In 1989, when Michael Keaton’s Batman was the hero of movie theatres everywhere, we made organic the hero of our brand-new produce departments. With our very first bunch of spinach, we decided to do something no other large chain has done before or since – sell only organic produce. Now that the USDA has rolled out a certification program, all our departments are certified organic produce handlers as well, not many grocers can say that!

1990 saw the Hubble Space Telescope Launched, and Home Alone was the biggest movie of the year. It was another year of standing alone for us, as we took all products with partially hydrogenated oils off our shelves, because of compelling evidence about the associated health risks. In 2015 the FDA finally caught up and took them off the GRAS (generally recognized as safe) list. You could say that we have always been before our time --- Cool before it was even a thing!

In 1995, as the Galileo spacecraft arrives at Jupiter and we took another unprecedented step forward on our mission of nutrition education. We debuted our Nutritional Health Coach position, bringing personal consultations and expertise free of charge to your neighborhood grocery store. It’s a benefit you won’t find anywhere else.

In 2009, while the Black Eyed Peas were getting the party started with “I Gotta Feeling,” we had a feeling too. We felt that we couldn’t wait any longer to take a stand about plastic, so we took all disposable plastic bags away from our checkouts, along with paper.

We were all “Happy” in 2014 when Pharrell Williams was crooning in our ears, and the Natural Grocers family had another reason to be happy. We were breaking the norms once again, with the introduction of our pasture based dairy standard. It means every milk-based product in our dairy case comes from cows that are 100% pasture based. The impact this can have on the environment is as huge as the potential to reverse global warming and stop desertification. If that’s not something to be happy about, we don’t know how to spell h-a-p-p-y.

A few years later in 2016 when the National Park Service turned 100 we were introducing our free -range egg standard, so that chickens could roam and do whatever it is that chickens do.

The 2018 documentary, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” is a tribute to Mr. Rogers, and a title to live by, as our family continues our mission of empowering our neighborhoods with nutrition education, unrivaled quality standards and always affordable prices. It’s the story our parents began, and the legacy we are dedicated to carrying on. It’s a story that wouldn’t be written without you, and we hope you join us to celebrate our 63rd Anniversary on Thursday, August 16th with our annual ice cream social, lots of prizes, deals and all-around fun. See you there neighbor.

P.S. August is also Co-Founder Margaret Isely’s birth month, and we think we can still hear her laughing in agreement over this one: “A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing and the lawn mower is broken.” James Dent