Finance and Economic

Elizabeth Cowie chose to step away from teaching nutrition at Fontbonne University this year to become the store nutritionist at Sappington Farmers’ Market. The change in her audience has been the sharpest difference.

Cowie conducts store tours by appointment, giving shoppers meal ideas and introducing them to special products. She also shares strategies on how to save money by adding shelf life to fruits and vegetable bought fresh at the store.

She is also facilitating a program the grocery recently began that fights childhood obesity by delivering locally grown fruits and veggies to area day-care centers.

While she does miss the eager students whom she formerly lectured, Cowie said her new audiences have been receptive to her message to buy local produce.

What’s the most common question you get/expect to get?

Gluten-free is big. Probably the next most is just helping people find product that is local and sustainable. They want help (identifying products) that are from the metro area and (I tell) them why those would be a better choice as opposed to another product.

How do you prepare yourself to be a store nutritionist?

I don’t know that I prepared myself, I just kind of dove in. The inspiration for eating more eco-friendly was a personal thing that started probably a few years back when I read the book, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life" (by Barbara Kingsolver, with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver). That was just so inspirational to me. I’ve always eaten well and educated people to eat well, but this took it a step further where you’re not just eating healthily but you’re also eating for a bigger cause — to help the environment. That was moving to me.

What advice do you give in economic times like these when its cheaper to eat unhealthy and where poverty and unhealthy eating can go hand in hand?

It’s in our advantage to help people save money by eating healthy. Some of the sizes (of our fruits and vegetables) are bigger so (consumers) can get a lot more bang for their buck payday advance. Then I can help them on how to process and store it, freeze it or maybe even can it.

I’ve only been here a couple of months, but that’s one thing I’d love to talk about with more people. (She will soon start a blog on the store’s website). I would love to see more people who think they can only get fresh produce in the summer realize we’ve got fresh produce well into the fall; it’s just going to be different seasonal produce. A lot of those keep well into the winter.

How do health fads affect your job and what the store carries?

It is my duty to educate consumers on the best choices. Those choices always go back to the same foundation — lots of fruits and vegetables, lots of whole grain and eating as close to the earth as possible.

Fads come and go, some are dangerous, unhealthy and temporary. … I just keep leading them back to the principles. There’s not any (fad) right now. The biggest trend — and I hope is not a temporary thing —is eating more eco-friendly. I’m thrilled that’s happening. It’s only going to do good. Thankfully the low-carb, low-fat diets seem to be taking a back seat right now.

Are there certain foods you’re going to try help the store sell?

We’re trying to add more local products. … We need more whole grain options, such as whole wheat pizza crusts, whole grain graham crackers. Some options that are healthy for kids are what I’m focusing on outside the store and for the store too. We have plenty but want to keep finding more.

The other thing we’re working on is denoting what items are local and also ones that are high-fructose corn syrup-free and gluten-free. We’re coming up with a labeling system that helps to identify those products clearly.

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