Living Foods Organic Café and Market Serves Locally Grown Food

Photo: Nathan Loe

Since its doors opened in February of 2013, Living Foods Organic Café and Market have made it a policy to only purchase its produce, meat and dairy directly from local organic farmers.

Melody Sharp, the owner and founder of Living Foods, has made it her mission to make sure that the people of Oxford have access to delicious and wholesome food regardless of the season.

“Living Foods exists to basically nourish our community through good food and through education,” said Sharp. “We work with Brown Dairy for their milk, a lady out of Pontotoc for her eggs and Native Sun Farms as well. These are all naturally certified grown farms, we don’t work with farms who don’t farm organically.”

The main concern with getting “fresh” food that is not locally sourced are the preservatives and pesticides regularly used in large market chains. Living Foods offers groceries but also serves fresh lunch every day. The spring season brings new tasty options to Living Foods menu, including roasted veggie quesadillas, grass fed beef burgers with spicy vegan mayo, and salads full of locally grown carrots, bell peppers, cabbage, baby spinach, edamame and scallions.

Photo: Nathan Loe

“Everything is prepared daily; we have some of our menu staples that have been around since we opened, but we do seasonal specials as well,” Sharp said. “Something unique we have been offering lately is a zucchini noodle bowl (also called Zoodles) that is pretty fun to change up the toppings for.”

Organic alternatives can leave you feeling more energetic, and some organic products can be a good alternative to caffeine for students preparing for finals this semester. Collin Wilbanks, an employee at Living Foods, claims that its organic options are just as good as coffee.

“Our juices are great for energy; we use fresh fruits and veggies for them, and our smoothies but the matcha green tea latte is the best,” said Wilbanks. “I would say that it’s better for energy than any cup of coffee you could find, but if you really like coffee we have organic coffee here too.”

Living Foods is located at 809 College Hill Road, right next to B’s Hickory Smoke BBQ.

Photo: Nathan Loe

Photo: Nathan Loe

Nathan Loe is a student at The Meek School of Journalism and New Media. Nathan can be reached at nbloe@go.olemiss.edu.

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