Saying goodbye to Foods for Living

Goodbye to a friend for the last time is always hard. For 20 years or more, my family and I bonded a friendship with a specialty store — simple, organic, fresh products from the aptly named Foods for Living store in Okemos. Foods for Living is a store with a mission to bring good food to the community in a pleasant environment. Now that this wonder of grocery stores is ending its time in mid-Michigan, I began to think just what it is about the place that felt so good shopping there.  

Yes, there is an excellent staff, some of whom even committed to establishing an employee-owned management style. Yet there is so much more: clever natural settings throughout, trees and floral arrangements, and comfortable music. 

A variety of shelving — canned goods, ethnic products, and dry foods in bulk containers — lined the aisles, including nuts and fruits and food for serious home cooks. Customers could even grind their own peanut butter at the old grinder. The deli — ah, the deli, a kitchen in the back of the store producing great take-home sandwiches, salads, side dishes, and packaged goodies from local specialty restaurants. Fresh produce calls to us with brilliant colors in familiar and exotic products.

We have said goodbye to our friend, this unique grocery store, but soon will be the last time, just days away — June 30. We wish all employees an opportune future. You will be missed; we thank you for always being ready for us with a smile and greeting and good foods for living.

Helen Ellis
Haslett