You just want to do what’s right for you and your family. But between fad diets, hidden ingredients, overly processed food, and individual nutritional needs, figuring out what is “right” isn’t easy. It’s no wonder that so many people become overwhelmed and discouraged when they attempt to live a healthier lifestyle; nearly all the information out there is conflicting!
When Peter Rubi owner, John Graves, was diagnosed with Pleomorphic High Grade Undifferentiated Sarcoma in 2013, his wife Maria did everything she could to support John in the fight for his life. She read every piece of literature she could find, desperately searching for every supplemental therapy that may help his healing process. Their first therapy to implement? A plant-based diet packed with nutrients to fuel the immune system.
Maria’s research became a full-time job. Each night she would dive deeper and deeper into a neverending list of research articles, books, and personal testimonials - often not sleeping until 4 in the morning when she could no longer keep her eyes open. Even after John was eventually declared cancer-free, Maria’s dedication to learning about what is and is not good for the body continued.
A few years ago, Maria was asked to revamp the grocery department at Peter Rubi. Since then, she has eliminated more than half the products because they did not meet the plant-based, clean-eating standards she had developed over her years of research. The team began to jokingly refer to the products that passed Maria’s inspection as “Maria Approved.”
What began as a joke amongst co-workers is now the heart of the company. We now work as a team to protect the integrity of “Peter Rubi Approved.” What that means is constantly evolving as we continue to learn. Some of the questions we ask when looking to bring a new product in are:
Is the product plant-based?
Does the vendor have a passionate story, or are they focused more on profits?
What are the ingredients? Are they clean? Where are they sourced from? How are they processed?
Does the product taste good?
Getting a product “Peter Rubi Approved” means countless hours of research, reading labels, talking with company owners, taste testing, and investigating. Often over a dozen people get involved in the vetting of each product. Why do we invest so much time on this process? Because we know first hand what it’s like to want to do the right thing for your family. We want to help you and your family get well through food. As Maria explains, unless you have a specific food allergy, “our customers can shop blindly, meaning that we did the work and put our heart and soul into it. We make sure it is what it says it is.”
For John, it means something more. “Peter Rubi Approved’ means, “My wife, who loves me, checks everything I eat to make sure it’s healthy for me, so as a cancer survivor, if it’s safe for me to eat, it’s safe for you to eat too.”
In short, putting the “Peter Rubi Approved” stamp on a product is our way of making it just a little easier for you and your family to lead a healthier lifestyle.
With Love,
John, Maria and the entire Peter Rubi Family
Do you have a lifestyle transformation, plant-based recipe, or other uplifting story you’d like to share with the Peter Rubi Community? Please email us at info@peterrubi.com to be considered for a feature article on our blog, What’s New at Peter Rubi!