THE people throughout the world have revolted against “scientific” medicine, which acts with dangerous subcutaneous injections, dangerous, benumbing and habit-creating drugs given in large doses and unnecessary surgical operations. Millions are turning in disgust from orthodox medicine to homoeopathy, nature cure in every form, drugless treatment, osteopathy, water cure, Christian science, etc.
There is a similar revolt against “scientific” foods, against foods which are elaborated not by nature, but by laboratory men. We are exhorted in countless advertisements to ear de-vitaminized and de-mineralized foods, preserved, dyed or flavoured with injurious or actually poisonous chemicals. The poorer classes often hardly get any fresh natural food at all.
We are not even allowed to get milk in its natural form for our babies, and water is frequently made nauseous by chlorination, while vegetables and fruit are deteriorated by the use of chemical manures, and fruit is made unsafe to eat by spraying it with Arsenic and other poisons.
More than thirty years ago a young man, Mr. J. H. Cook, who had cured himself of serious physical infirmity by adopting vegetarianism as a diet to bring him back to natural health by natural means, opened a little shop in Birmingham for the sale of wholesome foods and called it a health food store. Probably other shop-keepers laughed at his enterprise, exactly as they laughed at the poor workmen of Rochdale who in 1844 pooled their pennies and opened in Toad Lane a little shop which they called the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers.
At the beginning their whole stock in trade consisted of a single chest of tea. From this small beginning rose the gigantic organization of co-operative societies with a membership of 6,610,000, retail sales of L207,457,000 during the last year and distributing a dividend of L20,000,000 last year. Idealism, combined with shrewd commonsense and business acumen often does miracles.
Mr. Cook, being an idealist and a good business man, not only created a prosperous business enterprise, but he encouraged the creation of health food shops throughout the country and he was highly successful. There are now about a thousand health food shops in the United Kingdom and there is room for many more. The public has learned to distrust the “scientific” foods of the food faker. There is a latent, unlimited and unsatisfied demand for natural wholesome foods.
Mr. Cook has written an excellent volume “How to Run a Health Food Store Successfully,” which is obtainable from the Pitman Health Food Company, Vitaland, Four Oaks, Warwickshire, at the price of 5s. It contains 180 pages of shrewd practical wisdom and idealism. It does not talk vaguely about health and business success, but tells the reader what to sell and what not to sell, how to buy and how not to buy, how to buy an established shop and how to found a new business,how to dress windows, how to advertise, how to keep books, how to treat customers, etc. In his introduction, the well-known food reformer and health specialist Macfadden, wrote :.
The future salvation of the race depends upon the Food Reform Movement. When people realize that their bodies are created from the food they eat, and that their vitality and strength, mentally and physically, depend upon the character of this nourishment, they will then take some interest in this extremely important subject.
For generations we have catered for tastes that are often more or less abnormal. The fact that food must contain the life principles essential to build vitality has never until recently been given the slightest attention. If the race is to be preserved, the principles of the Food Reform Movement must soon be given complete recognition.
I think that most of the readers of HEAL THYSELF will agree with these views and with the aim of the Health Food Store Movement. We read in the book mentioned :.
As soon as the stores came into my hands. I set out with a definite purpose in view, namely, to promote health by teaching men and women how to live and eat for health, long life and greater enjoyment.
Among the many obstacles in the way of attaining perfect health, even among food reformers, is the eating of the wrong foods and of too much and too many kinds of food. Many of us appear to possess much more wisdom in feeding horses than in feeding ourselves. We give oats to horses in proportion to the work we expect from them, and turn them out to grass when they have no work to do.
Most foods contain impurities, but when animal foods are partaken of, the body consumes these impurities ready-made. Those who put their trust in drugs or medicines are likely to find themselves in the same plight as the woman in the Bible “who has suffered many things of many physicians and grew no better, but rather grew worse. “Good health is worth sacrificing something for, if it can be called sacrifice to give up the inferior to gain the superior.
It would appear to be a misnomer for any man to be selling Health Foods unless he himself possesses good health. He himself must be a good advertisement for his store. Let us hope that there will never be cause for the cynical command, “physician heal thyself.” One must possess health and fitness before it can be passed on to others.
A polite note from ones bank manager, or a glance at ones pass book may result in the knowledge that ones banking account is not in a sound condition; but how is a busy man to be sure that he is not drawing unduly on his health reserves ? Health is far more important than banking.
In this respect many of us imitate the lady who had received her first cheque book and, having overdrawn her account and received a notice to this effect, protested to her banker that there must be some mistake, as she had not yet used up half her cheque book. We seem to live in a fools paradise, thinking that we continue to draw on our health without replenishing our reserves. Many a good man has become a physical and mental wreck for the want of this simple knowledge.
“Homoeopathic remedies should be selected not because of the name of the disease but because of the fact that the patient has a group of disease symptoms which corresponds with a similar group of symptoms produced on the healthy when they are given the remedy chosen.” DR. CLOTAR MULLER.
James Ellis Barker wrote a very large number of books, both under the name James Ellis Barker and under his real German name Otto Julius Eltzbacher, The Truth about Homœopathy; Rough Notes on Remedies with William Murray; Chronic Constipation; The Story of My Eyes; Miracles Of Healing and How They are Done; Good Health and Happiness; New Lives for Old: How to Cure the Incurable; My Testament of Healing; Cancer, the Surgeon and the Researcher; Cancer, how it is Caused, how it Can be Prevented with a foreward by William Arbuthnot Lane; Cancer and the Black Man etc.