Caroline Bakhunas
Published: November 9, 2005
There is a haven for health conscious citizens who crave organic or vegetarian meals: Ever’man Natural Food Store.
The store, founded by a group of “hippy” entrepreneurs in the 1970s, started as a buying club among their circle of friends. The idea of eating only organic fit their transcendental way of life as well as their meditation practices, “Clean food. Clean Mind.”
The club set up shop in a small house surrounded by woods in Gulf Breeze, but due to the store’s growing band of supporters, Ever’man moved to the 9th Avenue location, where it continued to thrive and expand its services and number of customers.
Melissa Howard, a PJC student, says “I shop at Ever’mans every single week.”
The new, current location on Garden Street, built six years ago, continues the traditional co-op management. Members of Ever’man, unlike any regular grocery store, actually have voting rights to the personnel elected on the board.
“I like that the store is a co-op and not a huge corporation,” Howard said.
The services offered at Ever’man include: massages with a minimum $10 donation, a newsletter every two months to members, workshops, cooking demos, and member discounts. Membership rates are $12 annually.
Current manager, John Russo is pleased to announce Ever’man is now holding permanent recycling bins on the property and urges everyone to use them.
Recycling isn’t the only change making this store a hot place to shop. Ever’man now offers a variety of food services. The deli, located in the back of the store, prepares ready-to-eat sandwiches, wraps, salads and more.
No, this isn’t a store where only hippies shop. Leading a healthy life is becoming mainstream, and Ever’man attracts various groups of people with different lifestyles. Melissa Howard is a vegetarian and says her favorite part of Ever’man is, “that Ever’man has a wide selection of fake meats because most grocery stores lack that.”
Although natural foods are clean and healthy, buyers should be aware that not all products are wise choices to eat. Note: nutritional contents should be taken into account.
“One lady came in here and told her friend she could eat anything in the store and not get fhat,” laughs Russo, “that is the biggest misconception of our store.”
Besides the deli choices, hormone-free meats, and assortments of every kind of nut you can imagine, fresh produce is what attracts most customers. All the produce is pesticide-free coming from places like Australia, California, Costa Rica, Mexico and Peru, with a few local growers to add to the list.
“I know when I eat the fruits and vegetables that there are no harmful pesticides in my body,” said Mary Taylor Mills, a college student in Pensacola.
Lauren Rushing, a high school student at Catholic High School, started eating solely organic foods after her eczema got out of control.
“I stopped eating chips with additives, pesticide-treated vegetables, and other things that I assumed could cause my skin to break out. After only a week, my eczema cleared up quite a bit,” said Lauren, who is now an avid shopper at Ever’man.
Ever’man, a company committed to the community, continues to keep “clean living” foods and products stocked on every shelf of the store and available for everyone to enjoy.
