OKLAHOMA CITY — By all accounts, the opening this week of Whole Foods can be expected to be hit with an onslaught of customers even as the lines continue for organic produce at the recently opened Sunflower Market just two miles away.
Former grocer J.B. Pratt has a word of advice for local supermarket operators: Watch and adapt. Pratt was a pioneer in selling organic produce and locally produced foods a decade ago and has long expected what he believes will be a significant shift in consumer habits.
Cheryl Camp, who coordinates the OSU-OKC Farmers Markets and still works with Pratt, is among those who credit him with being a pioneer in the attempt to switch local consumers toward organic produce.
"He was ahead of his time," Camp said. "People just weren't used to the idea yet; we weren't hearing that much about it. He started his stores at a time when the big rage was microwave dinners and people were moving away from what was healthy."
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