The Pomegranate Lifestyle

Jan 22, 2013

By Bernie Hunhoff

 

Obesity rates are growing in South Dakota. One study traces part of the problem to our low fruit and vegetable consumption and the difficulty of finding fresh, local foods. 

But four local businessmen are making it easier to eat healthier with their Pomegranate Market at 57^th and Louise in southwest Sioux Falls. “Our primary focus is to provide a local, natural and organic market,” said Brice Autry, who founded the store in 2010 with Steve Gratzfeld, Craig Snyder and Bart Roberts. 

Autry was managing a traditional grocery in Brookings when the four men began to plan their new market, which borrows its name from the fabled pomegranate fruit.

“Pomegranate Market is more of a lifestyle, not only for our customers but for the people we hire,” Autry says. “We look for like-minded people who share our belief that food is important to the body, mind and spirit.”

Autry also wants staff and customers who will be enthused when Happy Hydros delivers the season’s first fresh tomatoes from Pukwana, or a Canistota farmer shows up with free-range chickens. 

The 11,000 square-foot store — which features an amazing 72-foot mural by artists Mary Groth and her daughter Liz Heeren — stocks milk from Burbach Dairy in Hartington, Neb., grassfed beef from Cliff Milsapps of Gary, honey from Glen Wollman’s farm near Parker and organic eggs rich with omega-3s from the Cook family of Adrian, Minn.

A local Hutterite colony delivers poultry and radio talk show host Rick Knobe provides bison meats from his Lazy RRse Ranch. Plus, the shelves have fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, baked goods, meat and fish.

A 40-seat bistro features organic and natural prepared foods, including grab-and-go items like salads, sandwiches, gourmet cheeses, made-from-scratch soups and a popular turkey-bacon-pesto wrap with spinach and cheeses.

 

Editor’s Note: This story is revised from the July/August 2011 issue of  South Dakota Magazine. To order a copy or to subscribe, call 800-456-5117.