whole foods: no wonder people think eating clean is expensive

holy crap!  what a joke.  i guess you can slap an "organic" label on just about anything, open up in a high-rent district, paint the place with subdued colours, and pretentious urbanites just open their wallets.

back to safeway and the public market for me.

i'm with ya on this one! i'm a much bigger fan of trader joes. great stuff and prices that aren't a joke!

I thought I was the only one who thought this. It is a shame I really like to go to Whole Foods because they have a good variety of veggies and fruit but it is way to expensive for me. But everytime I go it is packed and people have their carts full.

There's Whole Foods in BC?

I love Safeway. They are a little more expensive than Superstore but I'd rather avoid the huge crowds Superstore attracts. I also HATE bagging my own groceries, LOL.

Original Post by igloogal:

There's Whole Foods in BC?

 that was my reaction...i want to go into one just to feel the snobbery.

i also love my safeway.  and the markets on the corners.

I don't know if any of you have ethnic markets in your area, but where I live there are a few Asian markets that have the freshest produce at a fraction of the cost of regular grocery stores.  I just recently stocked up - and I mean FILLED my fridge - for just $50 US.. I would have paid about $90 for the same amount of produce at Giant or Safeway, not to mention Whole Foods.  Of course, nothing has the "organic" label, but you are still eating healthful ingredients... 

If you have space and patience, you can always plant your own veggie garden... I did for the first time this Spring and am already getting ready to harvest tomatoes, zucchini, and cucumbers.

'Round these parts, we refer to Whole Foods as "Whole Paycheck."

cc31- I didn't even think about that. I work for a Korean Dr. and patients bring him fruit all the time and it is very fresh and huge. I don't know what they do to their peaches but those things are huge. There isn't one where I live but there are some close by where I work. I need to check it out!

Trader Joe's totally kicks Whole Food's butt. Way too pricey for me!

I hate whole foods!!  Half the produce is conventional, not organic, anyways, and just overpriced, but it is confusing to shop with it all mixed together.  And I always find bugs in my bags when I come home from whole foods!

I will take the organic section of my regular market anyday. 

I was surprised to see a Whole Foods in Vancouver too - I went to the one at Park Royal village, in West Van, where people have stupid amounts of money to spend on crap. And I guess they do....I was disappointed, there was no better selection of any specialty items than anywhere else and the stuff was way overpriced. Kinda like the Urban Fares here...and Capers...although Capers does at least have a good selection of organic, wheat-free, and other speciatly items. I am thinking the Whole Foods in the states must be different than ours.

I find Safeway is also overpriced (though not nearly as bad). I've found much better deals at IGA (though that's variable), SaveOn Foods, and the small produce markets. On the Island, Safeway is definately more expensive than the others, it's the store closest to my place but I've sworn to never go there unless I have to (it's also the only one open late). I have discovered the miracle of Fairway, it's AMAZING, but there are only 8 and all on the Island, sorry! For where you are, I think that taking a look at the Save On on Cambie and 8th would be a good choice, and there are lots of great produce markets I'm sure you've already scoped out too.

Can you tell I love grocery shopping.

The only time I will shop at Whole Foods is when I need a special cut of meat for a holiday meal.  I order my turkeys from there for Thanksgiving and buy large beef roasts and such.  That's about it.  Other than that I just hit up the Kroger or my local Burger's Fresh Fruit Market.  The market has way better prices and much better tasting fruits and veggies. 

Yeah, unless you have special dietary restrictions or are looking for unusual ingredients that are not available at your local megamart, Whole Foods is quite a rip-off. 

I did notice, though, in one neighborhood that I used to live in, that the arrival of WF seemed to be followed rather rapidly by an increase in the vegetarian, ethnic, and specialty (i.e. gluten free) offerings at the megamarts, so I wonder if perhaps there could be some sort of positive effect of WF on local grocery markets.

Original Post by igloogal:

There's Whole Foods in BC?

I love Safeway. They are a little more expensive than Superstore but I'd rather avoid the huge crowds Superstore attracts. I also HATE bagging my own groceries, LOL.

it's connected to Caper's (big surprise, right?), Cambie & 8th.

i go to superstore when i need dog food and kashi.  i don't mind bagging my own, as long as the loser in front of me will get their friggen cart (not to mention their ass) out of the way so i can get around to the other side to do it.

but i have granville island for produce, meat, and fish (not to mention fisherman's wharf a 10-minute walk away), and IGA, Save-on-Foods, and Safeway all within easy distance.

milk was reasonably priced at whole foods, though.  $4.99 for 4 liters, and it was island dairy which is usually more expensive.  dammit.  i guess i can get my milk at whole foods, then go across the street to save-on for everything else.  or suck it up and pay an extra buck for milk.

