Press Releases

Food store might have whole answer
Originally created Friday, January 21, 2005
by Mark Woods
The Times-Union

What's it going to be this year?

If 2004 was the Year of Low Carbs, a year in which some people were more likely to guzzle unleaded gas straight from the hose than to slurp a single strand of pasta, what's it going to be in 2005?

High fat? Low protein? The anti-Atkins diet? North Beach? South Pole? Stripper Pole?

"Good carbs," Aaron Gottlieb said.

Gottlieb, sitting in his office in the back of Native Sun Natural Foods Market, said this with a slightly amused smile.

It's not that he disagrees with the idea that some carbs are better than others, or that there are "good" fats and "bad" fats, or that the answers to some of our health problems are simple. As in simple foods.

He smiles because this is what he has been selling in his store ever since it opened nearly eight years ago.

Whole grains. Organic foods. No hydrogenated oils, no chemical preservatives, no drastic changes on the shelves because of some fad.

"We're pretty much anti-fad," Gottlieb said. "Our store is about forgetting the hoopla."

And for Gottlieb, it's about remembering how he ended up here, at age 30, owning this thriving business.

As a teenager growing up in Jacksonville, Gottlieb was constantly tired. He thought it was his weight, which reached 220 pounds. It turned out he had the Epstein-Barr virus.

Gottlieb changed his diet, lost 80 pounds and found a career path.

He explains that the roots of his store can be traced to his experience and a part-time job he had while going to college in Atlanta.

While stocking shelves at a natural foods store, he started reading labels. And before long, he realized that he knew more about the products than the product representatives who visited the store.

Today, his research is more elaborate, he weighs 160 pounds and has plenty of energy, which he needs these days.

The store that opened in 1997 with five employees now has 55. It has outgrown a cramped parking lot, so 30 more spots are being added. And the plan is to open a second store, likely in about a year, near Florida 9A and Baymeadows.

"Business is good," Gottlieb said. "We have some loyal customers."

Perhaps I should insert a disclaimer here: I'm one of them. I go to Native Sun a couple of times a month. And, no, I don't go there for the wheat grass and tofu. I go to stock up on frozen pizzas, waffles, popcorn, peanut butter and chocolate cookies.

Yes, I get "junk food" at a "health food" store.

Stick with me here.

Never mind what you call the food—and Gottlieb avoids calling anything "health food" because he knows people hear that and think "cardboard"—I like the idea that I can look at a label and actually picture every ingredient.

Flour, tomatoes, canola oil, cocoa, honey, salt, garlic. Remember them?

Look at your average label on your average food today and you'll see a list of 12-syllable items that sound vaguely like something from a high school science quiz, followed by a warning that "this food may contain traces of food."

OK, I'm exaggerating. Slightly.

Maybe that will change this year. Maybe one of the fads in 2005 will be whole foods.

With that in mind, I hesitate to write about Native Sun. Not because I don't trust what's on the shelves. Because I'm worried about getting a parking spot.