What kinds of foods will I find at the Whole Foods Market that I won't find at my local grocery store?

Yes, I am a Whole Foods Market virgin.

Bulk bins full of awesome things like red lentils and wild rice and millet. Various cheeses that are amazingly delicious, like manchego and piave.

Actually, Trader Joe's has all that stuff for cheaper, but to each his own

Never heard of Trades Joe's before.

Never heard of a Whole Foods Market either up here in Canada...lol.   I imagine if they have bulk bins you can find an awesome selection of grains and seeds you've never heard of before.   You might find quinoa, millet, amaranth, rye flakes, spelt flakes, quinoa flakes, kamut flakes, barley flakes, bulgur wheat, spelt bran,  french lentils, green lentils, red lentils etc.   We have all that stuff in the Bulk Barn up here in Canada...a great place to shop for grains!!

Gah! You're going to have the most amazing orgasum by the time you leave the store! Ah ha ha! I Always Do! HA HA AH! Sorry, TMI!

Any ways... these are a few of the things I go specifically to Whole Foods For:

- Fresh Fish of All Types (Including Eel and Sashimi Style Fish)

- Grass-fed Beef & Bison (if I ran out of my frozen supply from my UPS delivery - ha ha)

- Some Organic Vegetables but not all

- Their prepared foods: garlic roasted brussels sprouts, roasted vegetables, chicken fajitas = all killer and stuff I just cannot perfect!

- The Nice Faces - A lot of the people who work at Whole Foods are super friendly, sometimes almost TOO friendly - if you know what I mean! aha ha!

mostly you'll find tasteful lighting, inflated prices, and pretense.

johnnypenso, we have whole foods here in vancouver.

"tasteful lighting, inflated prices, and pretense"...lol...I laughed pretty hard at that!!! 

They've probably got lots of stuff in Vancouver we don't have here in the east Georgian.  It's that whole west coast thing.   In Windsor here they don't go much for the inflated prices and pretense but we do like our tasteful lighting...lol...so no whole foods market yet!!

Gia that's not TMI!!! Where exactly is that store you shop at?...lol...

If you have allergies, its a great place to find aisles of gluten sensitivity products that most traditional stores don't carry. Also, diabetic brands, lactose intolerant brands, things like that!

It's called "Whole Paycheck" for a reason - you'll find a lot of overpriced items and in my experience a lot of expired things on the shelves.

Original Post by pgeorgian:

mostly you'll find tasteful lighting, inflated prices, and pretense.

johnnypenso, we have whole foods here in vancouver.

ha ha, sounds about right, and hearing "is this organic?", "is this organic?" every 10 seconds.

I usually just go there for unsweetened cocoa. They carry a brand that I like, everything else I can find in TJ, Ranch 99, and Costco.

UD

Yes, lots of people who shop there are annoying and yes some of their stuff is more expensive than you'd find it at a cheap place where the food has less nutrients and causes lots of problems... but its not all expensive.

Almost all of their Whole Foods brand 365 food is good and cheap, and often cheaper than crappier quality stuff found elsewhere. Their sale items are great too.

And as compared to TJs... Trader Joe's has better prices on some stuff, but they dont have a real produce or meat or fish department. Its a prepared foods store, not a grocery store.

Original Post by umneydurak:

Original Post by pgeorgian:

mostly you'll find tasteful lighting, inflated prices, and pretense.

johnnypenso, we have whole foods here in vancouver.

ha ha, sounds about right, and hearing "is this organic?", "is this organic?" every 10 seconds.

I usually just go there for unsweetened cocoa. They carry a brand that I like, everything else I can find in TJ, Ranch 99, and Costco.

UD

 Oh my god, Ranch 99 is my favorite place in the world!

You will find the same foods.

They will be more expensive.

The best part.

They have better free samples than anyone.

If you don't buy anything you get a free meal.

Original Post by umneydurak:

I usually just go there for unsweetened cocoa. They carry a brand that I like, everything else I can find in TJ, Ranch 99, and Costco.

Huh. I've never actually seen sweetened cocoa before... although I have seen drinking chocolate.

I've never seen a Trader Joes or a Whole Foods either. You can just call me the North America virgin.

We have Commonsense Organics, I'm figuring that's the same kind of deal.

Sweetened cocoa would be stuff like Nesquick, Ovaltine or an premixed "chocolate milk" powder...

Original Post by johnnypenso:

Sweetened cocoa would be stuff like Nesquick, Ovaltine or an premixed "chocolate milk" powder...

Bleh Nesquick is even worth then that. It is cocoa flavored sugar.

UD

I concur...lol..