I own a health food store whose business has gone from flourishing to struggling. The economic decline has turned a successful business into a marginal enterprise. I work to stay open because the store is one of the ways I can help to increase health options for members of my community.
Health care is a highly politicized topic. Americans have just been through the wrenching experience of trying to get a national health care plan in place. Instead we were given a mandate to purchase health insurance in the commercial market. There were a few bones tossed our way such as coverage for pre-existing conditions. But the tiered cost of insurance, high premiums and care that doesn't cut in until 2014 have taken some of the joy out of this accomplishment.
I see the consequences of our under-insured community trying to make the best of this every day in my store.
(Link to my NN10 DFA scholarship application.)
As the economy continues to decline, more and more working families are coming into the store with food stamps. Many customers, from physical therapists to loggers, have had hours cut back and watched business decline. EBT cards are popping up like charge cards used to.
The economic decline has had a ripple effect, too. Last year, the organic dairy I purchase milk from had to dump 1000 gallons of organic milk a week, their market had grown so soft. The dairy adjusted for this by stopping the purchase of milk from one of their organic suppliers. This supplier then had to sell his organic milk at conventional prices to a conventional dairy processor at a substantial loss. I hope the farm is still in business, as the economic hit was hard.
Buying local is up-close and personal to me, both in terms of supporting local producers and going up against the competition. There are two large regional supermarkets within a couple of hundred yards of my store doing their best to drive me out of business. Their employees shop the store's produce to undercut my prices, study the supplements to see the latest trends and brands, and copy the bulk groceries and freezer items the store stocks. It's as though the store is a test market for what they should and shouldn't carry.
But I persist because good self care is relatively easy to practice, and can help ease pain and suffering while saving money. A few years ago I wrote a diary about my take on self care, which I define as accepting primary responsibility for the state of your own health. The diary is buried on a server somewhere, so I can't link to it. But some 800 comments later, with scientists bashing me and the skeptical calling me a snake oil salesman, I learned that many here still adhere to the pill for every ill doctrine.
I don't have a professional degree to back my empirical and experiential conclusions about health. But I'm in better health in my sixties than I was in my twenties. At that time my life was a struggle between migraines, allergies and cramps. Time took care of one of the conditions, but study and practice cured the others. Because I was able to rid myself of some painful and uncomfortable conditions that conventional medicine couldn't, it began my quest to help others help themselves. Attaining and maintaining good health is not difficult for most. For others, knowledge can ease pain and discomfort.
I hope to publish a book on self care in the next couple of years, as many self-help books come with a bias towards one diet or treatment modality at the exclusion of others I find valid. Some books are too technical, others lack grounding in research. I know the kind of information I sought when I began my quest to better understand health, and the solid introduction to self care I would like to have read can still be written. I hope to write such a book.
During the scholarship competition, I'll be writing diaries and sharing some research. I'll start with one of the easiest and simplest ways I have discovered to block pain and slow disease. If you in pain or are beginning to feel ill, halt all sugar intake, including fruit. Eat lighter fare, with a focus on raw and lightly steamed vegetables. Limit red meat and fats. This will limit pathogen growth, inflammation, and pain, as well as speed healing. Food that is easier to digest allows the body to better heal itself.
At the store, I price the organic produce pretty much at or below cost. Produce and its raw enzymes are a good foundation for good health. The customer perception is that organic produce is too expensive for their budget. I want customers to eat their fruits and veggies, so I make certain produce is well-priced. Anyone wishing to improve their own health, or maintain it, should consider buying all-organic produce.
That's today's diary. These first three diaries have been the introduction to my life's three basic "Fs" - first Finance, then Fashion, and now Food. Finance fascinated, fashion was fun, but now food has become my favorite "F". I can help more people help themselves in more ways through food than any other way I have found.
That is very satisfying.