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A fresh start

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By MICHELLE BEARDEN

mbearden@tampatrib.com

Published: October 18, 2009

TAMPA - Before the morning paper comes, before the sun makes its first appearance, there is Elizabeth Hamilton, all cheery and bright.

She jumps out of her Ford F-150 pickup and climbs the cement steps leading to the cavernous building that houses the Tampa Wholesale Produce Market on East Hillsborough Avenue. Striding down the main aisle under fluorescent lighting, she carries a handwritten list of special requests from customers, a worn billfold stuffed with bills and a steely determination.

"How are the grapes today? Last week, not so good," she calls out to one of the wholesalers, a beefy guy in a close-fitting T-shirt. "Oh, but that garlic! It looks fabulous!"

She stops for a close inspection of a crate of peppers. In Florida's humid climate, a box of the crisp green vegetables can literally dissolve into a liquidy mess by the time she transports them from Central to South Tampa. That's a lesson she learned the previous week. Life is pretty much trial and error these days.

In January, in the midst of a suffocating recession, Hamilton opened Fresh Produce Market, selling mainly locally grown fruits and vegetables from a 250-square-foot converted gas station in South Tampa. She invested much of her life savings and took a gamble that people would make the extra effort to get out of the supermarket habit and come to her place for fresh, healthy produce she selects every morning.

Not everything has gone right.

One month, after expenses, she cleared $28.

The hours are exhausting, beginning around 3:30 a.m. when she heads to the Hillsborough and Plant City markets to shop, then opening Fresh Produce from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Some mornings, she even picks the produce herself at self-service farms, carefully selecting the best-tasting lettuce and tomatoes.

The brutal Florida summers put the local growing season on hold, limiting what she could offer her customers. So she posted inspirational sayings on the front window and walls of her tiny shop - "Believe in your courage and your strength" and "Be the change you want to see in the world" - to keep her optimism alive.

There are two things that she says keep her head above water and her spirits buoyed. "My faith," she says, "and this community. I just report to God and trust in him. And he has sent me some pretty amazing people. People who were just strangers a year ago and are now my friends."

'Working in light speed'

A million years ago, or so it seems, Hamilton soared in a different universe.

As president of Century City Partners in Los Angeles, she led executive searches for high-profile companies such as Disney, Guess, Coors, Reebok International and Sony.

Jetting across the country for interviews and building corporate accounts, tethered to her cell phone and thoroughly immersed in corporate culture, Hamilton thrived on brokering deals and earning a six-figure salary.

"L.A. hyperspace, working in light speed" is how she describes the life as a divorced professional woman in Southern California. Then a call from her brother in Florida changed everything.

Their mother had accidentally set her kitchen on fire and then quit eating. Doctors diagnosed her with Alzheimer's disease and gave her about six months to live. Hamilton knew she had to take more breaks to check in on her mom and her stepfather, suffering from bone cancer.

On one of her trips back to Los Angeles from a caretaking visit, she thought to herself: What am I doing here? I need to be in Florida full-time. Within two weeks, in June 2006, Hamilton put her house on the market, temporarily closed her company and moved to her brother's home in Tierra Verde.

Her first order of business was to wean her mother off all the prescription drugs she was taking. Then she coaxed her into eating more by making shakes out of "super foods" - fruits, vegetables and grains packed with disease-fighting nutrients. To make sure she was getting the freshest fare possible, Hamilton did her shopping at produce stands and farms near her mother's assisted living facility in Ruskin.

Her mom died 18 months later. Hamilton is convinced that the healthy foods bought her more time.

Starting over

After her mother's death, there was no going back to Los Angeles. With the economic downturn, corporate America was no longer seeking high-paid executives. Hamilton, with her honors degree from Wellesley College and her business experience, needed to reinvent herself.

A woman of deep faith, she is quite certain God led her to South Tampa, where she found the little store for lease at 5025 Bayshore Blvd. (near Gandy Boulevard) and a town home for sale two blocks away. After she contacted landlord Mary McKnight, the two discussed what kind of business would best suit the place, which had previously housed a gas station, an antiques shop and, most recently, a garden center.

"I always thought it would make a great home for a produce stand," McKnight suggested.

That's when Hamilton saw her future.

She jump-starts each day with this prayer:

"Almighty God, whose command is over all and whose love never fails, make me aware of your presence and obedient to your will, so nothing can go wrong."

Her vision for Fresh Produce is steeped in her desire to support local growers. In the shop's front window, she posted a reminder: "No farmers, no food." She loves the idea that what she picks off the vine in the mornings will be enjoyed by a family at a dinner table that night.

"I see our country, our whole world for that matter, fragmented right now. We're so caught up in high-tech interaction - heck, I was right there - that we've lost touch with our neighbors, our community," she says.

Although she didn't know anyone in the area, Hamilton's cheery demeanor and warmly appointed shop led to fast friendships. Business transactions opened the door to personal relationships, with customers popping in to say hello on the way home from work. She gets to know their kids' names and their dogs' names, and she listens to their stories of job struggles and family issues.

Several local residents got directly involved with Fresh Produce, wanting Hamilton to succeed in her solo and sometimes struggling operation. A group of parents set up an organic garden on the property, so their children could get hands-on growing experience. A retired husband and wife bring lunch by, since Hamilton can't get away for meals.

Awning, cards and flowers

Another couple put up an awning to protect the produce on the outside table from the blistering sun, and a local artist designed and printed fancy business cards.

Matthew Orr, a landscape architect out on a motorcycle ride, stopped in and heard the Fresh Produce story. He came back and planted flowers out front, giving the store more curb appeal.

When Hamilton fell ill on a busy Saturday, Hank Pomerantz, a fellow church member from St. John's Episcopal Church, told her to go home and rest. He manned the store the rest of the day.

"She is genuine and sincere. I don't want this venture to exhaust her to death," he says.

Chris Murnaghan was on a daily run one day and saw the new business. She ended up jogging home with a bag of produce. She recalls one visit when a customer in front of her bought up all the spinach, so she asked Hamilton about keeping her in mind for the next batch that came in.

"The next day, she calls and tells me she picked some herself that morning for me," Murnaghan says. "And I will tell you, that was the best spinach I've had in my life. Everybody is so busy these days that they just don't pay attention to the normal stuff. It makes such a difference when somebody puts their heart and soul into a business, like Elizabeth does."

Having Hamilton in the neighborhood has renewed Inez Tomlinson's passion for cooking. When she lived in New York and visited Italy, she shopped daily in the markets, planning her meals around the freshest foods she could find. Now she bypasses the local grocery store and lets Hamilton's Fresh Produce Market selections determine her dinner for that evening.

"She is a connector," Tomlinson says. "She is just what a community needs."

In a year of change and challenge, Hamilton says she craves routine and normalcy. The support of her customers - now her friends - has sustained her in the lowest moments.

"When all is said and done, I'm such a blessed person," she says. "If I had stayed in L.A., none of this would have happened. So this journey has really been an amazing experience."

Reporter Michelle Bearden can be reached at (813) 259-7613. Go to the market with Elizabeth Hamilton on Michelle Bearden's "Keeping the Faith" at 9 a.m. today on News Channel 8. Keyword: Fresh Produce, for links on supporting local farmers and eating heal

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