Podcasts
Music of the 1970s:
The song that inspired the author to start a new venture to improve people’s lives:
“Chicago (We Can Change the World),” by Graham Nash, 1971
The song that inspired the author to become independent from the work-a-day world:
“Working Class Hero,” by John Lennon, 1970
The song that inspired the name “Eggsnatchur” for the new venture:
Mau Mau (Amerikon), Jefferson Starship, 1970
Stay tuned for more songs of the 70s to come!
Newspaper Articles
The Statesman Journal, February 23, 1975:
Non-smokers’ rights had become another front of 1970s activism when so much in the country changed. The Eggsnatchur Natural Foods Restaurant had a non-smoking policy from the beginning, even though the three main partners smoked cigarettes. The Salem newspaper The Statesman Journal ran an article with the headline:
Enjoy Yourself in Smokeless Comfort.
Non-smokers are becoming as militant as women’s liberationists and gay activists—lobbying for their health as well as their rights.
The article listed four restaurants in Portland with nonsmoking hours, non-smoking areas or outright bans. In Salem were two establishments, one with tables for non-smokers Monday-Thursday, and one with a room for no smoking until 5 p.m. daily. The article listed seven Eugene restaurants, including two pizzerias, a coffee house, another vegetarian restaurant and the Eggsnatchur. Though early in the fight for non-smokers rights, the battle had begun.
For leadership in the fight for a smoke-free environment, the Association for Non-Smokers Rights in 1973 awarded the Eggsnatchur a plaque and listed the Eggsnatchur in a brochure of smoke-free establishments in Oregon.
The Willamette Valley Observer, March 1975
In mid-March 1975, a full page article appeared in the local newspaper the Willamette Valley Observer. The lead article in their “Awareness” section proclaimed:
Funny Money Buys Good, Honest Food.
The article quoted the Jefferson Starship song “Mau Mau Amerikon,” where the name “Eggsnatchur” originated. The song describes how Tyrannosaurus Rex was destroyed by a furry little ball that stole the eggs of the dinosaur. The article states:
The Eggsnatchur Natural Foods Restaurant is Eugene’s own “furry little ball.” Amid 20th century dinosaurs disguised as restaurant chains, the Eggsnatchur provides an alternative to uniform menus of devitalized food, impersonal service, and plastic decor.
Yet, the Eggsnatchur is not just another natural food restaurant where carrot juice, soybeans and the profit motive reign. The restaurant, as a collective of ten members, operates to insure self-generation rather than monetary gain. And although the restaurant’s primary concern is natural foods, the Eggsnatchur aura transcends the focus of food to encompass community, spiritual and political interests, and reflects the various personalities of its members.
Begin with community. Begin with support. Besides contributing to the Eugene Sustaining Fund (which makes grants to community groups and businesses), the restaurant channels money back into the community by purchasing local produce, sprouts, juices, bread and ice cream. The restaurant is also receptive to trade. Eggsnatchur “funny money” or food coupons are allocated to individuals or groups who have provided the restaurant with goods or services.
The restaurant wants to circumvent the entire monetary system as much as possible. “Imagine paying EWEB and Northwest Natural Gas with Eggsnatchur funny money!” Terry Potash, one collective member speculates. And customers pay for their meals in cash, although the restaurant is again open to what people have to offer in exchange for food.
The non-profit-making motive has caused the Eggsnatchur to discover ingenious alternatives to what seem to be essentials. “When tomatoes are high, everyone’s told to go easy on tomatoes,” Brenda Nash, Eggsnatchur food buyer observes. Substitute vegetables then replace these budgetary offenders as cooks adjust to the current recession. Ends of vegetables are saved for soup stock; bottles are recycled.
Cold-pressed safflower oil, which the members combine with flour for stock, has tripled in price since the restaurant opened three years ago. The collective has consequently used less of it. Instead of oil and flour, various grains such as millet and rice are put into the blender along with the vegetable soup stock to produce the creamiest of creamless soups.
The Ten Talents and Recipes for a Small Planet, cookbooks, which emphasize complementary vegetable proteins, are the Eggsnatchur’s Torah, New Testament and Koran, according to Terry, the collective’s comedian. The lacto-vegetarian (dairy products are utilized and eggs are excluded) restaurant is highly conscious of combining vegetable proteins to insure complete protein. Tofu, “the hamburger of China,” teams up with grains, rice, beans and vegetables to form one complete protein dish, and a bean tostada (beans, sprouts, tomato, avocado, cheese and corn tortilla) are regular dinner examples of nutritious, delicious, complimentary (and complementary!) cookery.
Terry also points out the distinction that exists in some people’s minds between foods that taste good, and those that are nutritious. The Eggsnatchur is trying to bridge this gap in serving foods that satisfy one’s palate as well as one’s nutritional requirements.
And it really isn’t trying to be competitive with other natural foods restaurants in Eugene, he says. If someone has a bad soyburger at one place, it’s a reflection on the whole natural foods movement.
