WORKING -- Mark Garcia

-- Story by Young Chang; photo by Sean Hiller

HE IS

One of the leaders in an organic, vegan, au natural world

HEALTHY DISCOVERIES

Mark Garcia, the lead cashier at Mother’s Market in Costa Mesa, never

ate tofu until he started working the registers here four years ago. He’s

not a finicky person, he says. He’ll try a bit of just about anything.

But in the last few years, he’s become an amateur expert on the

preparation of tofu, and he’s discovered organic eggs, organic fruits,

organic turkey and, of course, the infinite varieties of soy.

“It can taste like chicken, the veggie burgers. And the soy drinks --

they’re excellent. People are just afraid to try things like this,” said

Garcia, 42.

GROCERY TALK

The market is crowded this week. People move aside for each other as

the patron at the specialty-flour barrel scoops the unbleached grains

into bags. Everything’s communal here (even the fruit stands look

fresher, more pastoral) and customers shop at a relaxed, browsing pace.

“It’s not like a regular supermarket,” Garcia said. “People in this

store like to talk. They ask each other ‘What do you use that for?’ ‘How

do you prepare that?”’

The groceries include organic produce, nutritional/herbal supplements,

sugar-free sweets and walls of vegan-friendly frozen and unfrozen finds.

“There are people who are just unique,” said Garcia, a Long Beach

resident. “They do the organic, or they don’t want kids to eat sugar. . .

. There are parents with kids who’ve never eaten a Snickers bar. I like

meeting the customers. Everybody has their little things.”

WELL-WISHING

But the fun sometimes quiets down. Some shoppers visit Mother’s for

diet-specific foods to help treat everything from cancer to diabetes. The

supplement department is popular -- Garcia says the staff never

recommends products, though -- and it’s often a “last resort” for an

illness determined incurable.

When asked what’s challenging about his job, Garcia said, “Hoping to

see customers you find out are sick. You know they’re sick. Sometimes

it’s hard to talk to them about it, but you want to wish them well.”