I just found out today that a Whole Foods is going to be built close to my neighborhood. Too bad it’s not an Earth Fare.
While many crunchy, green mamas might rejoice at Whole Foods coming to town, I am in mourning because Whole Foods is basically on par with your “neighborhood” Walmart.
There is nothing “neighborly” about Walmart or Whole Foods.
What a joke.
Whole Foods is just another cutthroat Corporate Bully dressed in organic, “let’s save the world”, “buy local” disguise with the shareholders in full throttle, profit taking control.
While Whole Foods is undoubtedly counting on health conscious Moms like me in the neighborhood cha-chinging away at the brand spanking new registers, let me just share with you that you won’t see The Healthy Home Economist browsing the aisles there.
I’ll be shopping at the 2 small, local healthfood stores less than a mile away where I’ve shopped for the past 15 years. That’s where my business loyalty lies.
I spend almost all my food money with local businesses and local farms. Not Whole Foods.
How could I possibly rationalize shopping at Whole Foods which has recently rolled over on the GMO issue in the United States by suggesting that we all need to “learn to live with GMO’s” by accepting the USDAs proposal for “peaceful” coexistence between organics and genetically modified foods?
Here is Whole Foods’ official statement on the matter:
The reality is that no grocery store in the United States, no matter what size or type of business, can claim they are GMO-free. While we have been and will continue to be staunch supporters of non-GMO foods, we are not going to mislead our customers with an inaccurate claim (and you should question anyone who does). Here’s why: the pervasive planting of GMO crops in the U.S. and their subsequent use in our national food supply. 93% of soy, 86% of corn, 93% of cotton, and 93% of canola seed planted in the U.S. in 2010 were genetically engineered. Since these crops are commonly present in a wide variety of foods, a GMO-free store is currently not possible in the U.S. (Unless the store sells only organic foods.)
Since the U. S. national organic standards do not allow the use of GMO ingredients and practices in the growing or production of organic foods, choosing organic is one way consumers can avoid GMO foods. The other is through labeling, of which we are strong supporters.
Hey Whole Foods, here’s a novel idea: How about selling only organic and local foods then? That would solve the problem nicely wouldn’t it?
I don’t know about you, but that statement screams “sell-out” to me. Even more damaging, Whole Foods recently endorsed the peaceful coexistence option with regard to GE alfalfa rather than an outright ban. The unrestricted planting of GE alfalfa that starts as early as this spring threatens the entire grassfeeding dairy industry over the long term as alfalfa hay is an integral part of winter feeding.
Whole Foods is all about corporate profits and management can shade it and couch it any way they like, but the message is loud and clear: corporate profit and shareholder gains are more important than sticking to the basic sustainability ideals Whole Foods was founded upon.
Do you want your neighborhood healthfood stores and farmer’s markets to suffer revenue losses from business ruthlessly stripped away by a Whole Foods coming to town?
If not, you can choose to stay away like me and treat Whole Foods like just another supermarket or Walmart: a place of last resort where budget dollars are rarely if ever spent.
Note: as of July 2012, it appears that Whole Foods is still sourcing much of its “organic” produce from China which provides further verification of the video below.
In addition, as of June 2015, Whole Foods’ new veggie rating system can rank conventional produce grown in another country ahead of organic, local produce!
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Whole Foods has been on the cutting edge for years by introducing and partnering with local farmers as White Oak Pastures.com, the finest pastured meat, chicken, and similar products on earth! We are so blessed to have discovered White Oak Pastures. You are insulting the very farmers you profess to love and support when you attack Whole Foods. Whole Foods DOES support local farmers!
Sarah, respectfully I think you are missing the big picture……and it’s called Monsanto. If enough people would stop buying GMO products, this would solve the problem.
I challenge you to guide the GMO movement by taking it straight to the source, Monsanto, instead of distractions about whether a company makes a profit….(which unless you are the government, you have to make a profit to stay in business). Use your voice to bring us together about the very issue of GMO instead of dividing us over “who shops where”.
Take this opportunity to elevate the GMO awareness to the source, Monsanto! Bring us TOGETHER in the fight against GMO foods, not divide us!
As I said before, Whole Foods is a Monsanto enabler. There are genetically modified foods courtesy of Monsanto all over a Whole Foods store. Whole Foods as a company talks out of both sides of its mouth. They say one thing and do another to maximize corporate profits. It is next to impossible for many local producers to get their products into WHole Foods anymore. It was easier years ago, but not anymore. Whole Foods has strayed from its original vision and does not deserve my business. I refuse to shop there.
I guess there are GMO foods in WF. I don’t buy them. I buy fresh foods and many of them are organic, locally grown within 100 miles of my store. You and I do have the freedom (at least so far the government hasn’t taken that from us) to “speak” with our $$$ and shop where we please and that is just fine. But look at the bigger picture……
This issue is not about WF as much as it is our country allowing GMO here in the first place! Other countries have banned GMO. Have you not questioned why our government endorses GMO in our country? Why are you not outraged about allowing GMO foods in our country? GMO is not healthy for any of us.
