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Nino Booth
22nd October 1946 - 30th July 2001
Co-Founder and Former Owner of the Haelan Centre
As many of our regular customers will know, Nino Booth co-founder and
former owner of the Haelan Centre died suddenly, but peacefully, in his
home on Monday 30th July 2001.
We wish this part of the site to be a celebration of Nino's life and tireless
work in the wholefood and herbal trade.
When Nino first opened the Haelan centre with his partner Peter Woodhead
in 1971, there was very little understanding of what wholefood actually
was. It was an alien concept to most people, who thought that sliced white
factory baked bread was the best thing… Nino made it his mission to
enlighten the public and introduce them to another way of eating, another
way of looking at our health and another way of addressing the needs of
the planet as a whole.
These days, concepts of wholefood and organic foods are very familiar
to us all. People are much more aware of how food affects their health;
the dangers of synthetic pesticides; the threat of genetic modification
of food; and the importance of compassion for animals in farming. Greenpeace
and Friends of the Earth have more members than the total number of people
who voted Labour in the last election. Organic food and complementary
health issues are regularly discussed in both broadsheet and tabloid newspapers.
Nino, and other wholefood "cranks" chucked merrily, as they saw the
rest of society catch on to their way of thinking.
As Nino began working with the shop he realised that there were many foods
that were being put forward as "health food" that were far from healthy.
Along with three other like-minded friends he formed the NAHS Code
of Standards for food quality. He took a close look at the ingredients
of many food lines carried by wholesalers to the health food trade and
came up with a list of questionable ingredients - sugars, un healthy fats,
refined foods and additives. Nino found that "At least 20% of all products
on sale in the average health store do not meet even the most basic definition
of a health food." Their meetings were held in the flat above where the
Haelan Centre, now the Haelan Clinic and Studio.
As the friends prospered and the health food trade grew, some became a
little more flexible with the guidelines that they agreed. Nino held out
the longest - refusing to sell the now famous Green and Black's Chocolate
because it contained organic sugar. He was most annoyed, as he really
liked the chocolate and was forced to go to a competitors shop to buy
it! Today Green and Blacks is owned by Cadbury's and only Maya Gold and
their Cocoa is fairtrade. We have chosen instead to support independent
organic and fairtrade chocolate makers such as Blakes
and Vivani - we
are sure you will agree, they are every bit as delicious! Following Nino's
footsteps, we continue to think carefully about the products we source
and the impact that they make on have on the environment, the growers,
and our own health.
Nino was a visionary, a man with a dream that we will all, one day, have
a healthy diet. "I believe that the specialist shops of the future
will be Junk Food Shops and the supermarkets will stock only healthy foods."
He was one of the few people in the trade to feel no threat from the supermarkets,
he actively welcomed them branching out into organics and encroaching
on the health food sector. He viewed them as helping him to realise his
dream of bringing wholesome food into the mainstream.
Many customers wonder who owns the Haelan Centre today. Amabel Booth,
Nino's daughter, is the now the Owner. Many customers will know her as
the wonderful girl who works in the Fruit and Vegetable section, handing
out tasty vegetarian recipes and advising customers on the freshest, tastiest
and most interesting produce. Amabel has undoubtably inherited
Nino's enthuasiasm for healthy, tasty food and shares his commitment that
the Haelan Centre will offer only what is best for the Earth and all who
live on it.
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