Whole Foods is what you get when the government gets in the business of regulating religion. Like eating Kosher foods, eating organic foods is a philosophical choice; like buying locally-produced food. When the USDA established organic rules and certification without any scientific underpinning, they crossed the line separating church from state. Neopaganism is a religion just like any other belief system that is based on a superior being; in this case Mother Nature. Before the attacks start, I realize that most neopagans do not worship a statue of a woman. They do however have a deep seated belief that the natural world is somehow safer than the one created by human technology. They defend their position with the facts as they see them, in a similar way that creationists note the incompleteness of the fossil record.

Whole foods simply supplies the tools for practicing neopaganism as sanctioned by the US government.

...

Goose2 probably cooks his own goose as well ... after sucking out its liver first.

The real argument against meat consumption, all of the above notwithstanding, is that its ultimately unsustainable. You require almost 5 times more in resources to produce an equivalent amount of meat to that of vegetables.

kman2:

OK, continue to read CD and, by all means, watch the Daily Show, too. At least you're exposing yourself to alternative thinking. About 99% of your ilk are Foxbots. Good for you.

--A Leftie Capitalist

thundermoon:

the ignorance of your comments merit a note all its own.

Not only for your flippant jab at vegetarians, but your nonsense about manure. Perhaps you should consider the single most telling line from Fast Food Nation:

THERE IS SH*T IN THE MEAT.

Literally. And animal guts that are cannibalized back to their brethren. Soylent Animalia. Oh, and I'm sure the animals are smothered in faeces by the time they get to the slaughterhouses, too. Then their skins are presumably washed and bleached, because you must disinfect! Just like a tidy toilet bowl!

There's been plenty of news about organic standards being watered down and even fraud (a recent CD article I believe). Whole Foods certainly won't be on the front line holding those noses to the grindstone.

A vegetarian like Einstein was certainly "above nature" when he said:

"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."

What an arrogant, oblivious guy!

...I wish I had some cow faeces to dump on your head, thundermoon.

If everyone could be just so peachy perfect in their existence like Goose2.

Who the f*ck uses a term like "duckie" without be a raving yuppie apologist for WF.

And perhaps Goose2 is missing a fundamental point. It's cute and precious that his/her family can get local clean beef... but when an already upper-crust slice of the population--that being the WF customer base--can't get clean, healthy meat, perhaps that says something.

Bottom line. Meat ain't sustainable for the whole population.

So the "meat elite" can continue to do their thing, and the rest of society will try to stretch the rules to have their "sustainable" cut of beef, and situations like that in this article will continue and continue.

The simplest solution is also the best. Don't eat meat. Or eat roadkill, if you must.

Sharkie- Whole Foods came in and closed a bunch of Wild Oats? Not in Colorado. And if Whole Foods hadn't bought Wild Oats, Kroger or some other conventional giant was going to.

Whole Paycheck? Americans spend less on food than any other developed country-- Wow, how horrible for people to spend a little extra money on products in which the ingrediants can be understood and digested vs. the processed crap sold in conventional grocery stores.

In regards to meat- I sympathize with those who genuinely care for animals. I do. However, human beings have eaten meat for as long as they have existed... As have the Grizzly Bear, Tiger, Shark, Eagle etc...Are those species unethical for killing? Now because we are human (and vastly superior to all other species) we should carry out every action as ethically and consciously as possible. Does that include our desire for meat, given that slaughter is involved. I'm not sure. I am still struggling with this.

So when Farmer's Markets are not around (winter months)... where are you folks shopping? .... Me? You'll find me at the my neighborhood Whole Foods- buying products with 3 to 4 ingrediants vs. the s**t at King Soopers with 45+. Peace.

F. Johnson...

Encouraging others not to eat meat is not snobbery. I've eaten a hell of a lot of meat in my lifetime, and I don't judge those who still do.

Its simply a choice, and one that's not impossible to do.

Eat all the meat you want, dude, that's your choice. Maybe its right for you.

Time will tell.

Reactionary rage? Have any of you militant vegans stopped to think that Tibetan Buddhism, one of the most peaceful religions there is, stems from an area where meateating has gone on for centuries as the only way in which the vegetation of the high plateau can be processed by humans? It seems to me the 'eat locally' concept, the ultimate eco-friendly rationale for so much of our planet, is diametrically opposed to veganism.

Whenever I've walked into a Whole Foods the first thing I've been struck by is a subtle but unpleasant smell hanging on the air. I'm sure it isn't rotting produce. Rather just that the combination of some of their "health" foods give the place an odor that makes we want to turn around and walk back out. You don't get that smell in a farmer's market, that's for sure.

