connections.
People shopping at health food stores make lots of connections.
Perhaps most obviously, they connect the environment to farming,
farming to food, and food to their own health. The accepted
point of view is that ingesting vitamin and mineral supplements,
super foods, whole and organically grown foods, and herbs
and herbal preparations can positively affect one's health.
A health food store can purchase more locally produced food
and other items than a large grocery chain with greater volume
needs, it can be more responsive to individual customers'
needs, and it can serve as a focal point for community education
and activism on food related issues.
Health food stores can support an agriculture whose methods
do not deplete soil, water, air, wildlife, or human community
resources, as opposed to methods that rely heavily on petroleum
products (like gasoline, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides)
and/or exploited labor. In a time of political instability
in the region where the greatest percentage of the world's
oil reserves lie, and at a time when the U.S. is realizing
the implications of its illegal and exploited (farm, amongst
others) labor force, health food stores can offer valuable
markets to farmers who practice more sustainable methods.
Farmers markets can be supported and promoted by health food
stores. Many of these stores do not offer produce themselves,
but even if they do, it does not need to be considered a conflict
of interest. On Farmers Market days, farmers can often sell
their "leftovers" to the local groceries and health
food store. If a farmers market is located within city limits,
many businesses will benefit from the influx of customers
on what otherwise might be a slow day or time of day. Tourists
are also attracted to farmers markets.
The issue of food is closely tied to our environment, health,
social justice and economy, and thus, a health food store
can contribute to community health in many ways.
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Author: Eric Choong
Please visit my website at: http://www.health-beauty-care.com
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