Living Foods Oxford Cafe and Market offers organic food options to the community. Courtesy: Melody Sharp
It wasn’t until her oldest son was diagnosed with a milk protein allergy that 31-year-old mother of two Melody Sharp realized the importance of eating organic, locally grown products.
“When my now 4-year-old son was a baby, his pediatrician showed me a list of names that also meant ‘milk protein,’ and I became vigilant about reading nutrition labels,” Sharp said. “I started to question everything. I wondered why certain ingredients were in products when they didn’t have to be, and I knew that these items could be made healthier.”
So, Sharp set out to do just that: make food in Oxford healthier.
On Feb. 1, Living Foods Organic Café and Market opened just off College Hill Road in the former location of Olivia’s Food Emporium.
Even before the first customer sipped on a vegetable-filled organic juice, the business had a defined objective: “To serve Oxford and nourish the community through good food, great service and an offering of products you won’t find anywhere else in Oxford.”
“Essentially, I started this café and market because I was tired of not being able to take my boys anywhere healthy to eat,” Sharp said. “I thought to myself, ‘If I could open up my dream store, what would it look like?’ Well, this is what it would look like. A place where people can eat and purchase both delicious and nutritious food.”
Off the menu, items such as organic salads, grass-fed beef and freshly squeezed orange juice are available. Along the perimeter of the store, customers can shop for locally grown produce, gluten-free snacks and homemade, completely natural desserts.
“As a once overweight 45-year-old, I can honestly tell you that it’s foods like this, the stuff that fills this incredible store, that has completely saved my health,” said Vicki Steinberg, a parent of an Ole Miss junior. “A year ago, I had never heard of quinoa (a gluten-free seed that is cooked like a whole grain), and now I always order it here and at other restaurants whenever possible. With that said, every single time I come to town from Illinois, I always pick up a quinoa bowl and some groceries from Living Foods Organic Café and Market, the healthiest restaurant Oxford has to offer.”
Steinberg has fueled her body with only wholesome ingredients and organic produce for the past 11 months, and as a result, she has lost 40 pounds and no longer suffers from high cholesterol.
“It’s simple, living foods help you live, and dying foods help you die,” Sharp said. “When you think of the name ‘Living Foods,’ you immediately associate it with health. And that’s what we are, a place of health.”
Each week, Sharp uses local, seasonal and organic ingredients from nearby farms, like the Oxford-located Yokna Bottoms Farm, to create a “Weekly Specials” menu. This week, customers can choose any two of the following four for an $11.95 lunch: apple bacon, pumpkin chocolate Brie, kale and nectarine salad, and/or Mel’s zuppa.
“The great thing about Melody is that she uses our farm grown products to inspire creativity in the kitchen,” said Betsy Chapman, marketing and communications director for Yokna Bottoms Farm. “Not too long ago, she used our pie pumpkins to make these fantastic pumpkin cupcakes with green tea frosting. She always incorporates what we have seasonally in her menu, and it’s fun to see what kinds of things she will come up with to serve her customers.”
Sharp has trained her nine employees to know the variety of carbohydrates, healthy fats and proteins that the restaurant offers as well as how to cook the food that is available for purchase.
“I’ve learned so much about organic produce and gluten-free products since I started working here,” said employee Allison Henle, a The University of Mississippi senior studying communicative sciences and disorders. “I have also learned that it’s true, you are what you eat. The people who come here to dine, and shop are choosing to eat nutritious foods, and it definitely shows in their positivity and energy levels.”
Liz Barrett Foster, the publisher and editor of Eating Oxford, credits Melody Sharp for giving people the choice to eat healthier, more natural meals.
“Living Foods is bringing something totally new to Oxford as far as healthy goes,” Foster said. “If you are looking for a place to eat out that’s not fried or artificial, this is the place to go. And, even if you want to cook at home, they sell groceries similar to what a health food store would offer. Our community, and Mississippi in general, doesn’t have many places like this organic café, and that’s what makes it special.”
In the future, Sharp hopes to expand her current store into the building next door as well as open 30 Living Foods locations throughout Mississippi. Her goal is to increase awareness of organic foods and to help the state as a whole become healthier.
“A lot of people who come here ask me to never stop what I’m doing,” Sharp said. “They thank me for owning my business, and they tell me how badly Oxford needed this restaurant and market. I love that. I love being able to fill a need in the community that hadn’t previously been met. Ultimately, I hope to continue filling this same need throughout the state of Mississippi.”
