Home on the Range Organics: Vancouver’s First Broth Bar

Article and Photographs Provided by Laura Shortt

We Vancouverites love our health foods. From quinoa to kale, to every type of locally-sourced product in-between, ours is a city that prides itself on eating organic, eating local and eating ethical.

Now, thanks to Home on the Range Organics—a small organic gourmet delicatessen located at Kingsway and Broadway (235 E Broadway)—there’s a new health food in town: bone broth. I recently had the chance to drop by to talk to one of the store’s owners, Jackie Ingram, about the opening of their brand new bone broth bar- the only one of its kind in Vancouver and one of only a handful in all of North America.

“Business is booming,” says Jackie with a lilting English accent as she bustles around helping customers. “We were busy before, but the bone broth bar has been such an immediate hit with our customers that things have become absolutely crazy in the best way possible.”

I’ll talk more about bone broth in a sec. But first, we need to talk about the store itself. It’s owned by two families: Allen and Jackie in the city, and Bert and Alice in the Fraser Valley. Bert and Alic rear their own farm animals in Chillliwack and are also in charge of sourcing other grass-fed/pastured livestock in the area. Jackie and Allen manage the products in the Vancouver store; Allen, in addition to being the executive chef, is also a sommelier and artisan cheese maker. The store is so popular that they have recently had to bring on an additional talent: Michelin 3-star trained chef, James Day (who is also a certified holistic nutritionist), who worked for Raymond Blanc in the UK at Le Manoir au Quart’ Saisons.

The store is, simply put, a foodie’s paradise, offering a wide selection of local artisan foods and meat products that come from grass-fed, ethically-raised animals. It carries a large selection of different products including gourmet deli items, stocks, soups, sauces, seafood, and dried goods. As Jackie shows me around she offers me a sample of James’ duck pâté which literally melts on the tongue (and which I proceed to purchase immediately).

The store carries harder-to-find products too. Looking for things like fermented cod liver oil or collagen supplements from grass-fed animals? Then look no further. Did I mention that 75% of the store’s products are locally sourced? Furthermore, at least 50% of the store’s items that are produced in-house are packed in biodegradable containers.

And for those who like the convenience of shopping online, the store also has a website where you can place orders to either pick up in-store or receive free in-home delivery in the Vancouver area when you spend a minimum of $50. There are a lot of value packs on the site offering discounts up to 70% on specials they run frequently.

And of course, in addition to all of these wonderful offerings, the store now hosts Vancouver’s only bone broth bar. What is a bone broth bar, you ask? It’s a spot where you can get a cup of bone broth to go.

Bone broth is exactly what it sounds like (it’s a clear, dark broth produced from meat bones) and boasts a boatload of health benefits including but not limited to:

A remedy for colds and flus
An appetite suppressant for natural weight loss
A source of anti-inflammatory amino acids
A remedy for leaky gut syndrome

Not surprisingly, the bone broth offered at Home on the Range Organics is of the highest quality: they use 3 to 4 times the traditional amount of grass-fed/pastured bones in the broth to add the maximum amount of nutrients possible. Organic aromatics and spices are added to create a more complex and full-bodied flavour as is apple cider vinegar to draw out as many nutrients as possible from the bones. It’s a time-consuming process: all told, one batch takes about 18 hours to make.

The store also offers several garnish options to go with the bone broth: fermented egg yolk, lime chili oil or Ras el Hanout (a combination of North African spices that has an absolutely intoxicating aroma).

As I sip on my very own cup of bone broth, I ask Jackie what inspires them to put so much effort into the products they offer. She laughs,

“It’s simple, really. We love this neighborhood and we love our customers.”

It shows. I don’t know about you, but I’ll be heading back to Home on the Range Organics soon to get another cup of bone broth and some other delicious, ethical, organic products.