I've been in there a few times and each time walked out with nothing, lol. I felt very out of place in there, it feels snooty. :/ All the people with their fancy cars go there, and I go there with my 05 toyota and feel so... small.

aw, 'bunny.  don't think that!  you're just unpretentious and immaterialistic compared to the snotty whole foods people!

There's a big branch of Wholefoods Market in London - Kensington High Street.  This is a seriously wealthy part of the city where the correct answer to the question "Where's the letter-opener?" is "It's his day off"... you get me?

It's a lovely looking shop but horribly overpriced.  They lost money last year hand over fist... millions... and I'm not surprised.   Their organic produce sections was particularly poor.  Very old product on display due to slow turnover of stock and that is a major turn-off for people looking for freshness.    If they can't succeed in a place as minted as Kensington they really haven't done their job properly. 

Original Post by gi-jane:

This is a seriously wealthy part of the city where the correct answer to the question "Where's the letter-opener?" is "It's his day off"... you get me?

LOL!

We have one organic foods store over here, and the only time I went in I was in "museum mode" - everything was lovely to look at, but untouchable.

Funny thing is, even though I am a supporter of the whole organic foods movement and have nothing but respect for people who follow the concepts, I would most likely not be able to bring myself to spend that much money on food. Even if I were the kind of person gi-jane is describing in her post.

Hi everyone!

I just started working for Whole Foods, and feel I must defend it a little bit. Each Whole Foods is different and unique, and there are some that feel snooty but others (like my store) where you feel totally welcomed and like part of the family. 

Most of our items are indeed more expensive than conventional products, but this is the case with all organic products. Production costs a little bit more to make and certify something organic, therefore the items themselves cost more. No one is required to buy them, but some people feel it is a good trade off to pay a little extra so that they can feel more comfortable about the food the are eating. True, organic does not always mean healthy or safe, but a lot of the time it does, and the quality of our products is always guaranteed. The thing I LOVE about our store is that, if a customer doesn't like something, for whatever reason, even if you opened the box and ate over half of the product, he/she can bring it back for a full refund. You might think people would abuse this system, and they do, but the abusers make up such a small percentage, and Whole Foods is willing to lose that tiny amount of money in order to create a fair and helpful atmosphere for the customers that really deserve it. Whole Foods is dedicated to customer service.

Also, if you are hesitant about buying a product, maybe because you think the price will not be worth the product, and it is something you never tried... ask a Whole Foods Team Member and they will open it up for you! We are allowed to open anything for you and let you try it! Have you ever heard of a grocery store that does that? I just think it's really awesome.

And one other thing that I love about my place of work is the amount of good we do for the environment and the community. We no longer use any plastic bags, except for those available for bulk and produce, and a HUGE percentage of our customers bring in their reusable grocery bags when they come shopping. Every time you bring your own bag, you get a bag refund of 5 cents on your purchase. It's not much, but it is a little incentive, and it helps the environment so much. We also have these things called 5% days where we choose a local organization whose views fit in with Whole Foods', and we donate 5% of our entire sales that day to said organization. It's just awesome. We also participate in Micro Loans for under privileged women in third world countries, the Feed 100 program for starving children and countless other charities and helpful programs. We also support local farms and small local family businesses! 

So, on the financial front, I hear ya'. The only reason I can afford to shop there now is because I have a discount card. But in Whole Foods' defense, I can say that we really are a unique company, dedicated to the highest quality products and customer service. I see a lot of you CCers looking to eat "cleaner" and less processed foods. Well, at Whole Foods you can shop without worry because we sell nothing with any additives, artificial ingredients or chemicals. There is a loooong list of the ingredients we do not approve of, and each product is checked against that list to assure that you are eating the safest possible foods.

If you need something that we don't have we can find it for you. If you have an idea of how to improve our store or help the world, you can tell us and we'll try our best to incorporate it. It might sound like I'm some high up manager, the way I'm babbling on, but I am a 19 year-old cashier who has been employed at Whole Foods for a little over a month. But when I go to work, I feel like it's more than just a job. I feel like I'm helping people eat better, and that I'm helping the world in small but significant ways while I'm at it. I apologize if some of you have had bad experiences at other Whole Foods... if you are ever in San Diego, come to the Hillcrest location. We will treat you like family! :)

I have to agree with the Trader Joe's fans. Because I am allergic to corn there are certain things I have to go to Whole Foods for like corn free baking powder and stuff, but it is definately too expensive to do your everyday shopping there. Also, be very careful... In February NBC reported on several supermarkets in Westchester County, NY being fined for selling Outdated or Expired foods and Whole Foods received the highest fines. I have found this for sure when I have shopped there. I now make it a habit to look at the expiration dates.

i totally agree pg. i found a sun harvest here in austin (first store in san antonio in late 70s), and it reminds me of the original health food stores from back when health food stores were just for the counterculture. its really small too. i like that.

whole foods, which started here in austin, has gotten entirely out of hand. i dont need 20 kinds of olives. its all so "tony" now. urf.