If you and I lived in a perfect world and WF didn’t allow any GMO in their stores…..food manufacturers would still be using GMO products that feed our toddlers/children in schools and in hospitals that care for the weak. The REAL outrage here is bigger than WF, it is that our country endorses GMO in the first place!
Monsanto’s GMO seeds are a hardship on our organic farmers as their seeds cross-contaminate organic fields. GMO altered foods affect everyone young and old. The WF’s argument is small stuff…..we need to go after the big stuff, Monsanto, and stop GMO production in our country. We need a response from every elected government representative if they endorse GMO altered seed production. Then the rest of us need to be active writing and calling to persuade them that banned GMO altered seeds is in the best interest of our county.
I would think all your readers would certainly support that effort. Let’s find a real solution to ban GMO foods in our country. United we can ALL make a difference…..a healthy difference.
Yes, I would love to see Whole Foods use its considerable corporate might (they are a 9 BILLION dollar company!) to help us muscle out GM foods in this country. So far, they are showing little will to do so.
More gets done in our country with grass roots organizations.
I’ll try again. Pretend today there is no WF. Not one store any where on earth. But there are still GMO foods killing us. How does your rant against WF fix the GMO problem? It didn’t save one farmer, (in fact, some probably will not survive), kids still eat the nasty product in schools and elderly on a fixed budget are eating them. How is your world any better without WF?
And yes, the WF stockholders and employees hope that it grows to be a $20 BILLION company. I will continue to support them because they DO support my local farmers and best provide the quality food I serve to my family ALONG WITH my local farmers. Why does it have to be all or no WF? That’s silly.
Here’s an option: You start your own grocery store chain, in all the cities across the US and simply don’t allow any GMO products in it. We know you won’t allow that tacky corporate profit (from taking risks and being successful in the business world) so you can proudly proclaim you are a ‘profit-LESS’ business (which might make it hard to get a business loan to open up all those stores across the US), but that is your call.
LOL Best reply I’ve read all day, Rhonda. Amen and Amen.
More people would be buying from local farms and businesses without Whole Foods. Many brands that contain GM ingredients would not be in business without Whole Foods. If the Mothership took off from downtown Austin never to return, the world would indeed adjust to a more locally oriented less corporate organic mindset and we would indeed all be better off.
In the article Sarah asks, “Do you want your neighborhood healthfood stores and farmer’s markets to suffer revenue losses from business ruthlessly stripped away by a Whole Foods coming to town?” In the Twin Cities, MN we have more than one Whole Foods and in the time period after their arrival our local co-ops and farmer’s markets have grown by leaps and bounds and are THRIVING.
Very interesting! My farmer does VERY well w/ his veggie co-op, eggs, dairy, and meat sales and we have quite a few Whole Foods locations near us.
If it weren’t for Whole Foods then dairy’s like Saint Benoit wouldn’t exist. http://www.stbenoit.com
From their website:
“With a little help from people like Whole Foods and John Mattos (dairy partner) who believed in us, some ingenuity, many months of planning and forethought, our seeds have grown into a thriving and sustainable creamery. ”
I remember an old saying about a baby and bathwater…
AnnMarie, the “Cheeseslave” commented on your post in Kelly the Kitchen Kop’s blog.
I must say that I agree with what she says and think that your position on this matter is a bit too extreme.
Thanks for all the helpful education you provide.
I won’t be reading any more of the negative comments on these other blogs. If folks want to rip me personally, they are free to do so but I don’t have to read it.
There MUST BE something wrong with Whole Foods or there would not be so much controversy here. We are always told to “trust our gut” and many people’s guts tell them Whole Foods stinks…
Respectfully, I’m not sure there’s much logic in this, Erin. I’m not saying people shouldn’t trust their instincts, but my gut tells me Whole Foods has been a wonderful supplier of nutritious foods for my family. Does this mean I’m in the clear?
Say goodbye to the bees – bees feed on alfalfa pollen. What is the point of ‘science’ at all if research points to this and all proof ends up meaningless to the almighty ‘poison for profits’?
Wow! This is some great dialogue! I really appreciate Sarah and all the bloggers who have so much to offer to those of us who desperately want to learn the best way to feed our families! The quote about not making food your religion is SO true! Just a quick comment to help in this amazing debate with our friends and family who don’t yet know how the food supply has been hijacked…today at work my boss turned to me and said that Dr. Oz did a show on aspartame and said that it is safe and has not been show to cause any brain/neuro problems. She waited for my reaction, as I have tried to get all of them OFF aspartame; I told her that I believe that anyone who has a big name show/sponsor on television these days could possibly have a conflict of interest in telling all the truth about products that are ADVERTISED on their show. They want to believe me, but they just can’t wrap their minds around the fact that we are being lied to on a daily basis by mainstream everything! Anyway, just so you know how it’s going for some of us who want food freedom and food TRUTH! God bless!
