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
I’m in agreement with Ann, Michelle, and Anne-Marie, and will add another thought to all this. To say that anyone who shops at WM or WF doesn’t realize what they’re doing and is being suckered, duped, etc. is rather insulting. Those of us who shop at those stores do so for many varied reasons, one of which is that our dollars speak. What I buy from those stores is my voice, and I let it be heard. The health food store in my small town, carries some fresh produce, but the variety is limited and it’s often beyond redemption nutritionally speaking. The bread and butter of most health food stores is not their grocery offerings, but their supplements. I do buy produce from them to encourage them to buy more of what I need, but can’t depend on them for all I need.
At chain stores, my dollars are my weapon. WM and WF are businesses and they are not evil, they’re neutral. They’re stocking what people buy, and unfortunately most people don’t care or know enough to care. If people stop buying GMOs (et al.) they’ll stop carrying them.
Amen to the exhibitor at ExpoWest…“People do better when they know better.” What ever happened to, “educate, educate, educate”?
Thankfulness for what we have available in each of our areas is where we start…remember when there was no organic produce at WM or anywhere else?
When I ‘m at Walmart, I make a point to buy mostly organic produce and then I tell the cashier and any worker nearby that I thankful they are carrying organics (albeit, very small amount). I want them to improve. not get rid of what they are doing. I talk about it on FB, and anywhwere I can to get people around here to buy it from them. It’s the closest store around here at 30 miles from my house.
Oddly enough, my local WFs doesn’t carry much in the way of organic produce. It always amazes me that non-organic bell peppers are $5 a pound at WFs and organic bell peppers are $3 a pound at my little local market. What gives?
I didn’t know they were building another one in the Tampa area…..I won’t be shopping in it either……they are VERY upsetting to me. Talking one game and living another.
At one point, Whole Foods wanted to move from their location to a new location a mile away. They were shocked when the area fought them. The reason? They wanted to tear down a wooded area that is a legacy bird-watching area, with old-growth forest!
Just like everything else you have to watch what you are purchasing. We have a local health food store (just one) and it is very expensive. I try to buy what I can there. Our farmers markets are very limited and most of the time they can’t tell you where their produce came from because they don’t know – they bought it off a truck, moved it to their truck and parked it at the market. We have fruit trees which will hopefully produce this year if we don’t have a record setting heat wave and drought and if I can ever keep the chickens out of the garden I will have that eventually.
I shop at WF for a limited number of items just the same as I shop at WM for a limited number of items. We do have a few local farms that offer grassfed beef/pork and I get that as often as I can, local fresh raw milk and dairy is hard to come by. We do the best we can with what I can get.
Sara I appreciate that you want to inform us to be aware where ever we shop. It is wrong for Wholefoods or any company to try and deceive by selling organic food made / grown in China without it clearly being labeled where it’s from and not even being able to prove that it’s organic. WF shoppers, I hope that you take a few minutes the next time you shop to leave a comment with the Manager regarding this.
My guess is that the primary shopper at Whole Foods is a new convert to healthy eating. Those of us who have been doing this awhile (10, 20, 30 years) know Whole Foods for what it is: a sham and won’t shop there.
Am I wrong on this? Anyone out there shop at Whole Foods who has been into Real Food for more than a decade?
I think it has it’s purposes for different times in peoples lives. We just moved to a new state and have yet to source out all the local farms for purchasing our grass-fed meat, etc. We are slowly getting it, but until I figure everything out I’m grateful to have Whole Foods so that I can buy my kerrygold butter, my grass-fed beef, etc. During the winter months, when nothing grows in our cold state, I shop there for veggies. Not all of us are fortunate to live in states where produce is a year round business. Will I slowly ween off Whole Foods? You bet- as much as I am able. For encouraging people to do better, sometimes you can be a little harsh. You probably took baby-steps years ago when you first started, and should allow everyone else the freedom to do so as well.
