An Open Letter
This open letter is a follow up to the post Health Freedom and is the formal letter I sent to Natural Grocers Headquarters in Colorado about a month ago. To date, there has been no response from their corporate office. In this, I can only infer a lack of concern or care on the part of Natural Grocers.
I am so tired of abdicating my health decisions to every Tom, Dick and Harriette out there. Are you? Are you ready to acknowledge that we’ve been played? Every single one of us have been coerced to change our behavior and watchdog/fear other people. How insane is that? Can you feel the hostile take over of your mind and body?
The daily campaign to invoke shame and threats never stops. This repetition ensures you stand in your safe space and do as you are told. Why do you comply? These commands are coming from “experts” with a conflict of interest and greasy “elected” officials that have no real power over you – other than what you give them. It feels wrong – so terribly wrong. And, sadly, businesses like Natural Grocers have decided to join the cult of collusion instead of standing up for the truth and human rights.
Open Letter
Dear Isely Family,
It is with a heavy heart that I write this letter. It is difficult to know what to say or where to begin. I have been a health crusader for twenty years and I have introduced many people to your store as they began that deep dive into taking responsibility for their own health. This shift in thinking requires great effort and fearlessness as one recognizes their ability to adapt to and adopt this radical idea that food is actual medicine.
The humble yet proud beginnings of Natural Grocers is an inspirational story and I am truly grateful to your parents for having the vision, moxie, and dedication required to make their dream a reality for us all. Your mother’s story rings true for so many of us that have struggled through health crises and literally crawled out of the misguided Conventional Medicine paradigm and into the wise embrace of the Alternative Medicine movement. Your website states, “Our parents taught us that Nutrition Education is the foundation for building health and being in control of your life, and that healthy living should be affordable.” It also states that “Your health and wellbeing is our top priority”.
Additionally, your father set a bold example in his fervent beliefs based on “principles not politics” when he was imprisoned as a Conscientious Objector during World War II. Consider the unethical stance you have taken with regard to a “health crisis” that is less about health and more about politics.
Today – today these words do not reflect this vision, purpose or promise. Please allow me to explain.
My husband has a severe problem with his sinuses. The inflammation is currently so severe that he cannot breathe through his nose at all. On Nov 22, 2020 we entered the Ogden, UT store and did our shopping as usual without wearing masks. When we entered the checkout we were told that unless we put on masks we could not purchase the food in the cart. Let me repeat, unless we, healthy individuals that wish to remain so, cover our faces with a non-medical grade paper mask – a mask with a disclaimer that clearly states it does not prevent viral infection or transmission – the employee of Natural Grocers would not finish the transaction.
The CDC itself clearly states, “Do not put masks on anyone who has trouble breathing” (It is remarkable that this commonsense statement has to be validated by a private company in order to be “true”). The store manager was called out and suddenly things escalated. We explained the medical situation (a violation of our HIPAA privacy rights) and the manager still insisted that we put the masks on or leave. We declined, as is our right to do so. He then threatened to call the police and have us arrested for trespassing.
At this point we are stunned. We have been humiliated and threatened with violence – or use of force. We reacted in anger because we were being threatened. In hindsight, I wish we had handled it better. Why would a place that touts health and “being in control of your life” resort to discrimination and threats of violence? A friend and her disabled sister (that cannot wear a face mask), both loyal customers of Natural Grocers, were also denied entry to the store. Do you approve of this conduct? Do you think it correct to turn away a disabled person and deny them the ability to enter a store to purchase vital nutrients to support their health and wellbeing?
Many of your employees are not happy with your stance either as I received an anonymous email that stated “Thanks for the enlightenment and much needed humaneness – Natural Grocers.” You are willfully disenfranchising and dehumanizing your staff and your customers. The use of flowery prosaic Public Relations language on your website does nothing for those of us that are being forced against our will, including your employees, to comply with nonsensical store policies. These policies will only further the incidence of illness and poor health as evidenced by “mask mouth”, viral/bacterial/fungal respiratory infections, headaches, and more side effects due to the constant use of mask wearing.
I understand the store is in a difficult position but you are operating as a public business, and as such, you cannot place discriminatory conditions on an individual’s right to purchase food. You cannot bar patrons from entering your place of business based on coercive policies. A public health mandate is not law. I am also aware that online shopping is an option but I prefer to inspect and choose my own produce and products, again, as is my right.
The COVID-19 illness has >99% recovery rate which does not equate to a deadly pandemic. The method of testing (RT-PCR) is a statistical quagmire as its clinical use is defined as follows: “The intended use of the PCR was, and still is, to apply it as a manufacturing technique, being able to replicate DNA sequences millions and billions of times, and not as a diagnostic tool to detect viruses.” This is an indisputable fact.
Infectious illness in human populations is commonplace and will continue to be so. We used to engage commonsense during periods of seasonal illness. Yes, some people succumb to illness but since when did it become the fault of a healthy individual? The clinical definition of asymptomatic is “not sick”, in other words, “healthy”. It has never before been defined as “carrier of disease”. Where will you draw the line? Will you force vaccinate your employees?
We have been loyal Natural Grocers patrons for the last 15 years in every state that we have called home. If this is your stance, if this is the bitter, abusive relationship you want to create within the communities you serve – than you leave me with only one choice. I can no longer support your establishment nor recommend it to others because your mission statement no longer rings true.
If your choice is to now take a stand against health freedom then your business model and your parent’s dream of empowering people with choice, hope, and the ability to thrive in good health… it will be destroyed by the agents of control currently working to dismantle the alternative health markets and food supply. Their aim is to completely decimate health freedom. I urge you to take a stand before it is too late. You can do better than this. Be bold. Be courageous. Be honest.
We look forward to your reply.
Respectfully,
Erin Douglass and Kenneth Douglass
My Plea
The actions taken in the past year have done nothing but bring humanity to its knees. In this position, it has been relatively easy to sweep commonsense, common decency, and common law under the rug. The year 2020 was simply the year of fear. The old tired war on terrorism that was used to grow government and diminish civil liberties has now been replaced with a war on biology itself (to be covered in a later post).
This subject, this fear mania, caused by an invisible enemy in combat boots and a magician’s flare for illusion, has caused people to full out reject each other based on a single data point – mask or no mask. Everything devolves from there. With the ill-informed consent and acceptance of irrational rules we have unwittingly sacrificed sound judgment and self autonomy. We apparently prefer self inflicted wounds and unnecessary trauma. The elderly and children are suffering the most in this fabled effort to “save lives”.
If this open letter and its message resonate with you please consider re-posting it. I encourage you to voice your own story of being bullied and discriminated against in a place of business. Now is the time or we will certainly lose what is most dear – our basic liberties and innate freedoms. They say hindsight is 20/20… Can you now look back on 2020 and see the patterns and the players for what and who they truly are? I pray that you do.
