Thursday, January 6, 2011

The Heartwood Standard and the health food tour of the world...

I grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I ate crap when I was young. By the time I was in my early twenties it was starting to show: poor health, no energy, generally unwell. Then, with the stress of getting married at 24 and my Mom dying shortly thereafter - I ended up pretty sick with stomach and intestinal problems - later diagnosed as candidiasis.
In that time I went through all kinds of crazy diets - gluten free, starch free, taste-free, sugar (even including fruit) free... Ug!
I later got better, through a 16-day Master Cleanser fast which cleaned my body out and basically pressed the reset button on my health. But I am lactose intolerant, sugar bugs me, so I avoid it if possible, white flour is nutritionless glue (a separate rant) and I even eat gluten free when possible just for variety and to give my body a break. In the name of being healthy so I can do my work and enjoy it, and life (a lot), I'm a bit of a health and health-food nut. No pun intended.
Back then, mid 90's, was when I discovered Heartwood Bakery, on Quinpool Road - it was, and still is, fantastic. Halifax is not a big city, 3-400,000 people. I always assumed bigger, hipper cities had even better health food options. Wrong-o!
Heartwood Bakery and Cafe offers gluten free, sugar free, dairy free, food and treats. They used to offer food buffet style, which I preffered, but now you have to order the meal you want - it's still pretty great. But the thing I really love is the treats! They have bars, pies, about five kinds of cookies, what my ex and I used to call "buckwheat screamers" - buckwheat-ginger cookies, and they're all friggin' fabulous!!
Now, to a normal sweet eater, someone who consumes XX pounds per year of western cultures favorite sedative - sugar (no offense) these treats are not mind-blowing, some are quite good, some are not so exciting.
But for someone who has sworn it off, whether for health or policy reasons, they are mind-blowing! You can taste more after you give up sugar, you can taste the actual natural sweetness of things, which is a much more diverse and pleasing spectrum of flavours than everything being "sugar-flavoured."
So, I used to wander into Heartwood fairly regularly when I lived here, pick up a day old loaf of sourdough bread, and a treat or two, maybe a buckwheat screamer and an oatcake for the road... but I always assumed, like a said, that bigger and hipper cities had better, or at least similar options.
I've been on a health-food tour for quite a few years now - everywhere I go I immediately scope out the health food store, restaurant, cafe - in town. Some you can find online, others you have to find one (usually the health food store is easiest to initially locate) and ask them where the others are, or just ask your hippie friends.
Brighton, in southern England, has some fantastic health food stores and super fresh organic produce in the summer - lots of options. Geneva has a good health food store too. LA has lots of them, although mostly pretty corporate. Paris - don't even bother, it's hell for the lactose intolerant (I love it for other reasons though). Eureka, Oregon has an awesome co-op right on the 101 as you blow through town, and Santa Cruz has a place called the Staff of Life. It has some nice baked goodies, but is no Heartwood.
The closest I've found is Gorilla Food in Vancouver, on Richards, they have all raw sweets and meals, which are fabulous, but since it's raw it's a different bag. In some ways it's better, in some ways not as good, it doesn't have the range and diversity of Heartwood, which is fair, because raw is more limiting. It is better in the way that - it is raw, which rocks.
Interestingly - in both cases - the cafe is driven by an owner (Laura - Heartwood, Aaron - Gorilla) with vision and perseverance, who stick to their guns and refuse to compromise on ingredients or quality.
Still, over the years of travelling and always seeking out the local healthfood options - I have developed what I call "The Heartwood Standard' - the bar I hold all other places to:
- Are there sweet options that have no dairy, gluten, or sugar?
- I mean - none of those! Many places offer something with no gluten - it almost always has milk, or sugar, or both. Likewise, if it's lactose free - they pound the sugar to it. Why? I don't get it.
- If there are such options, how many? one, two?
- Are they fresh?
- Are they good?
- Are they mind-blowingly good?
- If I come back tomorrow can I get something different?
- Are there sweet and meals?
- Would I take a date there?
- Is it clean?
- Is it fresh?
- How do I feel after I eat?
These are some of the questions that I started to develop to compare health food cafes/restaurants/stores(that offer prepared food) to Heartwood. Like a checklist. Like I said, Gorilla Food does great on the Heartwood Standard, I wouldn't want to have to say whom I prefer - Heartwood 'n I go way back. But it's the only real contender so far.
I know there are tons of places out there I haven't visited, tased, and held to the Heartwood Standard. Any suggestions of places to try in your town, or that you have found in your travels - please let me know! The health food tour of the world goes on...

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