Sarah, this is an intereseting point. I’ve only been into real food since 2009. At first I shopped at Whole Foods a lot – at least once a week. Fortunately in 2009 a twice-monthly farmers market opened up in my neighborhood. Through that market I’ve developed relationships with local farmers, & I now buy most of my meat & eggs from local farmers, & raw milk & a lot of my dairy from a local farm. I’m able to do this even in the market off season directly through the farmers. During market season I buy produce at my farmers market, & I’ve started a vegetable garden in my backyard. I still shop at Whole Foods as well as a smaller chain that is new to my area (Natural Grocers), but I am finding that my reliance on Whole Foods is decreasing the longer I go on my real food journey. I can see that in several years I will seldom if ever shop at Whole Foods due to an increased awareness of local resource plus an awareness of what I can grow myself.
Absolutely. I’ve been eating “whole” / “real” foods for nearly twenty years, and one of the reasons I was able to do it was because I moved to Austin and had close proximity to non-chemically laden “un”foods, courtesy of WFM. I continue to shop there weekly although I no longer live in Austin. I also shop at my local year-round farmers’ market, plus the three terrific natural food stores within a 5 mile radius of my two staple WFMs. And I grow veggies and herbs in my small intown plot, have berry bushes, etc.
I have never found the argument “corporations are just in it to make money” to be a very compelling indictment of a company. Of course they need to make money. They owe it to their employees and stakeholders to be a viable business model. WFM was one of the first companies I witnessed that took things a step further with stated core values that talk about things like sustainability, “team members” as opposed to employees, etc.
Do I think it’s a perfect place? Absolutely not. Like any corporation (or person, for that matter) WFM has things I would change.
But do you know what I see when I go to shop there? I see aisles and aisles of products with ingredients that are food. I see boxes that DON’T feature commercialized messages to my children (save for a few Elmos here and there) which means my kids are not begging me to buy them the “XYZ” character food. I see team members that care about their customers and who generally seem happy with their workplace. I see MANY foods that are locally produced … from many of the same faces I see at my farmers’ market on Saturdays. And when I travel and visit a WFM in another city, I enjoy the exposure to their unique offerings. I find produce team members who apologize for the lack of organic grapefruits on their aisles but explain that the WFM model is to ship the produce as minimally as possible, therefore all the Texas Ruby Red organics get sold in TX and never make it outside the state.
Again, it’s not a perfect place – what is? But I, for one, am thankful for the role the store has played in my wellness journey.
Yes, you are wrong because for some reason, you make a grand statement as a generalized assumption. Generalizing about people’s lives is always wrong. We have been eating real and organic foods for over 30 years, since before it was “the thing to do” for health. And we love lots of thing about Whole Foods as I posted above.
Sarah,
An interesting point, I started out with Fresh Fields before Whole Foods took over the store. But I also explored all the small local grocers in my area as they were each appropriate for differnted reasons (close to work, during my vegan stint, etc.), eventually I found my way to WAPF, and a co-op. So, yes over time I found less, less use for WF – today, I don’t do any regular shopping there, as I prefer my farm food and MOM’s.
Yes, we’ve been eating real foods for a long time. And I shop at Whole Foods. I get what I can at the farmer’s market (meat, veggies, eggs, etc), we grow some food and then get the rest at Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. We have Sprouts up the street and I go there if I run out of butter.
Having lived in small towns that don’t have a lot of access to real food, living relatively close to Whole Foods has been a blessing. Fortunately, in our small town, we had an expensive, limited health food store in our town, as well as a coop that someone put together (the first person to teach me about WAP). AND we had a local rancher that sold hormone-free, antibiotic-free beef. But, there were also things we couldn’t get and many people have even less choices where they live.
When I shop at any health food store, I stay away from the packaged treats and snacks, I buy everything organic (because most non-organic foods at health food stores have GMOs), and I try not to buy things that I can get locally or grow myself. It saves money and is healthier for me and my family.
I have been disappointed with Whole Foods many times. Their prices are high. They stepped down from supporting the raw milk farms in northern California. They are backing away from the GMO issues. But (as they explained when they stopped supporting the fight for raw milk in California), they are beholden to the interests of their shareholders. They are a large company and have to work with a lot of different politics when supporting different issues. It is not black and white.