While I do partly agree with you Sarah– I am wondering why, if you are so vehemently opposed to WF do you have a link/ad for the new “Whole Foods store Grand Openning in Glenn Mills” on your blog?!
Yes, I had one for Coke the other day too. Not good I realize. I have them removed as soon as I see them as my ad filters aren’t 100% perfect unfortunatley. The fact is that this blog takes money to run. I can do classes and charge for my content or have some ads instead. I choose the ads as I prefer free content for my readers.
Sarah,
In many ways, I’m thankful for finding your site. There is a richness of information here that I was able to learn so much from. The post you did about vaccinations on preemies may have saved my preemie son’s health since it was posted days before he was due for his 2 month shots (which we skipped).
But I wish you would take to heart the comments so many have made here about your tone. You seem so harsh, judgmental and dismissive throughout your posts, and I have to say that many times I’ve hovered over the unsubscribe button because of it. It is so easy to get riled up into a fury over what is happening to food/farming in this country, but I think your words could reach so many more people if you learned to speak with kindness and encouragement. There aren’t many of us in the real food world, and if we create dissension amongst ourselves, we’re doing no good in the end.
Personally, I am grateful for Whole Foods. Sure, there are a lot of things I don’t like about it, but with a little baby in tow, I can hardly justify driving an hour (or more) to go to the other local, real food store just to buy the exact same brands/farmers’ foods when Whole Foods is 5 minutes away from home. I still get to buy local, pastured eggs, kerrygold butter, milk from grassfed jersey cows, local and organic produce, and local and pastured meat. Sure, it’s a trade-off, and hopefully one day I will have other options. I do have in-laws who bring us pastured eggs and beef from their ranch when we see each other, and occasionally I’m able to make it to a farmer’s market. At least it’s something, right?
I’ll hold out on unsubscribing for now, but I hope you take to heart what people have to say and don’t dismiss it out of hand. A little kindness never hurt anyone.
I feel like you do. I haven’t visited since Sarah called those of us who eschew grains “ridiculous”. I convinced myself Sarah was just having a bad day. I took some time away, and the first post I come back to uses much the same belittling tone. 🙁 I have SUCH a hard time reconciling that with the woman on the videos who seems so kind and helpful. I feel like there is a WEALTH of information here, and I never expect to agree with everything I read, I just think the tone of self-righteousness is hard to get past. I’m sure Sarah thinks we should just get lost if we don’t like her point of view, I just wish it didn’t come to that. I love Kelly (KitchenKop) she shares her opinions without trying to make everyone with opposing views feel like a nincompoop.
I totally agree with you, Jenny, Linda and others. I really hope Sarah reads these comments, and as Jenny says, takes them to heart. It would make learning from this blog a much more pleasant experience.
Well said, Jenny.
And Whole Foods, unlike Wal-Mart, DOES offer so much good real food…it sucks that they are into the processed “health” food too and GMOs, but it is great that there is a place that many people have access to that sells local produce, grass-fed animal products, etc. Honestly, my first time in Whole Foods, I felt as if I was in a wonderland of food! But I hate the corporatism that is running our country too. It is a tough thing–supporting businesses that are good in some ways, evil in others. It is tough. But what would it really take not to support it at all? I mean, don’t shop at Whole Foods, don’t drive a car which takes gas, don’t buy clothes from the store because they are made by underpaid workers in horrendous conditions half way around the world,etc. etc.
Jenny,
I agree with you 100%. I was thrown under the bus and accused of being from Big Dairy and a fearmonger in January because I had different opinions than Sarah. I think that she is self-righteous, arrogant, and needs to learn that not everyone is going to agree with her on everything. I no longer post comments on this blog because I don’t appreciate the tone that is used on here. I was blocked and had some of my posts deleted when I disagreed with Sarah. People have the right to their own opinions without being treated like an ignorant child. We are all adults, and we all have our own beliefs, but to ridicule people for having different opinions is a turn-off and it will cause people to stop supporting this blog. I agree with EricsGirl about Kelly’s blog. Kelly is always nice, respectful, and she allows people to have their own opinions without resorting to the name-calling. Everyone’s situation is different, but we do what we can for our own families and personal situations. There is no need for this negative, self-righteous, know-it-all tone on here.
Hi Sarah, thanks for the blog; I had heard this info from different sources and wanted to share it with friends, so it is nice to see it all condensed here in one short blog! I tried to find the link to see where all of Whole Foods “Organic” foods come from, but when I went to http://www.wjla.com, I couldn’t find any link for the “ITeam” or anything about Whole Foods. Have you tried to find that link mentioned in the video? I would love to see it, and where all of Whole Food’s “Organic Food” really comes from.
Thanks, Joyce