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
Wow! Just makes me sick. I will be sticking to my local healthfood stores and local CSA and local farmers. People think it takes a lot of work to eat healthy well, it does take a lot of research and the commitment to doing what you think it right! I do have to admit that i have a couple of whole foods reusable bags. I bought them and only them at their store when I was there with a friend.
I wish we had some local organic food stores, we have plenty of farms in the summer and I belong to a CSA, but during the winter it’s very slim pickings. I have to confess that I do go to my “local” WF, which is still a 20 min. drive to buy organic produce during the winter, especially since my regular groc. store doesn’t carry any organics. 🙁
Hear, hear, Julia S.
Sarah, I agree with you that Whole Foods should take a firmer stand against GMO foods. And I also think it’s sad when Whole Foods causes small local health-food stores to close. But I disagree with you (which rarely happens) on whether Whole Foods is to be avoided entirely. I think that it serves a useful purpose. That purpose is being a convenient alternative to conventional supermarkets for those who are not able or willing to make the larger and more inconvenient leap to all local/farmer based/traditional/sustainable food sourcing. Although Whole Foods has flaws, I think it is way better than most supermarkets and is a useful step in the right direction for most people who would otherwise shop at Walmart or Giant. On my blog The National Fork, I recently did a post rating Whole Foods, on which I explained my position in more detail. Here’s a link to my post. http://nationalfork.com/?p=1376.
I shop at my Whole Foods as little as possible and get as much of my food from my farmer. But I’m further along than most people. It took me a while to get here, and there was a time not long ago when I relied on Whole Foods for all of my food.
Thanks for all your great work on this site. Patrick Crawford
I have been learning about natural health and nutrition since 2003, so almost 10 years now. I used to have access to both an excellent supermarket, and a huge Whole Foods, several minutes away. I got totslly hooked on WF, even though their rices were too high, and their personal philospohies didn’t always jibe with my own conservative Christian views. Still I appreciated their selection and quality of the things I did routinely buy.
Now the nearest WF is an hour away from where I live. I only get there every few weeks or even every 3 months or so. I only buy the things I really feel I need that I can’t get locally–which has become a VERY small list, thanks to the raw goat milk i buy from a local farmer, pastured eggs from the same source, organic produce co-op, and green household products co-op I belong to! But all that has just come about in the last few months. And I am VERY lucky I can now find these things in my area. Not everyone is as fortunate.
We all do the best we can. I am still working on a cow share, pig share, bulk grains purchase (which I will have soon), and sources of chicken, lamb, raw butter, raw cream, whey, and lard, Then I think I’ll be set. But it’s a long journey. And not everyone is where I am/we are in that journey. And “perfect” is NEVER the goal.
Just some thoughts I wanted to share.
I like to browse through there but usually end up buying very little; I end up ordering shelf items online for cheaper.
I couldn’t agree more.
I don’t believe in letting the ideal be the enemy of the good. I don’t shop at Whole Foods, but mostly because they are so far away. Instead I shop at my local HEB (a chain grocery store like Safeway or Kroger), which is arguably far worse than Whole Foods on the real-food-scale.
Sure, I buy my meats, dairy, and veggies from local farmers, but that’s not all we eat! My local HEB carries all kinds of things I buy: bulk organic grains, Pomi BPA-free diced tomatoes,
a nitrate-free braunsweiger, sprouted grain English muffins, organic lime-treated corn tortillas, bulk organic teas and herbs, a couple Bob’s Red Mill products, coconut water, kombucha, Kerrygold butter and cheeses, Applegate Farms lunch meats, Wild Planet BPA-free canned tuna, wild caught seafood, whitefish roe, natural cleaning products, and more.
Should I stop shopping there just because their organic produce aisle is more of a small corner? Should I stop shopping there because 75% of what they sell isn’t even almost real food?
Nah. I believe in letting my dollars talk, and right now those dollars support their good buying options so they’ll keep these good things stocked.
In the same way, a discerning shopper ought to be able to navigate Whole Foods and find good things. If they can do it, why shouldn’t they? Wouldn’t you rather they support a local Whole Foods (and hence all the local employment that represents) than be forced to buy these things online due to lack of local supply?
AMEN. Let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater, kids!
We are blessed to have many farms selling local plus stores like New Seasons, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. We use them all, primarily locally owned New Seasons which is like a smaller and more neighborhoody WF. I am currently signing up with a local farm to grow all our staples for the coming year…we indicate what we want and how much, and they grow/raise it for us. (so lucky to be in Portland). I am thankful for the many organic options available to us. Trader Joe’s brand foods are not organic unless specified, but all TJ label foods are non GMO. That’s a step in the right direction.
So what do I do? Support them all as needed, write them all once in a while asking for GMO labeling and telling them I against GMO, write the president and my elected officials every now and again telling them the same…and continue my skill building towards more whole, natural foods and continuing to find and meet my local food producers.
I would vote with my dollars. Buy the truly clean and sustainably sourced items no matter who is offering it, and keep bugging corporate with what we like/don’t like.
Our gov’t is allowing this. No doubt pols/ officials are getting paid by WF to ignore the fraud.