I do NOT agree with the politics of Whole Foods, but for my family’s health, I would rather shop there than my local grocery store (or Wal-Mart). We really don’t have smaller health food stores in our area, because of the popularity of the larger ones.
I’ve also not liked Monsanto for more than 10 years, They have got to go and I hope more people will work to push them out. If we can get rid of the main supplier, I think things will get a lot better, especially for the people who have no idea how dangerous the food they’re eating is. I am glad to see that many countries have banned Monsanto and GMO foods.
Yes, I shop at WF and have been eating real food for more than a decade, and I live in a natural foods mecca. WF has the best fish counter in my city, so I have to give them credit for that. Ironically, our local natural foods chain store is right next to WF. I usually go there first, because they sell only organic produce, which is my one big beef with WF (no pun intended, but it works!). Other than that, they both sell the identical packaged natural/organic foods. Our farmers market has gotten so expensive, that I rarely shop there anymore. I won’t skimp on my pastured eggs and meats, and I try to buy those elsewhere.
The only thing that is going to slow down GMOs in the US is mandatory labelling, IMHO. That and GMO farmers figuring out that GMOs are not as great as they thought they were when the weeds build up resistance to the herbicides and their soil is destroyed.
I’ve buying organic for the last 7 years. I really miss Wild Oats. Too bad they sold out to WF. I usually buy most of my food from local farmers now. Used to go to Wild Oats couple times a week. Now I go to WF only a couple times a month.
Haha, I used to go to Wild Oats and I loved it! One morning, my parents and I stayed at my brother’s and sister in law’s house. When my mom and I woke up in the morning, we couldn’t find any healthy food to eat, so we walked over to Wild Oats. Thankfully, they lived close to one. We had an awesome breakfast. 🙂
There was a fun health food store in my town called Mountain Mama’s. Fun place, I don’t know if it’s still there. (Colorado Springs, CO).
My sister used to shop at a place called Henry’s in California also. I think it may have sold out to Whole Foods also?
I’ve been shopping at Whole Foods since I was in college. About 22 years.
yes, we know, you told us here http://www.cheeseslave.com/whole-foods-permanently-discontinues-raw-milk-nationwide/
OMG Broken record.
Lisa, do you have any useful insights or do you merely hang around to badger Ann Marie?
This is the craziest statement! Seriously? You are indeed wrong on this. Sarah I’m starting to wonder if you’ve ever stepped foot in a Whole Foods or if you’re just parroting stuff you’ve read and watched on youtube. New convert to healthy eating? Uhm no. Neither are most of the Doctors who teach my husbands courses for his Doctor of Chiropractic, and they shop there too. Many of the people at my farmers pick-up for raw milk and eggs bring their Whole Foods insulated/reusable grocery bags to transport their milk. We had a dinner party with some of my husbands Chiropractic classmates, most of whom seemed quite well versed in WAPF style nutrition. We discovered most of us have similar habits for sourcing our food. Local farmers for our meat, milk, eggs, some belong to a veggie-coop, and nearly all of us use Whole Foods to fill in the gaps. We talked about the abundance of local artisan products we find there, and not one person complained of it being a “sham”. Silly!
This issue always makes me wonder why food producers are legally allowed to sell products in packaging that isn’t truthful in labeling and advertising that misleads. We all know that anything medicinal cannot claim things that the FDA hasn’t approved (even though they are wrong sometimes)…why so much false advertising? It honestly should not be this hard to be a consumer. I feel we are free in this country to make our own choices about what we buy and where we buy it so to put so much energy into hating stores isn’t necessary– let your dollars speak for you and become wise consumers.
I should add that we also should have the freedom to live a life that does not include GMO foods so the government needs to step up and protect that freedom! If they don’t, then we may lose our choices altogether and there won’t be a good place to shop!
