Whole Foods - Grocery Store

[Skilla_Staz]

They have many locations around the States, and aparently some locations in Canada and the UK. I was wondering if anybody has done their shopping there, and if ALL of the foods are 100% natural, as I am assuming.


I'm looking to rid myself of all the "fake" stuff, to clean up my diet. This is something I've been wanting to do for years, but never really had the motivation or what not to continue with it. If this store really is "100% natural", then I'd recommend it to everybody in this place...

http://wholefoods.com

 

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Yep, Wholefoods is about as close as you can get rather than buying food directly from the farm. Be prepared to pay a premium price for the food though. The biggest benefit is the higher chance of running into fit/athletic hotties at this store than regular grocery stores.

 

[spesmilitis]

trader joes is good too.

 

[The Forms]

its not all 100% great for you, but still much better than the average grocery store.

Their food costs more than it needs to. I had a professor that called it "whole-paycheck foods." Yea, I didn't think it was too clever either.

They're big on organic food. Which is fine as long as you understand that its only organic in name, and not very organic in practice. But that's another debate altogether.

Although their meat is a lot tastier than you get at other grocery stores.

So basically, if you have the money to shop there, go for it. If you're on a limited budget, you know you can get whatever you need at the regular store.

 

[mrRuckus]

Define natural.
Define organic.

These words don't mean anything anymore.

As far as i know organic means life and i'm not sure i ever met a vegetable that at one point wasn't alive so they're all organic.

 

[The Forms]

"organic" is a philosophy of food production that is based in the idea of doing right by the earth in production of food. This typically means not using pesticides or genetically enhancing foods.

However, before the government had to decide what organic is, anyone who wanted to could label their food as organic, so the government had to set up some standards. They're standard is that a food has to not use pesticide in production.

However, there are plenty of businesses that are just trying to cash in on the "organic" title, and do terrible by the environment just to get "organic" on their label. For example, organic milk costs too much to make here, so they make it in new zealand, dry it, and fly it across the globe (using god knows how much fossil fuel) to re-hydrate it here just so they can call it "organic" milk.

I know I'm being harsh, I just haven't been convinced that "organic" is really that awesome of a thing.

 

[DrHouse]

whole foods

If you shop on a budget.....you won't have any money left over to spend on negative stuff....junk foods

 

[Bible_Belt]

Although pesticide residue is not known to have ever killed anyone, people die all the time from e-coli. "Organic" means that it was fertilized with manure, so at least wash the stuff very well.

Organic ketchup and mustard taste much better, imo, but I often can't tell much of a difference with vegetables.

 

[6-heads lewis]

i dont understand why everyone is so crazy over this stuff.

ya ok so you spend a lots of time and money to be 10% healthier or whatever and live 2 extra years. you get cancer at 80 instead of 78. woopie. youll have 2 extra years of pooping yourself and criticizing young people.

why not just eat sensibly under a normal budget, not eat junk food, and save your money and time? i just eat whole wheat bread, lean meats, cottage cheese instead of milk, eggs, fish, whatever from the grocery store. last time i checked ppl walking out of sobeys arent dropping dead in the parking lot because their meat wasnt organic.

 

[qweretyuiopas]

lol at the post above

i like trader joes and whole foods alot too but yeah they are kinda pricey

 

[onyx]

I'm allergic to alot of foods, i find i can eat some foods that are organic without a reaction and can't eat 'natural' foods

 

[Throttle]

read pollan's 'the omnivore's dilemma' to get a sense of what Whole Foods does and does not (cannot) offer. it's a massive tome but gives you a lot to think about...

I find prices at trader joe's more reasonable than whole foods, generally.

 

[Throttle]

on further reflection, specifically for you, Staz, I would recommend against both whole foods & trader joe's at least for the moment. what you need is not Whole Foods but actual whole foods. Trader joes is quite good at pre-packaging organic stuff. Whole Foods puts a significant "tax" on everything. I would rather see you go nuts in the fruit, veggie & meat sections of your average supermarket, since your goal is cleaning up your diet (a noble effort & one that I pursue inconsistently myself). Supplement that with frozen and/or canned veggies and you're on your way to a clean diet.

You need to wean yourself from pre-packaged stuff (I think) and figure out how to turn some whole foods into real meals. Unless convenience is the only way you'll clean up your diet, in which case I'd recommend t.j.'s but also recommend you be quite discerning because "organic" and "natural" are very different from "automatically good for you".

 

[Skilla_Staz]

i dont understand why everyone is so crazy over this stuff.

ya ok so you spend a lots of time and money to be 10% healthier or whatever and live 2 extra years. you get cancer at 80 instead of 78. woopie. youll have 2 extra years of pooping yourself and criticizing young people.

why not just eat sensibly under a normal budget, not eat junk food, and save your money and time? i just eat whole wheat bread, lean meats, cottage cheese instead of milk, eggs, fish, whatever from the grocery store. last time i checked ppl walking out of sobeys arent dropping dead in the parking lot because their meat wasnt organic.

I'm not worried about the future, I'm worried about now. Natural stuff, proper diet and all that jazz makes you FEEL and LOOK better. THAT'S what I'm worried about.

As for the throttle reply, that was actually something worth reading. Thanks for that.

 

[Throttle]

trader joe's reconsidered.....

stepped into one today for the first time in a while, and after mouthing off about it here a few weeks ago, I thought I'd peruse and see if I was right...

couple things:

- my initial take is partly true. they clearly want you to think of them as a regular grocery store, except organic / natural / wholesome. so there are lots of pre-packaged foods whose chief benefit is that some or all of the ingredients fit the definition of 'organic'

- on the other hand, if you stick to whole foods (the type not the store), then you can sort of pick and choose "how organic" you want stuff to be. A lot of their hormone free meats & milk, for example, aren't much more expensive than Kroger's hormone-laden equivalents (if that sort of thing bothers you).

- further, some stuff in their freezer case that is still "whole" -- like Alaskan sockeye salmon -- is significantly cheaper yet appears to be higher quality than the equivalent(s) available at Kroger. not too shabby!

summary? if you stick to whole food ingredients, you can do quite well at trader joe's in terms of not paying a ridiculous 'yuppie food tax' and avoid whichever particular parts of industrial agriculture bother you the most. organic food from the big supermarkets like Kroger tends to be more expensive AND stretch the limits of the definition "organic"

 

[Skilla_Staz]

Open mind is wonderful eh Throttle?

 

[blinkwatt]

@ Skilla,

Just eat food that you know isn't processed junk(candy,fast food you get the idea) and you will be fine. These leaves you with wheat(bread,bagels & english muffins),chicken,ground beef,tuna,south beach diet food,eggs,milk and water. You make hundreds of foods with those.

 

[Skilla_Staz]

I just wanted to go to a store with none of that fake stuff, so that I woulnd't have to sit there and search for stuff that was natural..so to speak.

 

[spesmilitis]

Stay away from processed/fried/fast foods. Frozen is ok but not as good as fresh. But, any food that has undergone some chemical process (like canned food) should be avoided.

Rich Franklin on diet: "if it doesn't grow, or doesn't eat something that grows, I don't eat it". I probably messed that quote up somewhere.

 

[blinkwatt]

But, any food that has undergone some chemical process (like canned food) should be avoided.

What about tuna and canned vegetables (corn,green beans)?