Granary offers good food and remedies

Press, 17 March 1987, Page 34

Granary offers good food and remedies

The Granary health food shop has shifted from 92 Riccarton Road to a new location on the Rotherham Street side of the new Countdown Centre, Riccarton. Mrs Margaret Tate, the owner of the shop, has been in health food for two years, having started it from an interest in nutrition, and the importance of good eating habits.

After bringing up a family of her own, Mrs Tate feels she is able to offer good dietary advice to her customers.

Asked what kind of clientele the Granary attracted, Mrs Tate said that there was a great variety of people visiting—young and old. The majority, however,

are older people and students. “Students come in, I think, because they’re much more aware of good healthy foods and what to steer clear of ”, said Mrs Tate. “People are linking allergies and sickness to diets, and it’s sinking in that you are what you eat,” she said.

“Health shops also offer very different types of food, and I find that much of the time I spend with customers is in explaining what certain beans and other ingredients are useful for, and how they are cooked.”

This is a part of the job that Mrs Tate enjoys, as she has always enjoyed learning to cook new dishes.

Those who are very keen on health ingredients will be able to purchase bulk honey, oils, tahini and tomare, to name a few. Any containers brought from home will be filled at the shop.

Most foods, however, are still bought from week to week to ensure freshness. Ethnic food fans will enjoy browsing through a wide range of herbs and spices often very obscure to the European ear. Sufferers of allergies are strongly advised by Mrs Tate to check with her staff or herself before buying a product, so as to ensure there is no ingredient there which will harm them.

Mrs Tate is slso a stong advocate of homeopathy, and sells many of the cures in her shop. Homeopathy, according to one source, is an approved form of medicine where remedies are matched

against the patient’s illness to select one which covers the greatest number of symptoms. Mrs Tate says the remedies have been diluted and are absolutely safe, yet extremely effective where the symptoms agree. There are no sideeffects, she says, or risk of poisoning with homeopathic remedies. This makes them very suitable for young children, babies, and adults alike. Falls, sprains, bruises, burns and cuts, as well as common colds and influenza can be treated

with these remedies.

Taking vitamins as part of the daily diet is something which Mrs Tate disagrees with, “A good, well-balanced diet should provide all the important nutrients that the body needs without having to artificially ‘inject’ any vitamin pills into the system,” she said. For advice on special diets, Mrs Tate said, she and her staff have many years of experience in health foods to be able to cope with any queries a customer might have in this field.