In the car between meetings, you realize you forgot to schedule yourself a lunch break. In the past, a fast-food drive-through might beckon and you would answer obediently, but since the health food movement has officially taken residence in Columbus, a lack of time is no longer an excuse for a 1,500-calorie, fast food fest.
There is a stereotype that the Midwest is a land of chain restaurants and obesity problems. But locals know trends are changing. Within the last two years, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Sunflower Natural Foods have joined Wild Oats and a small handful of health food stores to mark an evolution in eating consciousness and opportunity.
The ready-made section of Whole Foods in Dublin is a colorful treat to behold. An array of salad choices make the lighter lunch option enticing with several aisles of fresh hummus, olive varieties, falafel, salsa and much more. The sushi bar, sandwich counter and soup options benefit from the store’s “Trends Task Force,” according to Whole Foods marketing director Michele Mooney. This group of employees meets monthly to brainstorm new ideas to stay ahead of shoppers’ newfound curiosity.
Although Whole Foods may set the industry standard, Wild Oats in Upper Arlington offers an alluring selection that holds more tightly to original health food interests with an emphasis on brown rice, whole grains and vegan options. Popular counter items include blue-green algae and spirulina, both considered nutritional “super foods.” The juice counter sells many a wheatgrass shot, roughly equivalent to eating a pound of vegetables.
Restaurants that support local growers and healthy lifestyles have become Columbus hot spots. At Northstar Café, tastes are intensified by fresh, often organic ingredients. Its veggie burgers please many carnivores and vegetarians, and can be ordered to vegan specifications. The well-loved Benevolence Café and Bakery satisfies a growing demand by providing wholesome bread to other restaurants around town.
Surrounded by farmland, Columbus is a sensible location for food awareness to flourish. The national move to support local farmers makes economic and environmental sense in a state that feeds the nation.
Wild Oats, though a national chain, carries 80 percent local produce. Community Marketing Coordinator, Vanessa Abel, says, “people go nuts for it. I’m remembering our huge, local cantaloupe. People didn’t even know they grew them that big and they smelled so fragrant. We kept selling out.”
The original health food stores sprung in the ‘60s and ‘70s as consciousness borrowed from Eastern cultures raised new concerns about the earth and the human body. Today Wild Oats is frequented by more than just the Birkenstock-clad.
Manager of the Raisin Rack Natural Food Market in Westerville, Sunny McDonald-Sargent, believes the enormous business growth she has seen over the past 20 years can be attributed to “increased awareness of illness, water impurities, 9/11, and other threats to health caused by chemicals and hybrids that are not nutritionally sound.”
The movement has reached out to the mainstream with “grab and go” items like frozen organic dinners. Working people, who need “convenience, now want it healthy,” Abel says.
To meet growing demand in Columbus, the first health supermarket was introduced in 1990 with Wild Oats. Bexley Natural Market, a co-op established in 1977, lost 25 percent of its business at that time, according to longtime manager, Annerose Schaffrin. Since then, however, it has retained customers and recently opened a new deli with vegan dishes and organic sandwiches. Schaffrin says Columbus residents come to her store because “we have so much accumulated knowledge. They know we’re not here for a fast dollar. We’re here for the long haul and they trust that environment.”
For 11 years, Jay Bigger has helped managed Sunflower Natural Foods, not to be confused with the new, much larger, Sunflower Market near the OSU Campus.
Bigger explains their specialty store caters mainly to “four groups of people. All branches of vegetarianism, which people once thought were all the same and all weird.” The second group is those with dietary restrictions and food allergies like gluten intolerance. And the third is the mainstream cadre who now appreciate “whole, fresh, natural foods.” Bigger admits most customers are Baby Boomers, the old guard of the health food movement.
Health food markets insist that they cater to no one age demographic. Mooney at Whole Foods says senior citizens tell her the market reminds them of what they used to eat before the processed food generation. They say, “‘I remember steak tasting like this.’” Across the board, healthy stores in Columbus see all sectors of the population come through with increasing frequency. Everyone has their own reasons, but share intentions for a healthier lifestyle.
SIDEBARS:
Healthy Food Stores
Sunflower Market
18 E. 9th Ave.
Columbus, OH 43201.
614-298-1614
and 889 Bethel Rd.
Columbus, OH 43214
614-459-8862
Wild Oats Community Market
1555 W. Lane Ave.
Upper Arlington, OH 43221
614-481-3400
Bexley Natural Market, a Cooperative Company
508 N. Cassady Ave.
Columbus, OH 43209
614-252-3951
Raisin Rack Natural Food Market
618 W. Schrock Rd.
Westerville, OH 43081
614-882-5886
Sunflower Natural Foods
2591 N. High St.
Columbus, OH 43202
614-263-2488
Whole Foods
3670 W. Dublin Granville Rd.
Columbus, OH 43235
614-760-5556
Healthful Restaurant Picks
Healthy can be delicious…
Benevolence Café and Bakery
41 W. Swan St., Columbus, OH 43215
614-221-9330
Dragonfly neo-v
247 King Ave.
Columbus, OH 43201
614-294-8287
Northstar Café
951 N. High St.
Columbus, OH 43201
614-298-9999