I’ve read many good thoughtful comments on this page. My position is that we do NOT live in a perfect world and must do the best we can. With intellectual honesty and good information we can make good choices. WF has some better choices that other food stores and while I do not agree with their mission statement about GMO’s, they do offer alternative products for consumers who are informed. I’m grateful to have smaller local stores to shop along with local farms. This is why America needs to stand up and praise and support FREEDOM! WE still have choices…for now. Without them, we will wither away like other nations.
I totally agree with you, Cindy. Some of us would be grateful to have so many options. We can, with our dollars, encourage larger businesses to carry better products. But I do believe that Sarah is trying to set the ideal, and for that I am thankful.
I fortunately have options and when you have options other than Whole Foods, it is wise to make use of them as I fully believe that every dollar spent at Whole Foods digs us into a bigger hole of unsustainability. Whole Foods is part of the problem, not the solution.
I like to spend my money on solutions.
It’s great that you have options… but many don’t! And for them, WF is still a welcome relief. I live in Austin, so WF is actually local for me… I’ve seen the company grow from a couple stores to nationwide offering organic options to people in areas where there previously were none. They also treat their employees very well, which absolutely differentiates them from WalMart. Nobody and no company is perfect and, yes, all companies have to make profits (or they go out of business… or the government bails them out, but that’s a completely different tangent) but Whole Foods is hardly on par with WalMart! I, too, am lucky to live in a place with a number of options. Whole Foods is certainly not at the top of the list (that would be farmer’s markets and farm stands), but they are MUCH higher on the list than WalMart!
It seems as though companies aren’t allowed to grow and thrive, because once they do, they get labeled as “part of the problem”, evil, money-hungry, etc. I shop small businesses intentionally to support them, and I also gratefully have a WF a mile down the road and gladly give them my business for products that I believe are worthy of my money.
I shop at Whole Foods every single week and I’m grateful for them.
I don’t personally agree with their vegan/vegetarian agenda but it doesn’t impact me one iota when I shop there, so in my mind, it’s a non-issue.
As far as the No-GMO stance, that is something we are working on as an industry. I hope you will come to the next Natural Products ExpoWest conference where you will learn that this is something we are all committed to but it’s not so easy as just deciding to outlaw all GMO products from stores. The reality is, if we did that, then it would penalize a lot of producers who are really good but aren’t totally certified organic/GMO-free yet.
Monsanto is the bad guy here. Why not write nasty posts about THEM instead of Whole Foods who is actually providing a valuable service for many of us.
Why do I shop at Whole Foods? Because they have the best selection of stuff that I need. Bulk nuts and grains, grass-fed meat and dairy, wild-caught and sustainable seafood, organic foods, gluten-free crackers, natural personal care products, organic wine, unrefined sweeteners, etc. etc. etc.
I see this same argument all over the internet lately. People saying they won’t buy from X because X is not perfect. X doesn’t keep their milk raw (although it is grass-fed) so I won’t buy it. X has their cows on pasture but they feed a little grain so I won’t buy their meat.
One of the exhibitors said at ExpoWest, “People do better when they know better.”
So much blaming going on. Can’t we all just appreciate what people are doing right and try to be grateful for what is good?
Whole Foods is a Monsanto enabler. I don’t make excuses for the inexcusable.
Do your local health food stores guarantee there is NO GMO in their store? If they don’t, they too are “Monsanto enabler’s” by your definition. And if they deny there’s GMO in their store (unless *every* item they carry is organic) I’d be very suspicious.
I agree with the comment above. IF your local health food store is selling anything “natural” or non -organic, it is most likely selling something with GMOs in it. Whole Foods isn’t the only one selling products with GMOs in them.
The only way your local health food store will stop enabling Monsanto is if they only sell organic food or they sell foods that are certified GMO-free (but I don’t believe any certification exists).
Therefore, ANY store that sells non-organic food is a Monsanto-enabler.
