Rebecca Boysen
Herald Staff Writer
October 23, 2007 11:10 am
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DEWITT — Healthy Exchanges has been helping people to make better eating choices and live healthier lives for nearly 17 years.
The company got its start in 1991, when JoAnna Lund began exchanging healthy, no-sugar, low-fat ingredients and recipes with family and friends.
Three locations and more than 40 cookbooks later, the company is still going strong, despite Lund’s death in 2006, after an extended battle with breast cancer.
Gina Griep, who worked for Healthy Exchanges for 12 years, bought the company, along with her husband, Brian, from JoAnna’s husband, Cliff, in September.
“I didn’t want to see it go away, because it is so beneficial to so many people,” Griep said. “I think it needs to grow again, and the word about Healthy Exchanges should be shared the way it used to be shared.”
The Grieps have named the company B & G Publishing, and have expanded to include church cookbooks and newsletters, in addition to the Healthy Exchanges line of products.
Along with putting out cookbooks and creating new recipes, the Healthy Exchanges gift shop, located at 2614, 212th Street in DeWitt, also offers cooking classes and demonstrations, and small gift and kitchen items.
“Some people don’t even realize that Healthy Exchanges still exists,” Griep said. “We want to let people know that we are still here.”
Griep is looking forward to expanding on Lund’s original concept of “common folk” healthy recipes, fit for diabetics, heart and cholesterol patients, and those following a national weight loss program.
“It’s getting people to think about what they’re eating, and how easy it is to change their eating habits, just by following some of the recipes,” Griep said. “People don’t realize that with just small changes, it can be really easy to correct.”
The company offers all of Lund’s cookbooks still in print, as well as several other cookbooks, and puts together a monthly Healthy Exchanges newsletter for subscribers. Griep has also recently begun the “From the Church Kitchen” newsletter.
“We would like to expand the publishing side of the business,” Griep said. “Not only do printing for us, but for other people as well.”
Cooking and food preparation have always come naturally to Griep, and she looks forward to sharing her passion with others.
“A little preplanning would make it so much easier just to eat a healthier meal at home, and bring people back to the dining room table,” Griep said. “I’m just excited to see where this is going to take us. I hope we have great success with it, and that people who have used our recipes in the past will come back and try us again.”
For more information about Healthy Exchanges, B & G Publishing, or to schedule a cooking demonstration, Griep can be contacted at (800) 766-8961, or by visiting the Web site at www.healthyexchanges.com. The gift shop is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
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