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Wednesday, December 15, 1999 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER B1 Your U ltim ate Oakville Website OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR OF THE OAKVILLE WATERFRONT FESTIVAL Focus F O U R T H L IN E A U T O For All Your Car's Needs Drive Clean Emission Testing Government Safety Inspection Tune-Ups · Brakes · Exhaust · Cooling Systems CAA Approved Shop 559 Speers Road 842-3001 In Business in Oakville Since 1979 O a k v ille B e a v e r F ocu s Editor: WILMA BLOKHUIS 8 4 5 -3 8 2 4 (Extension 250) Fax: 3 3 7 - 5 5 6 7 Alternativesow nersharespassionfororganicfood B y W ilm a Blokhuis BEAVER FOCUS EDITOR The story of Alternatives Market, Oakville's first organic grocery store and cafe, has found its way into a new book titled Sweeping the Earth: Women Taking Action fo r a Healthy Planet. Alternatives owner, Lorri King, is among 35 women from 11 countries to contribute to the book edited by Miriam Wyman, a Toronto area psy chologist, writer and environmentalist. How King got involved was "serendipity. We were at this gathering, a networking meeting, when I met somebody who was a friend of Miriam's. We got to talking and before I knew it I was to be included in her book. "I guess it was because of my inter est in organic food, having sat on the Ontario Pesticide Council, and being an organic food retailer. It began almost 25 years ago, when she and her husband, Lew King, bought their small farm on Trafalgar Road North and decided to try their hand - and luck - at `subsistence farming.' "My husband, Lew, and I were liv ing in Oakville at the time, but I decid ed that subsistence farming was the way to go," write King in a chapter titled Organic Food. "I had never farmed before. I found an old house located on five hectares of land we adept farmers. King learned to live off the land. "I learned how to grind wheat, bake bread, milk goats, catch chickens, smoke ham, render lard, cul ture yogurt, separate cream, chum but ter, make cheese, make tofu, bake whole-wheat pie crust, and preserve hundreds of jars of fruits and vegeta bles. "Not only did I learn about farm ing," she continued, "I also learned about our earth, the seasons, the effect of weather on our small crops and, most importantly, I began to under stand the devastating effects of pesti cides and herbicides on us and on life in general. .. "I learned how to grow produce organically. I learned how delicious real food is, without additives and preservatives. I learned from the ground to the table how food is grown and prepared . . . " They soon realized that their small farm was not sufficient to keep the family of four in fresh food year round, hence King went scurrying to the supermarket in search of fresh vegeta bles in winter - and found the grocery stores of the day did not offer any organic choices, and health food stores did not sell any food to speak of. It was enough to set the wheels in motion. King, who had returned to teaching, organized a food buying co op with some of her co-workers who shared her frustration about not being able to buy organic food for their fami lies. After only a few months, King found herself doing all of the work herself. "I did most to the legwork sourcing dried fruits, honey, quality yogurts, peanut butter, dried beans and seeds and a variety of other foods. It was a frustrating time because I found that although everyone was interested, I seemed to be the only one who was passionate about the quality of food were b u y in g .. . it was a lot of volun teer work." King decided to set up a `store' at her farmhouse. "Lew built bins and offered mountains of support and encouragement." King bought a second hand fridge and used retail food scale. And, she inherited a mechanical adding machine and an ice cream freezer. Her first `specials' were soy beans and unprocessed wheat bran. She placed a hand-drawn advertise ment in a local newspaper, and the rest, they say, is history. Alternatives moved from their farmhouse into a small retail outlet on Inglehart Street. It was the first bulk food health store to open between Toronto and Guelph. Some four to five years later it moved to the top of Reynolds Street, remaining there for 12 years until it was bursting at the seams. About 10 years ago, it moved to its present location in a plaza at Kerr Street and Shepherd Road. Sweeping the Earth is available at Alternatives. Photo by Peter C. McCusker M iriam W yman, left; and Lorri King o f Alternatives, autograph copies of Sweeping the Earth: Women Taking Action fo r a Healthy Planet, at the book's recent launch. Wyman is its editor; King is among 35 contributors. decided to gather our family and move to the country. By then we had two small boys (two and three years old) and lots of energy. Lew had to keep his job in the city because, after all, we had a mortgage to pay on our 100year-old dilapidated farmhouse. We bought our first Troybilt - known to all subsistence farmers of the day as the only rototiller to have. We tilled a hectare or so, bought three milk cows (which grew to a herd of 24 in a few years), a couple of dozen hens and a few ducks and geese. We planted our seeds, nailed together a bam for our goats and chickens, installed a wood stove to heat the old farmhouse and hunkered down for some hot summers and cold winters." And, so it began. They became rem oves barriers o f disability B y W ilm a Blokhuis BEAVER FOCUS EDITOR The six members of COARE are a determined lot. All six have varying physical disabilities, from a slight speech impairment and needing a walker to get around, to being confined to a wheelchair. But, all six are proficient at computers and Internet use. Each contributes skills to what has become a fledgling Internet business aiming for self-sufficiency. None are disabled on the Internet. The six partners, who currently work from their homes and communicate via email, are looking for accessible office space. COARE - Creative Opportunities And Reality Expressions - began with 20 people taking a train ing program. Over its past two years of operation, the number dwindled down to the six who have formed a business partnership. The company's mission is to provide quality products and service to enhance daily living worldwide. An assortment of practical and reason ably priced products, geared to improve the lifestyles and comfort levels of people with dis abilities and medical conditions, seniors, and oth ers, are sold via the Internet. The products include edema and diabetic socks, hand stitched without ridged seams; sheep skin crutch covers, walker handle covers, bed booties, elbow pads, limb sleeves, baby blankets and lambs wool underblankets; book clips made from durable plastic, and products from The Soap Factory including green apple shampoo, all-pur pose cleaner, laundry miracle stain remover, bath room cleaner - all biodegradable and environmen tally friendly. In addition, COARE provides lifestyle tips on C O A R E's logo - wheelchair user in motion. its web site - www.coare.com - on everything from how to prevent a steel wool scouring pad from rusting (place in plastic bag and store in freezer) to removing broken light bulbs safely (push raw potato into jagged edges o f the glass) and maintaining dust free blinds (clean wearing cotton gloves or socks on your hands, then run dryer sheet over each slat to repel dust). People are also invited to interact and share ideas. (See 'COARE's . . . 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