I like to think of myself as a healthy person. I watch what I eat, and enjoy healthy amounts of fruits and veggies. I try to limit those delicious but pesky carbs. Some would even call me a meat-atarian for how much I love meat. Eating organic however, isn’t something I’ve tried or had any interest in. The closest I may have come to eating organic was pulling the carrots out of the garden when I was younger, wiping the dirt away and chowing down on them. Perhaps my hesitation towards eating organic is a lack of knowledge of the health benefits.
So naturally my curiosity for organic food began to blossom when The Fresh Carrot opened at 230 Osborne. As I sat there eating my sad bagel with cream cheese, my co-workers started bringing Fresh Carrot’s prepared foods back to the office for lunch and bragging about how delicious the in-house made soups and wraps were. I was finally convinced I needed to make a visit to The Fresh Carrot when I overheard Michael Stronger as he walked by Robert Scaletta’s office (our in house natural & organic aficionado) midafternoon and say “still full!” after eating Fresh Carrot’s salad and quinoa wrap.
Lisa and Terry Zolinski, owners of The Fresh Carrot, began their business in Gimli, MB, when Lisa decided she wanted to lose weight. After following a healthy meal plan and immediately seeing results, she began to embrace the natural and organic food lifestyle. Her husband, Terry, followed in her footsteps and he too began eating natural and organic foods. They then decided to work together to open their own health food store, in hopes of encouraging other people to make the same switch that they did. After changing his diet, Terry stated, “you don’t ever want to go back to living like you did before.”
“There is a trade-off because with organic foods you retain a lot more nutrition per portion and so you eat less; for example, we only eat half as much of wild rice spaghetti because it is gluten free” says Lisa Zolinski.
Taking all the incredible things they started in Gimli, Lisa and Terry decided to open their second location in the heart of Winnipeg, adjacent to Confusion Corner in early June. Their new 10,000 sq. ft. location features full grocery with fresh produce and includes homemade organic ice cream, Manitoba’s 1st Organic, cold-pressed juice bar, organic coffee & tea bar and fresh organic deli-prepared meals. Immediately walking into The Fresh Carrot, you are welcomed by friendly staff members who are eager to help and answer any questions you may have about organic goods and foods throughout the store. Browsing throughout the store, I found products that I wouldn’t have never thought would be organic. Organic red chili flakes? And others that piqued my interest such as organic chipotle angel hair pasta and their mouth-watering deli roasted chicken.
So naturally at this point, I’m starving – what else is new? My options are to try one of the wraps the agents are going on about or a hearty salad. But walking past Zoli’s Slow Food cart on my way into the store, the organic bison burger was screaming my name. And let me tell you, it doesn’t disappoint. The highlight, the grill chef - Lisa’s Mom.
The Fresh Carrot’s grand opening festivities begin Friday, September 25th and last throughout the weekend. There will be product demonstrations, a book signing with Dr. Cass Ingram, free draws and a grand prize draw trip for 2 to Mexico to attend a Fair Trade Coffee farm during harvest. Make sure you stop in and say hi to Lisa and Terry. It’s going to be a great weekend.
Kaleigh Baumgart
Marketing & Administrative Assistant