Collective members aren’t zealots for vegetarianism and natural food. “For the most part, we’re not trying to lay any food trip on customers,” explains Lee Boutell, a collective member who started the Eggsnatchur three years ago. “We’re trying to show by example more than anything…If you try to push it on people, you’ll get resentment.” Waiters and waitresses, however, will gladly inform customers about the natural ingredients of the various dishes of the restaurant. They also provide courteous service in an intimate atmosphere of plants, candles, real wooden tables, wall hangings and a glowing fireplace.
Eggsnatchur’s courteous service flows from the spiritual disciplines its members pursue. While all the members embrace chanting the Om,; transcendental meditation, yoga, Sufi dancing, astrology, and consulting the I Ching are additional practices of individual collective members. “When it’s harmony within ourselves, it’s harmony within the dining room,” Lee explains. Terry voiced a similar opinion, “As our flow gets smoother and more consistent—more people are digging on it and receiving it.”
The collective’s concern about the food it serves reaches beyond the doors of the restaurant.
Lee Boutell recently printed up sheets denouncing the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) proposal to ban “organic” and “natural” in food advertising. The elimination of the words “natural” and “organic” was proposed because the FTC believed advertisers abused these words or made them obscure.
Yet, Lee contends that “effects of such a ban would be to eliminate readily apparent differences of food products so that the highly advertised processed and chemicalized foods would be nearly indistinguishable from ‘natural’ foods, except to the careful food-conscious buyer who reads all the fine print.” Terry exhibits a comical reaction to the FTC proposal. He suggests that the restaurant change its title to Eggsnatchur Supernatural Foods Restaurant.
Supernatural clearly epitomizes the restaurant. I sat in on one of their weekly Sunday meetings, and found one member concerned about whether or not a reputed biodegradable detergent the Eggsnatchur used was all that pure. You don’t know about these large companies, members lamented. Members must also reach a consensus on every food they serve. Coffee, believed harmless (in moderation) by some members, was banned from the restaurant because other collective members disagreed.
Why do the members continue to channel their energy into the restaurant even though they earn a meager 75 cents an hour? Brenda explains that one’s perspective on money changes when one has to survive on $25 one week, $10 another and $15 the next. A sense of nowness is created, one doesn’t speculate on future materialistically oriented dreams. In Lee’s words, “The more money you make; the more money you spend.” Susan adds that Eggsnatchur members get immediate reinforcement from tips, which the restaurant totals up and then divides according to how many hours each member has worked.
Lee Boutell sums up the Eggsnatchur phenomena. “It’s totally different. I don’t even know if it’s been tried before. The way it’s run, the type of food we serve…”
“We are eggsnatchers
Flashin’ sunshine children
Diamond thieves.”
The Oregon Daily Emerald, October 9, 1975:
At the height of Eggsnatchur success, the UO newspaper Oregon Daily Emerald ran a story written by Michael Kesten:
Eggsnatchur Allows ‘Filling of Basic Needs’
A cooperative effort, the Eggsnatchur Restaurant
offers a vegetarian variety.
“OMMMMMMM…”
Chanting my best, I raised my voice in unison with the members of the Eggsnatchur Natural Foods Restaurant Collective as we sat in the sun around a well-crafted hexagonal table, our arms linked, hands clasped. This group meditation is an effort at centering that always precedes the less celestial business of the collective’s regular Sunday meeting.
The spirit of centering, which I experienced at the meeting, is actually the underlying theme of the collective and the Eggsnatchur. Each member shares in the responsibility, decision-making and hard work which keeps the popular eating spot open.
As member Kevin puts it, “It’s a good place for me to focus a lot of energy, in a positive, spiritual kind of way.”
Since the members pay themselves an hourly wage of one dollar, financial security or “future tripping” is clearly not the incentive that keeps them together. Rather, they gain their strength from filling each other’s basic needs. The restaurant is not only a place for the members to come to work and to eat, but there is also a feeling of “family” that exists among these waiters, waitresses, cooks and businesspersons.
This attitude is reflected in their relation to the community. “We’re definitely community oriented,” Kevin told me. “We’re an exchange of energy—a clearing house for information.”
“An oasis in the city,” Lorenzo shouts from the kitchen.
A positive purpose and the collective’s desire to help others in the manner they help each other is apparent in the food served here. Only fresh fruits and vegetables are used. Forbidden are sugar, canned foods, frozen foods, or any food containing artificial coloring or flavoring, preservatives or any chemical additives.
Honey, date sugar, pure maple syrup and molasses are used for sweeteners. They make a honey sweetened ice cream called Lucy’s Homemade Honey Ice Cream and sell it in local natural food markets, the Saturday Market and at the Oregon Country Fair.
Close to campus on East 13th Avenue between Patterson and Hilyard, the Eggsnatchur is known for its nutritious soups, sandwiches, and dinners. The most recent addition to the menu is the Beet Burger as the Thursday night special. Joseph, the originator of the Beet Burger, assured me it was devoured by everyone who tried it and was especially high in protein.
Leaving the Eggsnatchur, I watched Terry, an original member of the collective, juggle coffee cups very handily until one fell and smashed to pieces on the sidewalk.
Kevin told me, “We like to have fun, too.”