Earth’s Food Barn Opens in Sallisaw

Shelly Miller, (left), owner of Earth's Food Barn, is pictured with her mother, Ruth Girten-Lowrimore. An official ribbon cutting for the business will be held Tuesday at noon. 

Folks looking to buy healthy foods won’t have so far to travel to shop anymore after Earth’s Food Barn celebrates its grand opening Tuesday right here in Sallisaw.

Shelly Miller, owner of Earth’s Food Barn, 116 E. Cherokee Ave., said her store will give customers a wide array of healthy foods including local products, spices, dairy items, organic coffees, organic fruits and vegetables and more. The store will also offer patrons homemade soups, chili, sandwiches, protein shakes and other food items. Some of the recipes the store is using come straight from Miller’s mother, Ruth Girten-Lowrimore. Miller said she is also hoping to start serving healthy breakfasts in the future.

Proceeds from some items at the store will go toward military veterans, she said. 

The store will be open Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and will also be open during special events such as the car show coming up this weekend.

Miller said she wasn’t always so healthy, but after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, she decided to chart another course. When Miller began her healthier lifestyle, she said she found that not only was she forced to travel more than an hour to find a store that sold health foods, she also discovered that eating healthy cost a pretty penny.

“Not everybody can afford to eat healthy and it’s sad,” Miller said Monday. She said her goal for Earth’s Food Barn is to offer customers a good price and a handy location so they don’t have to travel so far to get what they are looking for.

“I want to educate people about eating healthy and I want to help the community get healthy,” Miller said.

Toward that end, Miller said the store will also provide education opportunities for folks just getting started on their more healthy future. A Tulsa chef will soon be preparing organic meals that will be for sale at the store. “All you have to do is cook it,” she said.

This is Miller’s first-ever foray into the business world, and she said it came about after her sister saw a social media post about a “wish list” for the city of Sallisaw in which 90 percent of respondents said the town needed a health-food store.

Miller’s husband, Brian Miller, at first created an Earth’s Food Barn website, but plans quickly evolved into opening a store. “God just laid it in our lap!” she said.

Getting the store ready for business was a family affair, Miller said. In addition to her mother’s assistance, Miller said her “second dad,” Leroy Lowrimore; brother John Girten; sister Sheila Cullum and her husband Gary Don; daughters Jessica Mifflin and her husband Jordan and Jennifer McElhannon and her husband Justin; as well as father-in-law Bob Miller, niece Lesley Manning, nephew Grant Cullum and sister-in-law Charla Victory all pitched in and worked tirelessly, Miller said.

Miller is a Sallisaw native but had lived in Gore for several years. “We are happy we’re moving back to Sallisaw,” she said.

Miller said educating people about a healthy lifestyle is one of her most important tasks. “I just want people to realize how important eating healthy is and we’re here to help you,” she said.

Laura Brown, KXMX Staff Writer

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