MGKLIST
The New GRASS
ROOTS
48 WOODLANDS RD CHARING CROSS G3
Vegetarian WH OLE F 00D DELICATESSEN
If its good we've got it
kiddies play area baby changing easy parking gluten, wheat free etc
a workers co-op
041 353 3278
O-QCQI-nuuuunu-uauunq
7 OLD FWRKET CLOSE
brasserie
39/ Open seven days food served all day tri 8: sat
restaurant
tuesdcy- saturday I900 - 2200
@435
l
The whole story
As Grassroots returns to the Glasgow wholefood scene, Catherine Fellows checks out the advantages and the moral dilemmas of health-food specialists.
Now might seem a strange time for a wholefood store to open. After all. not even your fish-supper junkie turns a hair these days at the ‘cranky‘ alternatives that used to be the exclusive preserve of such places. Supermarkets are full of wholemeal bread. brown rice. pulses. herb teas. and they stock organic fruit and veg. Exotica such as tofu and miso can be found in ever-better Asian shops: even the few ‘ethical' products on the market are finding their way onto the shelves of delicatessens and general stores. But despite the competition. one wholefood store has just reopened. Grassroots was a thriving 'nstitution in Glasgow's trendy West End until two years ago. when a
FOOD
the premises sent it into liquidation.
The new shop is in Woodlands Road.
and Paul Knight. who was largely responsible for the resuscitation. is confident that it has a bright future. According to Knight. the great advantage that shops such as his have is the quality ofscrvicc they cart offer. Shop staffare personally interested in the issues that the range of products implies — healthy eating. vegetarianism. and the implications of food production for society and the environment. Only in a wholefood shop cart a parent whose kid has gone vegetarian get recipe ideas and reassurance. or a student ask what to do with bulgltar wheat without getting a rude answer. Knight feels that people are still in need of this kind of advice — and with recent publicity given to the importance of diet. the services of the w holefood shops’ healthy-eating gurus could be called upon by afar wider public. Staff are also happy to advise people with specific dietary needs — if they do not already know about the contents of products. they will make it their business to find out. (irassroots also stocks special gluten-free and wheat-free ranges. Another factor that Paul Knight stresses is that (it'assroots is rttn as a co-operative. Something ofa guarantee of integrity. it also allows the shop to stock lines that a supermarket would find unprofitable. The primary motivation behind the shop is not money: in fact. any it makes will be used to establish and support further co-ops. Having said that. Knight is the first to admit that things are far
compulsory refurbishmentorderon I fromidcal. Asoneofhisprincipal
suppliers. Martin Meatyard ofthc (ilasgow based (ircen (‘it’y co-opcrative pttts it. compromises have to be made all over'the place.
l le is eager to promote the goods of Equal Exchange. forexamplc. which are produced by 'l'hird World workers with decent wages and working conditions. in an environmentally sensitive way. but says that. as yet. there are just not enough wholly ethical products to fill P a shop. Manyoftheir goods may be far from perfect in terms of how and where they originate. but only if they are viable businesses can the wholefood shops provide. as they do. the tnost conspicuous platform for really exemplary products. and at the satne time help your average Scot to better nutrition.
Glasgow I Evergreen Bo Nithstlale Road. 442
1303,
I Forrest and Niven 73 St Vincent Street. 33] 7865.
I Grassroots 48‘ Woodlands Road.
2378.
“6‘s
Edinburgh
I Henderson‘s Farm Shop ()2
Hanover Street. 225 new.
I Henderson’s Wholemeal Bakery 1
Brandon 'l’ert'acc. (‘anonmills. 556 737.
I Nature's Gate 83 ('lerk Street. O68
3067.
I Real Foods 37 Broughton Street.
557 lUl l . and 8 Brougham Street.
228’ Ill”.
I Roots (ill .\'ewington Road. 668
2888.
Products, packaging and politics: health-food shops challenge the orthodoxy
70 The List 17—30July 1992