Volunteering for Health

Country Life Natural Food Store and Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurant
(Columbus, GA)

In October 2019, Country Life Natural Food Store and Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurant celebrated a major milestone—50 years of serving the people of Columbus, GA. In the mid-1960s, Drs. Calvin and Agatha Thrash were dissatisfied with the results they were seeing in their practice, and began to search for natural methods of helping the sick. With the assistance of those more acquainted with natural healing methods, they opened a small store that would carry the items, and serve the food. “That small store and restaurant has grown into a Columbus landmark which serves over 1,000 people per week, and has been named by the local residents as the ‘Best Health Food Store’ and ‘Best Health Food Restaurant’ for multiple years,” said Richard Cecere, who has been Country Life’s store manager since 2014.

And in addition to Country Life, the doctors also purchased 200 acres of property in Seale, AL, and opened the Uchee Pines Institute, which is dedicated to helping those suffering from lifestyle issues (such as hypertension, smoking addiction, chronic pain, obesity, etc.) by using simple, natural methods such as exercise, vegetarian nutrition, massage, herbs and supplements and faith. Country Life is a non-profit, completely staffed by volunteers, in addition to trainees from Uchee Pines Institute who are working for mission service.

According to Cecere, Country Life sits on a 15,500-square-foot lot, with 4,000 square feet of store/restaurant space. On the first floor, the restaurant occupies 50 percent of the floor space (seats 44 inside, 10 outside). Room 1 houses supplements, herbal teas (300-plus varieties, including culinary spices) and essential oils. Room 2 contains packaged foods and health and beauty aids (HBA), and in Room 3, shoppers can find bulk foods (150-plus varieties, most organic or CCF [certified chemical-free]) and perishables (frozen foods/non-dairy). Room 4 is where the cash registers are located and the snacks and literature/books can be found. The second floor is for offices, storage, a conference room for health presentations, consultations and Bible studies.

Some of Country Life’s top suppliers include: NOW, Vita-Logic, DoTERRA essential oils, Bob’s Red Mill, Gardein, Daiya, Loma Linda and Heritage products, Good Health Chips, as well as Clark’s Bakery in Tennessee for their fresh breads and desserts.

And although the store currently carries more than 4,500 items, Country Life doesn’t currently have a private label line of products. “We do, however, carry a line of herbal products with the Uchee Pines label (soaps, salves, lip balms, tinctures, lotions, bath salts, estrogen cream, herbal tea blends),” explained Cecere.

While Country Life does have some competition—Fresh Market for packaged and bulk foods, frozen foods/non-dairy products, as well as Vitamin Shoppe and GNC for supplements—Cecere noted that 2018 was Country Life’s best year yet. “We welcomed over 50,000 customers, and served over 38,000 meals in our restaurant,” he said. “We see an average of 200-plus customers per day. Our restaurant (serving lunch only) totals about $1,200 per day, while our store totals about $4,000 per day. Our restaurant and supplement/herb room are the most popular and profitable areas for us. “Certainly, having a vegan/vegetarian restaurant (we are plant-based with honey in some recipes) and health food store under one roof separates us from the local competition,” Cecere added. “We can offer a warm, healthy meal to our customers either before or after they shop the store.”

Education

The staff at Country Life said it holds education in the highest regard and believes that their main purpose is to educate customers on living a healthy lifestyle. “As we are connected to Uchee Pines Lifestyle Institute, we have access to their medical staff and lifestyle counselors,” Cecere explained. “Nearly each week of the year (on Thursday afternoons), we schedule a health program for the public. These presentations range from lectures on cancer, diabetes, heart disease, auto-immune issues and depression, to demonstrations on home remedies, hydrotherapy, the use of activated charcoal, herbal remedies, gardening, juicing and sprouting, to classes on making your own soap, body lotions and household cleaners. Our most popular classes are our vegan cooking demos, which we try to schedule bimonthly. Total annual attendance for all our classes is near 1,000. We offer a large variety of free pamphlets and magazines on health in both the store and restaurant. We also have a naturopathic doctor and herbalist available by appointment for consultation.”

And when asked what the secret to Country Life’s success is, Cecere noted that one of the store’s greatest strengths is that, on any given year, there are 50 different volunteers to staff the store and restaurant, mostly from countries all over the world. “The mix of friendly, knowledge people from various cultures and backgrounds who are happy to serve creates a wonderful atmosphere that is inviting to our customers,” he said. “A passion for healthy living, sharing and encouraging those who want to make improvements in eating, thinking and exercise, is the foundation of our ministry to the city.” VR