Local, organic and now

Editor's note: The following story is one that I had hoped to get published locally. While several groups seemed interested in it, ultimately, no one purchased it. So, I'm running it here. Enjoy.


By Brian Brown
(Springfield, Mo.) The organic trend has found a home in the Ozarks, and if Pauly Allen has anything to say about it, it is here to stay.

Allen is the co-owner of Total Organix, a Springfield-based organic food distributor. He runs the business with the help of Shimon Lynch, who owns Stepping Stone Farms Produce and is a longtime devotee of the organic lifestyle. Lynch coordinates produce purchases from a diverse network of local and national organic food producers. Allen, an executive chef and former owner of The Barefoot Chef in Ozark, works directly with customers. Together, their company supplies organic produce to restaurants and grocery stores in the region and individual homes in Springfield, Ozark and Nixa.

Allen says he hopes the company can encourage people to incorporate more natural foods into their everyday diets.

“I lost 70 pounds by simply changing my lifestyle and eating more naturally,” Allen said.

He says he eats a roughly 80/20 mix of organic and non-organic foods, and the changes he’s seen in himself have made him passionate about spreading the news to others. That includes members of his family.

Healthy choices

Allen said his niece was facing lymph node surgery at the age of 4, and he believes her body was having problems processing the chemically altered foods she was eating. Since she has began eating organic foods, he says she’s back to being a healthy kid.

“I didn’t want her to be living that life,” he said. “And she is doing great now.”

And apparently, she is not the only one benefitting from an organic diet. He said many of the individuals in the Springfield area who have been ordering his produce online at www.totalorganix.com have told him they are turning to organic foods for health reasons.

“We have the most amazing customers,” he said. “We know that what we are doing is bigger than ourselves.”

He said several of his customers have said they are battling cancer. One, in particular, told Allen that a doctor said he had nine months to live. That was two years ago.

Allen was quick to say that he believed in traditional medicine and the work that doctors do, but that he felt diet plays an important role in maximizing any one individual’s health. Fresh, organically grown papaya, for example, gives the body the enzymes it needs to properly digest meats, Allen said.

One of Total Organix’s customers is Bill Griffiths, owner of Farmer’s Gastropub in downtown Springfield. Griffiths said he has purchased produce through the company for both himself and his business. Farmers Gastropub is a restaurant that specializes in serving locally grown organic foods.

Since Farmers opened seven months ago, Griffiths said he has lost 40 lbs.
“I tell patrons that it is dangerous to eat here because then their bodies will know what real food is,” Griffiths said.

Griffiths, like Allen, said that locally grown organic produce is the best because its fresh and it hasn’t been sprayed with pesticides or chemically altered to look big and fresh.

“Organic produce may not be as super huge as something you may see at the store, but if you come into my kitchen and pick up a tomato, you can smell it. It still has that tomato smell,” Griffiths said.

He said the glaze on many store-bought tomatoes covers their smell and changes their taste.

“[By eating organic foods] you are not putting poison into your body, and your body will start to recognize real food again,” Griffiths said.

The company

Allen said his company has been up and running since February. Its website, www.totalorganix.com, offers three basic packages for individual customers:
• Little Lauren, $28
• Da N Between, $38
• Fat Cat, $54.

Each offers a mix of organically grown fruits and veggies, with larger quantities and variety coming in the more expensive packages.

He said he delivers the packages to customers personally, and his busiest week saw 31 orders. He said 40 orders means the company breaks even with marketing expenses, 60 means things are cruising along, and at 120, Allen and Lynch can begin to invest more money into their company.

“And 200 orders would be optimus prime,” Allen said.

He said Farmer’s is the company’s only restaurant customer, but he does have other business partners including three grocery stores in Northwest Arkansas.

He says a goal of the company to keep prices comparable to non-organic produce, which is often less expensive.

“Our passion is to touch everyone and offer organic produce at a fair price.”

One way it does that is by renting its warehouse space. By not buying or building its own warehouse, Allen said the company’s start-up cost were relatively low.

Laura Killingsworth, Springfield, said she saw an ad in the paper and decided to place an order.

“I thought it would be fun to have fruit and vegetables delivered to my house,” Killingsworth said in an e-mail. “We got the Little Lauren, just to try it out and we've been eating it all week. I thought the quality was really good, and the oranges were exceptional.”

The big picture

According to Allen, there is currently a need for more local organic farmers. He said this winter he had to purchase much of his produce from reliable sources he knows in California.

He said he recently helped a local Amish farmer build three-hoop houses, so that the farmer could grow food in the winter.

“I hope there are more farmers that switch to organic produce so that I never have to buy from outside Missouri,” he said.

According to the Organic Trade Association, U.S. sales of organic foods and beverages have gone from $1 billion in sales in 1990 to an estimated $20 billion in 2007. And sales of organic products are expected to continue to grow.

Allen said the national trend is just beginning to get its footing locally. He said until recently, there just hasn’t been enough demand for local organic products.

He said he hopes to see more local grocery stores offer local produce sections, and more local restaurants offering locally grown menu items. He has even coined a name for a possible local eatery program: Fresh Fridays. Allen said he read about a restaurant in Joplin that shops at its area farmer’s market and devotes a portion of its menu to foods produced from local farmers. Allen said he thinks a similar effort in Springfield would be popular.

Besides being a healthy option, Griffiths said buying locally grown foods is good for the economy. He said Missouri used to export more food than it imported, and now the imbalance is skewed the wrong way.

“There’s no reason we can’t redress that imbalance and take time to invest in local agriculture.”

Allen says he thinks what he and others are doing to promote locally grown organic foods is catching on.

“I think what we are doing is coming; I think what we’re doing is not so weird anymore.”

For more information about Total Organix or to place an order, call 417-233-1232 or e-mail totalorganix@gmail.com.

Box
Head: Company Profile
Name: Total Organix
Owners: Pauly Allen and Shimon Lynch
Background: Allen was an executive chef that worked on yachts before moving to the area and opening The Barefoot Chef in Ozark. Until recently, Lynch worked as an organic farmer for Stepping Stone farms for several years while living in a Christian-based commune in Weaubleau, Mo.
In business since: February 2010
Who they serve: Individuals, restaurants and grocery stores in the Ozarks that are interested in having organic food delivered to their homes or businesses.
Phone: 417-233-1232
Website: www.totalorganix.com