I’m with you, Ann Marie! We do the best we can with the circumstances we have. Monsanto is a monster, but there are lots of healthy choices at Whole Foods that have nothing to do with Monsanto. I haven’t bought corn since I moved to Grand Junction 12 years ago because I can’t find organic. During corn season they push Olathe sweet corn; it’s so popular through the entire state of Colorado and it’s Monsanto poison. Every single store, at least where I live, supports Monsanto to some degree. And not all of us have the option to grow our own!
I read your info about the Olathe sweet corn. Kroger is selling it here in Indiana. Cannot find anyone who knows if it is GMO. I see your comment here about it being
“Monsanto posion”. Is this true? Maybe you know more about it. Thanks!
Ann Marie, I always appreciate your very balanced approach! Here is the WF response, that someone else posted below, to the 2008 story:
Ann Marie– You shop there every week even though you publicly stated you’d never shop there again?
http://www.cheeseslave.com/whole-foods-permanently-discontinues-raw-milk-nationwide/
Oh for heaven’s sake. Hey Lisa! Any chance you have a public diary where we can hold your feet to the fire for commitments or belief made TWO YEARS ago? C’mon! It’ll be FUN! Hilarious. Seriously. Irrelevant but hilarious.
Does seem rather inconsistent to me. Two years is not a long period of time.
It is one thing entirely to state you’ll never shop at WF again and then change your mind for whatever reasons you want. To each his own. It is another thing ENTIRELY to publicly criticize someone for stating their personal conviction not to shop at WF when you yourself had that same conviction two years ago. We can all disagree about whether WF is more good than bad. But yes, I find it highly hypocritical for Cheeseslave to blast The Healthy Home Economist the way she has given that she once held a very similar opinion of WF. It would be honorable of her to state that she once came to the same conclusion but has since changed her mind, then list her thoughts.
I so agree with Ann Marie.
I am grateful to the good food i get from whole foods. I also drive 3 hours to the farm to get meat, milk and other stuff. But, i cannot do that on a week day and there are many other things that i don’t get in the Farm or Farmers Market that i can get in Whole Foods. I appreciate and i am grateful. Dont forget Whole Foods is a Corporate.
Hi Sarah,
I’m glad you posted this because people don’t realize they are getting suckered in by the pretty picture of Whole Foods. I remember the first time I went to a Whole Foods, after normally shopping at the regular grocery store, the produce looked heavenly. However, I have since found a better place to shop, at a local food co-op.
Whole Foods is good in that they are heading in the right direction more so than regular grocery stores. They do make an effort to buy local produce in season. I know that the Whole Foods near my parent’s house buys from my parents CSA. (Although I’m sure they get their food ridiculously cheaper buying direct from the farm.)
I would pick Whole Foods over the regular junky grocery stores any day. At the same time, people really need to pay attention to what they are buying, read labels, and not be deceived by the heroic image Whole Foods trys to display. In the end, they are really just trying to make a profit, and that will dictate what they sell.
Yes, the store layouts are absolutely stunning aren’t they? Lipstick on a pig is all that it is in reality.
It’s a bit insulting to suggest that anyone reading this blog would be “suckered in by the pretty picture of Whole Foods.” It’s not a farm, it’s a big business and people who eat real foods should be completely aware of that. Yes, it would be a no-brainer to avoid it if everyone had access to great farms and co-ops, but we don’t live in that utopia.
The problem I have with this article isn’t just that, however, since many others have pointed it out already. It’s that Sarah seems to simply reiterate (without a trace of nuance), as if we’re completely ignorant, that Whole Foods hasn’t retained its small business values since becoming a giant international corporation. Wow, what a shock.
The people they employ and the sources they support are well worth buying from (when there’s limited choice), even if WF doesn’t have a perfect record. This reminds me of people who will outright refuse to visit certain countries because they don’t approve of everything the government does, and in the process shun the perfectly decent local people and businesses who might benefit from such tourism.
This type of rhetoric is reminiscent of the black and white imaginations of hardcore vegans. It is difficult for me to take anything else she says too seriously, for fear she’s unable to differentiate between reality and a world where good and bad are easily distinguishable.