DINING TASTE
Supplementing Your Health
D
By Tom Worgo | Photography by Stephen Buchanan
avid’s Natural Market in Gambrills offers a unique blend of local, domestic, and international foods, including organic and natural produce, and nutritional items such as vitamins, supplements, and dietary products.
And with so many restrictions affecting the restaurant industry, there’s been a trickle down effect, so to speak, that benefitted grocers. David’s business has weathered the pandemic remarkably well.
“I think more people are grocery shopping because fewer restaurants are open,” David’s Market General Manager Zack England says. England’s stepfather, David London, owns stores in Gambrills, Columbia, and Forest Hill, all called David’s Natural Market. David’s is all about sourcing product from local and regional suppliers, including Odenton’s Cozy Quail Covey Eggs, Envista Farms in Glen Burnie, Oksana’s Produce Farm in Chestertown, and Leela’s Pure Goodness in Upper Marlboro, to name a few.
David London, at right, sources the market’s salmon from Chesapeake Smokehouse.
They source regionally from South Mountain Creamery in Middletown and The Family Farm in Bel Air, as well as Albert’s Organics in New Jersey and Four Seasons Produce in Pennsylvania. The market also sets itself apart by giving customers access to a certified nutrition specialist, Courtney Carpenter, who has worked out of the Columbia store for 27 years and 38 overall in the industry. We recently talked to England about what David’s Natural Market is all about and how Carpenter can help customers. Zack, why is it important for your market to specialize in organic produce?
General Manager Zack England with his step-father and David’s Natural Market owner David London.
134
What’s Up? Annapolis | April 2021 | whatsupmag.com
Most stores carry both organic and conventional products. With us, you don’t have to pick around and look
to see if something is organic. You know if you are buying it here, it is organic. Do you get quite a few of your products locally because that’s what customers want? If the organic produce looks good or tastes good, we just got it in and see how well it sells. It’s not an order type of thing. A lot of people look for it. It also helps local businesses out, and I like supporting local businesses. The Family Farm delivers every Thursday and people look for their lettuce, carrots, beets, and kale in the winter, and in the warmer seasons, berries, tomatoes, and lettuce are popular. Do you also get your meat and fish locally? We get our salmon from a Maryland vender, the Chesapeake Smoke House
