Oryana, being the progressive, cooperative, and cool employer that it is, has instituted a plan for employees to help them STAY healthy and AVOID getting sick during flu season.

Get this…Oryana is offering employees a huge discount on select supplements/herbs/vitamins, another discount for items like Kombucha (a fermented drink that helps keep the gut healthy) and medicinal herbal teas and a punch card for discounted fresh juice drinks during flu season. We are also purchasing a SADD light to be placed in the employee break room and offering in-house Qi Gong classes. If an employee  chooses to go the conventional flu-prevention route a.k.a. flu shot, Oryana will reimburse that person.

What is YOUR place of employment doing to help the staff stay fit and healthy? Granted, we are a health food store and have all these great products at our fingertips, but still, perhaps employers could be doing more than just telling workers to wash their hands often (although that is, in fact, an excellent piece of flu-prevention advice) and get vaccinated. We are keeping our fingers crossed that our plan reduces absenteeism during what might be a bad flu season, or so the media is saying.

I feel fortunate to work for an outfit like Oryana, a co-op that puts so many principles before profit, that is being proactive and promoting good health as a preventative to seasonal, contagious illness. I encourage other Traverse City businesses to think of ways to support their employees in staying healthy, a strategy that not only helps workers personally, but is also good for the bottom line with reduced workplace absenteeism.

On the one hand, I was happy that 4 people showed up for my “Cooking for Dogs” class at the Grace Episcopal Church last night. On the other hand, I was sad that I couldn’t share the great information I put together for more people who might be interested in feeding their dogs better. But it was a start and maybe Traverse City-ites just aren’t familiar with the idea of homemade food for dogs (and cats too, although I’ve only learned it with my dog since I don’t have a cat.)

My demonstration on making dog food from scratch using raw meat, fresh raw veggies, and cooked bulgur

My class, in a nutshell, offered information about why feeding a dog a homemade, raw diet is superior to feeding her commercial dry or canned food, based on my research, and how to go about making the food yourself. Commercial dog foods contain unbelievably bad ingredients like BHA, BHT, phosphoric acid, propylene glycol, cheap grains, artificial colors, lard, Ethoxyquin, salt, mineral oil, and corn syrup, to name just a few. What most people don’t know is that the pet food industry is an extension of the human food and agriculture industries. Pet food provides a convenient way for slaughterhouse offal, grains considered “unfit for human consumption,” and similar waste products to be turned into profit. This waste includes intestines, udders, heads, hooves, and possibly diseased and cancerous animal parts. If people really knew what was going into their pet’s food, their stomachs would do somersaults and (hopefully) they would STOP buying that  junk and at least  buy a good quality  (and yes, more expensive) brand, if not switching to a homemade diet. (It may seem expensive to buy  top notch brands of dog food or fresh food, but the trade-off is that you will have fewer vet bills in the long run…that’s something to keep in mind.)

Oryana has good pet products including Solid Gold and Newman’s brand dog food. If people aren’t willing or able to make their own pet food, the next best thing would be to buy the very best they can afford and supplement the commercial food with whole foods like eggs, small amounts of meat, yogurt, blueberries, peanut butter, raw beef bones, or whatever natural food their dog enjoys. (But these foods should be avoided: chocolate, grapes, raisins, onion, rhubarb, and cooked bones.)

I’ve been feeding my dog Bailey a whole foods, raw diet for  about 7 years and he is healthy, happy, and free of any chronic health issues. He has no joint problems or allergies, his digestion is good, and he is as playful and energetic as when he was a pup (he just turned 9.) Here’s a picture of Bailey and me…

Bailey and Luise

So I hope that the next time we offer this class (perhaps next winter) that more people will sign up and get the great information I’ve compiled through my own research.