In the late 1950s, as Britain cautiously embraced post-war modernity, opening a health food shop in the industrial heartland of Scunthorpe was an act of quiet radicalism. Peter Smith, who has died aged 97, was that radical—a vegetarian maintenance engineer from the steelworks who, in 1957, established the town’s first “Healthy Food Stores”.
At a time when vegetarianism was still very much a fringe interest, Smith’s venture was among only a handful of its kind in the entire country. The movement he was tapping into had deep, if niche, roots; the Vegetarian Society had been founded over a century earlier, in 1847, and the first recorded British health food store opened in Birmingham in 1898. In Scunthorpe, however, Smith was a true pioneer, bringing a concept that would take decades to become mainstream to a Lincolnshire town better known for its blast furnaces.
From the Steelworks to a Post-Office Truck to India
Smith’s path was shaped by an early fascination with the wider world. Born in Cottam on the Nottinghamshire-Lincolnshire border on 18 April 1928, he was raised in the lively environment of his parents’ pub, the Railway Inn in Leverton. After attending what was then Scunthorpe Technical High School—an institution with origins dating to 1923 that would later evolve into John Leggott College—he performed national service with the Royal Air Force from 1946 to 1949.
Posted to Iraq as an engineer, the experience ignited a lifelong passion for foreign cultures, food, and travel. Returning to Scunthorpe, he worked at the steelworks until 1957, when he traded his engineer’s role for that of shopkeeper.
Just two years later, his spirit of adventure and dedication to his cause saw him embark on an extraordinary five-month “vegetarian expedition to India”. Leaving the Scunthorpe store in the care of his sister, Betty, he converted an old post-office truck and drove it more than 4,000 miles to study regional diets and traditional health practices—a journey that would have deepened his understanding in a country with millennia-old philosophies of vegetarianism and holistic wellbeing.
A Seven-Year Interlude in Japan
After selling the Scunthorpe business in 1964, Smith’s life took a decisive turn eastwards. He moved to Tokyo, where he spent seven years teaching English at the prestigious Toyojoshi High School, a girls’ senior high school founded in 1905. This period was a profound exercise in cultural exchange, a hallmark of the long-standing relationship between Britain and Japan.
He immersed himself fully, studying the intricate Japanese art of *ikebana*, or flower arranging, and exhibiting his work. It was in Japan that he met Mitsuko Takano, a secretary, whom he married in 1969.
Return and a Second Successful Venture
Returning to the UK with Mitsuko, Smith’s entrepreneurial drive and belief in healthy living remained undimmed. In 1974, he established a second outlet, “Health Foods”, in Cheam village, Surrey. The location was itself a blend of old and new; Cheam is a historic Surrey village mentioned in the Domesday Book, which had transformed with the arrival of the railway in the 19th century.
He guided this shop successfully for over two decades, finally retiring in 1997. By then, the landscape of British eating had transformed around him; the fringe interest he had championed in Scunthorpe decades earlier had moved firmly into the mainstream.
A Life Fueled by Curiosity
Retirement was no full stop. Smith continued to travel extensively into his 90s, eventually visiting 72 countries. Described by his family as a gentle and optimistic man who found interest and beauty in everyday things, his life stood as a testament to open-mindedness and the belief that good health—and a good life—begins with curiosity.
Peter Smith is survived by his wife Mitsuko, their children, Kasumi and the author of the original tribute, and his grandchildren, Emilia, Maia, and Sofia. His story is not merely one of business, but of a lifelong learner whose personal journey curiously mirrored, and quietly helped to shape, Britain’s own evolving relationship with food and wellbeing.
