R.I.P Heritage Foods--Death of a Health Food Store

Not the one I shop at, but another, older one.

Heritage Foods was a fixture in Virgina Beach for over 30 years, and now is gone to make way for evil.

Before my health food store even came into existence, Heritage was considered the premier place to shop in this area. Being bigger than any other health food store, carrying more stuff, and harboring more knowledgeable people (as well as a few nutbags that should've stayed back on the Shirley McClain/Ramtha ranch), this was THE PLACE to go in the region--food, classes, massage, books, music, equipment, even it's own little cafe and snack bar. A hippie haven. No more.

In all their infinite wisdom, city council members decided to use eminent domain to seize the entire side of the street this store was on, ostensibly for "widening"...to reflect the girths of the city council, perhaps? No--it was the pursuit of money.

The entire area that was seized then bulldozed was this health food store, a bookstore, a drugstore, a fast-food outlet (I was glad to see that go), a laundromat, a cafe, a concrete lawn ornament dealer, and a few other various odd-and-end shops. what's going to replace them? Virginia Beach's usual and customary money-maker: luxury condos.

Their city council got a raise for the city. Instead of leaving well enough alone, they decided it would be more profitable to dump an almost-historical fixture who only collected a 2.5-5% sales tax for a condo-monster that will generate much, much more in property taxes that the health food store ever could in sales tax by selling food.

This is an end-run tax increase, both for them and us.

Once other city councils around here decide to go with the money-maker condos and their higher revenue-generating property taxes in favor of regular food businesses, we're all doomed. Not only does it exacerbate the "food desert" problem, but it will exacerbate other problems: more foods having to be trucked in from somewhere else, more demand for what's still here, which means more traffic, and increased competition. In short, higher prices for us, even without a tax increase or a Wall Street-induced commodity panic.

I hear another city nearby is considering mowing down an elementary school (now that everybody's been moved out of there--budget cuts, you know) to make way for luxury condos.

Much like farmers, people in authority have decided the way to make more money is to use land "in the highest and best use" they can. This means crowding of families for condos, and crowding of crops for farmers. More people or crops = more money in some form.

I just hope Heritage found a new place to set up shop. They were a godsend to the beach area, and Virginia Beach as a whole.

It's bad enough Norfolk lost its one-and-only co-op about 5 years ago--in business for over 30 years as well, but disbanded due to poor participation. For a while, Heritage was all we had left until Organic Food Depot opened: smaller, but better prices.