Health is paramount to a thriving society. Although it’s always been an important topic, the last two years have raised awareness for people to maintain their health as the pandemic burned through unhealthy communities.
With rural areas not having the same resources or education in terms of healthy lifestyles that exist in metropolitan communities, one Montesano store is looking to make a difference.
Organics 101 Market will be hosting a presentation titled “Organic Foods: Why be picky about what you eat” at the Montesano Timberland Library. The plan is to discuss how eating “right” can bring positive life-changing consequences.
The store has been operating in the Montesano community for nearly eight years and prides itself on being a place that is against the use and selling of genetically modified organisms (GMO’s). As a result, the store only sells fresh, organic goods in their market, deli, and juice bar.
Michelle Hutchinson, who is the owner of Organics 101 Market, says the Montesano Timberland Library reached out to her for the idea of presenting and thought it would be a great idea to spread ideals of healthy lifestyles. She says her store is dedicated to spreading food awareness and providing only the highest quality foods and beverages.
“The library has this program they do every month called “Lunch for your Brains” and they asked if I wanted to be a part of it on behalf of my store,” Hutchinson said via phone call. “I think it’s a great opportunity for people to understand why it’s important to choose organic foods over nonorganic foods that are made by corporations that don’t value our health.”
Hutchinson explained further that she believes our food system has been taken over by for-profit corporations that need to use GMOs to supplement their “fast” food industry. She also feels that genetic engineering of our foods is a symptom of a much larger problem.
As for the presentation itself, Hutchinson says she will be bringing a valued customer, Tracy Ridout, to discuss how he used her store to help transform his health, as well as show evidence of how organic foods can be a staple in the health awareness community. Hutchinson noted that she’s nervous about what the size of the audience could be, but still wants to spread the information.
“Honestly, this will be the first time that I do a presentation like this for the public. My biggest fear is that no one shows up besides the library group that helped me organize this,” Hutchinson said while laughing. “I think having Tracy explain his weight-loss journey through organic food use is going to be really interesting for people to hear about and I hope to see people from the community come attend.”
For people who wish to attend, the presentation will be held on Tuesday, May 24, at noon, in the Montesano Timberland Library lat 125 South Main St., in Montesano. The presentation will also be included in a Zoom format for those that our unable to attend. Information pertaining to the presentation, as well as Zoom logins can be found by contacting the library at 360-249-4211.
