MEDIA COVERAGE ABOUT UNCLE GEORGE

They don't come fresher than this
by Ewa Jarmicka

Excerpt from the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood Community Bulletin, April 2002

As a boy, George Rabovsky dreamed of becoming an artist, but his life took some unexpected turns. Today he works with a palette of living things in all shades of green and hues from glowing gold to crimson,pale yellow, stark white, even black. The works of art he produces are not only goreous to look at but delicious and full of vitamins, minerals, proteins and enzymes. They're sprouts of seeds of all kinds.

The owner of Uncle George's Place on the lower level of the St. Lawrence Market is not only an artist but an explorer, discovering new combinations of flavours and new ways to use sprouts and encourage others to use them. The first thing that strikes you about him is the boundless energy radiating from his expressive face, indeed all his being. He's a real enthusiast. Every word he speaks reveals enthusiasm for whatever he's talking about, any element of life. "My biggest concern now is for Mother Earth," he says earnestly. "I'm scared to see what will happen to our food chain."

George was born as World War II was ending in Hungary, where his father ran an organic farm. When he should have begun high school he couldn't because the then-communist powers regarded his father as "a privileged land owner and an enemy of the working class." So after the Hungarian Rebellion of 1956, George was in Canada completing high school and obtaining a BA from what is now Concordia University in Montreal. He shrugs off the tough times with a big grin. "My best lessons came from the hardest moments in my life."

He had three brothers and three sisters until a brother died a few years ago. The family nagged him for years about being single, but he "never met the right person," he says with another shrug and a grin. Instead, he is a very important uncle to 10 nieces and nephews, because his sisters and brothers don't talk about harsh realities the family lived through, "so the kids use my memory to learn what happened." He notes wistfully that none of them carry on the agricultural tradition of which his father was so proud. They include engineers, storeowners, a radio announcer, but no farmer.

Georges's first career in Canada was photography, and he maintained a studio until the late 1990's. Nevertheless, because of his love of animals, in 1994 he set up a stall in front of the north (farmers) St. Lawrence Market on Saturdays to sell products for cats: catnip, toys, unique pet supplies, art featuring cats. One day he brought along containers of sprouted grass, and was amazed by the demand, and by questions about growing sprouts. He began to sell sprouts other than grass.

The Toronto Sun's Elizabeth Beard wrote an article about him, then Marty and Avron, "The Food Guys," had him on their show on Talk 640 AM. After people began comin from all over Southern Ontario in search of him, he opened a shop downstairs in the Market in 1996.

Thanks to his father's example and teaching, George was able to achieve the highest possible quality of product right from the beginning. From time to time another article about him appears, and all the while he keeps trying out new seeds and combinations and ideas, fascinated by challenges he encouters.

The business made him so busy that a few years ago he moved to the Neighbourhood, to be close to his shop.

The breadth of his knowledge is stunning. Asked about seeds he tells you what each type needs to start and sprout in good health.

Asked about soil, he explains the qualities of good soil and how to avoid problems with harmful bacteria (such as a recent outbreak of salmonella in spouts in the United States). Asked about a container full to bursting with three different kinds of sprouts, he lists all the different ways you can see them and how to keep them their freshest and tasty until the last morsel. George makes a point of educating buyers. Quite simply, he loves what he's doing and loves to share it. You don't have to ask him about the great health benefits of eating sprouts, because he has personal experience of that and it's probably his favourite topic.

At Uncle Georges's Place you find sprouts of two kinds of radish, mustard, watercress, onion, broccoli, sunflower, wheat grass, adzuki and beans ... and his own combinations in one container. He sells potted sprouts as well as plants basil, parsley, thyme and other herbs. There's a collection of hummus to make your day, he's working on salad dressings, and recently arranged to begin selling organic fertilizer made from kelp.

Given his incredible energy George has develped a network far beyond the St. Lawrence Market. In the process, Sam Graci, author of Super Foods and developer of the Green Plus line of supplements, became a friend. Now Toronto's first organic restaurant, the recently-opened Nigara Street Cafe, serves Uncle George's products. And all the while, the man himself simple keeps dong things on else does.