Health is the name of the game for Harvest Grocery

When Tim McClure and his partner Mike Case opened Harvest Grocery this summer, they had a common goal: educate the community and help people live a healthier lifestyle. The two are well on their way and are eager for Chattanoogans everywhere to make the switch to an organic and all natural diet.

Jeffery Stone, Michael Case, Mark Regni, Scott Cooper, Tim McClure

"We started planning the store in 2012," McClure said. "We wanted to be the go to place for Chattanooga and Hamilton County to get access to local, organic and natural foods."

McClure, a well-known local builder in the area for more than 30 years, shared how he had heard on the local news that people currently in their mid 20's had fallen back in their lifespan to making it to just age 64 or 65.

"The more I researched, the more I learned how a drastic change could be made in their life going longer just by eating healthy and switching to organic and natural foods," he said.

Stories continued to come out of the woodwork as McClure began forming his plans for the new local store. He shared how a neighbor of his who was diagnosed with a liver problem actually found that his liver began to heal itself just by changing his diet to organic and natural foods.

"Another lady shared with me how she had been given a cancer diagnosis and only a few months to live, and thanks to going on a strict organic diet, she is now going into her fourth year," McClure said.

Vice President of the company Mike Case echoed that people everywhere are a buzz on social media commenting on how the quality and wide selection that Harvest has to offer affirms that they are meeting a serious need in the health community.

"We did our research with industry experts from across the country and we now have the largest independently owned natural and organic food store in the Southeast," he said.

McClure also shared how the goal for the store is to educate the community about what it means to be natural and organic and how the health benefits really can just sky rocket. To that end, he, Case and their growing staff are working to offer several workshops and events to showcase their products and share what they can do for everyone.

"Saturday July 28, we are offering a workshop on our Astara exclusive line of spa grade skin care with a licensed aestetician," shared Jim Kresse from Wellness at Harvest. "We are the only store in Tennessee to carry this and have an exclusive agreement with them."

In fact, the Wellness department of Harvest goes on with vast selections of quality care products that are unique to the area. From their own lines of essential oils and herbal extracts to proteins and amino acids and even fair trade organic apparel, customers are bound to find a product that is right for their health needs and get the chance to support local vendors in the process.

Fresh, local and small farm products are represented well at Harvest, especially in the meat department. From seafood arriving 6 times a week and domestically caught shrimp to 100 percent grass fed Piedmontese Certified beef, everything is out in the meat case fresh daily, which adds to the unique shopping experience.

"We want to interact with the people here and help them on their health journey," McClure shared. "We hope to have four stores in the next five years and really up our community involvement."

Harvest Grocery is open seven days a week, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Saturday and from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. They are located at 5414 Hixson Pike just 1/2 mile north of Hwy. 153. For more information, stop by the store or visit harvestgrocery.com.

Noteworthy:

The more I researched, the more I learned how a drastic change could be made in their life going longer just by eating healthy and switching to organic and natural foods.