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. Â That’s where my business loyalty lies.
I spend almost all my food money with local businesses and local farms. Â 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.Â
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: Â 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: Â 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 love my Whole Foods. I work 60+ hours a week and don’t have time to go to the farmer’s farm, the farmer’s market, the food coop and other health food stores that I would have to go to to get everything I need. Thankfully, my Whole Foods is right next to Costco. Grass fed beef, pastured chicken, organic and local vegetables and Kerry Gold butter. One hour on weekday, one trip in the car and I’m done.
I’ve had direct experience selling to WFM and the challenge for small local farmers is that unless you can supply a whole region of stores (anywhere from 8 – 30 stores) more often than not, they will not accept your product. We have a few exceptions at our local WFM here in Santa Fe, NM…but I believe this to be an abberation and only because we live in a majorily foodie town..not to mention that you can buy the same product directly from the farmers with the full price going to the farmer and not WFM acting as the middle man. My feeling is that the only people buying “local” from WFM are the tourists!!!!
I couldn’t agree more! I’ve gone from loving Whole Foods to now mostly avoiding it and disliking it quite intensely. I really do not care for their vegan bent and their rampant use of canola and other unhealthy oils in their house foods is quite frankly, disgusting. I used to enjoy the experience of shopping there (the ambiance and all that jazz), but now, if I ever go there (rarely) I just feel sickened by the extravagant displays of expensive and gourmet food items that ordinary people simply can’t afford. For example, in my neck of the woods (the great white north), our local WF recently featured a “fungi” cart with all sorts of exotic mushrooms, priced incredibly high. Around the same time, they had an orchid sale (and the ordinary person still couldn’t afford to buy one at those prices). I just feel that they are WAY out of touch with reality. The average person is struggling with rising food prices and is in no way going to be able to afford extravagant luxuries like exotic mushrooms and orchids when they are working so hard to fill tummies with nourishing, real food. This sort of thing just makes me shake my head and sigh in utter frustration.
So I bet they’re going to close down Nature’s Harvest? I loved shopping there when I lived in Tampa. Whole Foods closed down my favorite shop where I grew up. They’re evil.
Thank you Sarah! I will stick to shopping at the little guy down the street too!
Long live Nutrition Smart!
when neighborhoods have no small local stores, isnt better to buy organic and have more natural options than to shop the safeways, etc with “non-food” items.
While I mostly agree, I prefer to shop local and I see Whole Foods as just another big corporate store, I would NOT compare them to Walmart based soley on the fact that they treat their employess well and have a good sense of social responsibility. As far as the GMO issue goes, it’s up to us to be responsible for what we buy and then the store owners will follow suit. What we need is this truth in labeling law to come through, because GMO’s are all pervasive. I just found out my VERY expensive “Grass-Fed, Grain-Free, Pasture raised Beef” is being fed GMO alfalfa, they’re not organic but I thought they were “better” then organic since it had all the right lables.
wow, that was enlightening. we don’t have one close to us though
Oh please. We live in the Capitalist west, not a communist country. We should be allowed buy from where ever we choose and simply choosing not to shop in one store based on the fact that they produce countless dollars in profit is beyond me…..remember many small family ran companies blossomed to become huge businesses across the world and should we shy away from them because of their success?