With “health-foods” – foods made with natural ingredients, non-GMO and organic products – cropping up more recently in Safeways and Walmarts across the USA, what makes products sold at a privately owned, worker-run store like Corners of the Mouth so special?
The primary answer is COMMITMENT – commitment to uphold and promote organic, sustainable agriculture and local economies that preserve our soil, water and air. Commitment to protecting and promoting a genetic legacy of crop seeds to prevent the devastation of the entire world’s food supply, plus guarding Gaia’s plants and animals – especially those that are endangered. Commitment to living with low-impact consumption habits and moving away from a fossil-fuel-based world to a society powered by alternative energy sources and products. And most importantly, commitment to an abundant and sovereign local community base.
Are we living our ideal? We try to! Every CHOICE we make about what, where and from whom we purchase products, is rooted in those deeper commitments. That is why Corners carries many locally made, or cottage industry products mixed in with familiar brands. Fortunately, there are an increasing number of businesses making similar commitments for a better world, so there are many good product choices available.
We choose locally grown produce whenever possible, we prefer products with organic ingredients and those that are packaged in glass, recycled plastic or paper. We always try to choose vendors who put their profits into healthy social or environmental change.
With supplements, we choose companies that have solid product testing and have shown efficacy in the marketplace, herbs that come from good farming or collecting practices and we practice re-using (thanks for your bags!), recycling and composting at the store every day.
We also listen to and are influenced by customer suggestions and feedback about the products we carry – after all we are here to serve the community!
There are also plenty of challenges with increased fuel/shipping costs, lack of consistent product availability from smaller businesses, and federal or state regulatory rules that can limit choices or increase cost.
However, by shopping at Corners, you encourage us to keep our commitments and make the best choices we can for creating the kind of community and world we want to live in. Choosing to shop at small locally owned and operated health-food stores, such as Corners, has a wide reaching impact that is both personal and political, as well as supports the local economy. Health food stores are part of healing the planet!
The Scoop 