Fresh From The Farm

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hattiesburg’s new yokel

FROM THE FARM

Hattiesburg’s New Yokel Market caters to organic food lovers

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TEXT AND PHOTOS BY VALERIE WELLS

Chris Cagle smiles at a customer and bends over a notepad on the brick counter at the New Yokel Market in downtown Hattiesburg. It’s a long bend for the lanky 31-year-old entrepreneur but his long ponytail stays in place down his back. “I think of my customers as accomplices,” Cagle said. Many of his customers are middle-aged, conservatively dressed and passionate about buying organic food. This is Cagle’s niche. His familyowned New Yokel Market is an organic grocery store and his accomplices come from all over the Hattiesburg area to shop here. “This is not like a hippie bastion,” Cagle said. He first opened the store in 2005 with some family members. At that time, it was on East Pine Street. When a space opened up on his favorite corner, Cagle moved the business to 205 N. Main St. Cagle knows the block well. When he was 23 and still living in Meridian, he came down with friends to hear a band

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playing at the Thirsty Hippo. He began to see it as an oasis and became part of a social network headed up by Erik Eaves, who owned the Hippo and the building next door housing Main Street Books. When the bookstore moved into a larger space across the street, The New Yokel got a new home. “I don’t think Erik gets enough credit for what he has done in downtown Hattiesburg,” Cagle said. Through that Thirsty Hippo network, more young professionals have come downtown to live and work and take wild chances starting new businesses. Cagle said those friendships have led to business decisions and partnerships. The mural on the outside wall of the grocery store depicts the organic farm of Tom Dana, a South Mississippian known for growing produce without chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Hattiesburg artist Spence Townsend, another member of the Thirsty Hippo network, painted it. Not only does the New Yokel

Market sell organic products, the store offers several prepared foods. Cagle’s younger sister Anna makes vegetarian breads, fresh salads and creative sandwiches for sale throughout the day. “Soup is her greatest expression,” he said. Cagle has traveled across the country visiting various organic farms and educating himself on food issues. He’s also studied economics and history and sees deep connections between global issues and what’s in your refrigerator right now. “After World War II, food became industrialized,” Cagle begins, as he sits down and starts a conversation about the metabolic crisis of Mississippians and big business’s role in controlling the food system. The organic food movement is a reaction to the industrial take-over of how Americans eat, Cagle said. He has simple advice for shopping for healthier food in any store: Read the labels. Avoid the following as much as possible:

New Yokel Market - Words you can’t pronounce. - Any ingredient preceded by the word “From.” - Any preservatives or coloring. “Basically anything that isn’t food,” he said. He also suggests only shopping on the outside aisles of grocery stores where the fresh food tends to be displayed and avoid the inner aisles altogether. Healthy food has a short shelf life, Cagle said. “Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn‘t eat,” he said, citing author Michael Pollan. He is passionate on the subject but doesn’t go around fighting for his cause. “I educate by diffusion, not by infusion,” Cagle said. “The decisions people make by choosing food are powerful.” Cagle’s decision to move to Hattiesburg was powerful, also. “In my heart, I’m a farmer,” he said. But selling organic food and being around other young entrepreneurs is where he wants to be right now. Hattiesburg, he contends, is probably the coolest city in Mississippi. “Because of the young people cycling through there’s open mindedness,” Cagle said. It’s a college town but is also a city with a substantial population outside the colleges, which Cagle argues makes it different than an Oxford. Hattiesburg’s history of civil rights reforms impressed Cagle. He says that kind of thinking and action has spilled over into other ways of thinking. “It tends to make the town cooler,” he said. Even though it’s cool, it’s not always easy running a small business. Cagle works more than 10 hours a day most days. “It’s a labor of love. We entrepreneurs are all in the same boat, striving not to be someone’s employee. We are eking it out,” he said. “We need more people to step out and take a risk and watch magic happen.”

• Directions: New Yokel Market, 215 N. Main St., is located at the intersection of Main and Buschman streets in downtown Hattiesburg. • Hours: The organic grocery store is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. In addition to groceries, fresh homemade soups, salads and sandwiches are available daily. • For information: Call (601) 584-5048 or go to www.newyokel.com.