Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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life-styli The juice bar offers fresh whol, Vegetaria Simple Li BY BOB BAKER Editor-in-Chief Have you ever driven by 221 Pickens St. and seen the brightly painted sign over the door and wondered just exactly what the place was? Did you think it was just a vegetarian restaurant patronized by long-haired young men and bra less young women? If you did, you're wrong. The 221 Pickens St. Co-operative is more than just a restaurant. It is a non-profit educational organization whose purpose is to provide a medium whereby members can study basic problems confronting human society and put into practical application solutions they find. ONE OF the major problems facing the world at this time is the food shortage, according to co-op worker Genie Hardee, therefore food conservation is one of the main areas that the co-operation (Hardee said she can't really call the group a co-operative because South Carolina guidelines state that to be called such, you must be a business for profit) deals with. One of their aims is to have joint ownership in distributing food goods and services, and in eliminating the middle man--your faceless grocer who tacks on his own little mark-up to cover his own major costs. The idea of a food co-op, to many people, may seem a complicated inconvenience. By budgeting your time and giving a few hours of work to the co-op each month (221 Pickens requires a minimum of four hours a month ),the food co-op is setting in motion a chain of events that could change this country's orientation towards shopping. TIHE BENEFITS of buying co operatively are numerous. Prices are cheaper for one. Consider these prices surveyed six weeks ago: cantaloupes selling for 49 cents at local chain stores sold for 34 cents at 221 Pickens; blueberries selling for 79 cents a pint at local chains were going for 63 cents at 221 Pickens; other lopsided comparisons found e wheat bread as well as a variety of n Co-op:V1 berated 1 watermelons going for 57 cents each and apple cider for $1.59 a gallon as compared to local chains' much higher prices. And, not only are prices cheaper than chain stores, Hardee said, but they are much fresher than their chain-store counterparts. This, of course, is a result of dealing straight with the wholesaler allowing for more careful selection of produce before distribution, Hardee said. Another convenience noted at the co-op is that there are no check-out counters where you must stand in line for 20 minutes with your pissed-off attitude over inflated prices. Instead common ideas are shared by members in a relaxed setting. There is one catch to all of this, however. To participate in the savings earned from buying through the co-op, you must declare yourself a working member. To do this, all that is required is that one pays a charter membership of $5 and pledge to work at least one or two hours a With arrestingly unusual signs nouances its existence. The npurpose n Ir Dan@ Edons Juices, yogurt and kefir. ore Than leas week helping out at the co-op. If this arrangement is unsuitable, say a potential member does not have any free time to work, he must pay a charger membership of $10 to participate in the co-op's benefits. IN ADDITION to the restaurant and dry goods store, a juice bar, auto mechanics service, lending library, wood work shop, Free University classes, and skills collective, and there are also plans in the works for a recycling center. In the dry goods section, Hardee said, "we stock just about anything from natural handcreams and herbal medicines to anything in earth foods such as granola or chick peas." A close inspection of the shop verifies this. Not only can one find the calmative, chamomile; or the female corrective, squaw tea, in the natural herbal medicines section but there is also arrowroot flour (a thickening agent similar to cornstarch, but "more nutritious") and peppermint (the real thing to make beverages or use as the co-op an- provide a medi f the co-op is to ,.ane with b-asi Co-op workers weigh produce for total costs for the day's order. flavoring) in the natural foods section, in addition to at least a hundred other special items. The area itself, with the dry goods in old-timey jars provides a "natural" educational experience in itself to the interested onlooker. HARDEE, WHO spent several months in western New York and in the Southwest studying herbal medicines, is knowledgeable on the subject and does not mind ex plaining the many different benefits of the various herbs for interested visitors. This fall, she will be offering a Free University course (provided through the University Union) at USC in natural foods and medicines. The co-operation, Hardee said, is not a money-making proposition at all. Besides sustaining a sizeable overhead in the restaurant and store, Hardee claims the restaurant is now just about breaking even. "We don't really charge that high a price for meals," Hardee Dane Edens am whereby members can study and e nrohlems of OIay's ie. Ilk" .J. Dane Edens vegetable orders and tabulate said. "When we opened (1/2 years ago) we only charged $1.05 a meal. We wanted to keep prices at that level, but with inflation we had to up our prices to $1.75 for lunch and $2.00 for supper," she said. "But everything's fresh and you get a lot with your meal, such as a main course (vegetarian of course), a salad, a desert, and a natural juice. Besides, none of the food is canned. It's fresh and unadulterated with chemicals," she said. SPEAKING OF juices, they are often made right before your eyes - in the "juice bar," and it's quite an experience to behold, especially for someone who's always been use to pouring something out of a can or jar. The juice bar being an experimental kitchen, is involved with perfecting bean and seed sprouting methods, culturing milk products such as yogurt and kefir and also providing a variety of salads and sandwiches for lunches. Right now, according to Terry Coon who operates the juice bar on Saturdays, "we make watermelon juice, carrot juice. apple juice, grape juice and lemonade. I've even madle cucumber juice, celery, bell pepper juice and even pineapple juice for people that request such concoctions. Our - juices are neither pasteurized nor filtered," Coon said, "so you get the full natural taste meant to be enjoyed." Hardee saidl the prices of meals at most natural foods places are exorbitant compared to the restaurant. ''You see, full-time workers aren't given a salary. We live and work together. We've simplified our life styles such that we don't need too many extra things. We just barely get enough to make our overhead expenses, she said. 221 Pickens has seven full-time workers who do nothing but devote their time to the co-op and co operative living. Also, in .July there were 107 part-time working memhers in addition to 37 sup