Yikes! What a lot of misinformed and/or uninformed propaganda I've been reading in some of these posts.

Throwing all the anti-vegan/vegetarian rhetoric aside (you guys REALLY need to stop eating meat just to be able to get your reactionary rage under control), the WF/co-op/chain grocer conundrum is one with which my partner and I have been wrestling for years. Here in D.C., WF is (on average) no more expensive and often considerably less expensive then Safeway or Giant. I'll leave aside the issue of "mom & pop" stores since they pretty much suck -- the worst foods, exorbitant prices, dirty facilties, etc.

Yes, WF is just another corporate chain, such as Safeway and Giant and Krogers. But (as disenchanted pointed out), they ARE pressuring the other chains to carry healthier food choices for their customers.

I TRY to shop at Safeway as much as I can since their workers are union, but they don't have the selection I always require. And with (as of today) 63 indoor and outdoor cats to feed every day and vet, my finances are near the breaking point.

Bottom line: WF is just another PoS (piece of shit) corporation that mistreats its workers and exploits the weaknesses and vanity of many of its customers but, like Citgo, has positive aspects going for it.

Oh yeah, and a personal aside to atheist: as a fellow militant atheist, I would like to correct your assertion that human beings are omnivores. We aren't! We're built, mechanically and biologically, as herbivores. People eat meat because they develop a taste for it, just as others shoot smack or meth or 'caine and still others smoke cigarettes. Not good for them, not good for the planet, and, in the case of meat, definitely not good for fellow sentient creatures. Unfortunately, most people (including ALL meat eaters, as far as I'm concerned) find it very easy to say "fuck any other being who ain't me." And that's my take on people who hunt, eat meat, or own oil company stock.

(I'm in a really bad mood today, and I said I was going to stop wasting my time posting here at CD, but I had to get this off my chest.)

kman2. . . your goofy comment that WF is not CD leftie enough suggests, to me, that you bring a superficial mind to your analysis. Perhaps you are just, like, very uninformed about the politics and sustainability of food. Maybe you are like, ignorant. And maybe you are new to liberal forums like CD. Is it okay with you for liberals to, um, have liberal opinions?

Now, to WF. It is not NEWS that WF is not a great company. People who actually pay attention to the complex issues of food safety, organic food, omnivores v. vegetarians, environmental impact of how we grow and ship food have known for a long time that WF is not a good citizen. They have used the organic food movement to spin an image for WF as some kind of food purveyor on the cutting edge of healthy eating but this has never been more than spin. John Mackay has always kept WF focussed on making money with careful spin designed to lure in baby boomers who started caring about the food they eat back in the sixties. . . and they have continued to spin new spin. It has been John Mackay's goal, for, like, FOREVER to be the largest food purveyor in the world. This is not sustainable. He has always eschewed unions. He has never paid wages as good as old-fashioned grocery stores with, um, unions. He is a master as marketing spin. Unfortunately, in this country, spin over substance is a way lots of people build their fortunes.

He didn't create the organic food movement: he used it to sell his expensive luxury foods, all the while spinning the idea that people were doing something good by shopping at his stores.

WF has been a bad-for-the-environment company since its inception. We lefties here on CD didn't just come up with this lately. It's always been true about WF.

Last time I visited Whole Foods in Raliegh they had tomatoes (Cherokee Purple) for $5.99 a pound and they were from California. Sadly I'd been to the Carrboro Farmers market earlier in the day, many growers had the same tomatoes for around $3-3.50 a pound so many tomatoes that I'm sure they were heading to the compost pile. Doubt I'll buy anything there again as we've got a real good Co-op.

Ok CD readers..There you have it. The CD Gods have spoken. Whole Foods is not leftwing pure enough. Please don't go there.

This purist leftwing stuff is hilarious. I love to read CD as the laugh of the day. Who needs Jon Stewart when there is CommonDreams.org?

The world you leftist purists paint just gets smaller and smaller everyday. I love how everyone squirms for the ultimate purist left wing position. Who can possibly live up to all this leftist rigidity? Even Nader has capitalistic investments I hear. :-D

Hi Radio_tec

Nothing for or against Whole Foods -- I like that they offer wheat-free baked goods, as I am also on a wheat-free diet.

However, just a suggestion for you -- I buy in bulk from Bob's Red Mill, http://www.bobsredmill.com/home.php, in Oregon, for my wheat-free needs. It's less expensive than buying from any grocery store, and the Bob's Red Mill people have always treated me with fairness and respect. Give them a chance if you're interested in home baking for your son.

Best of luck!

I went to Whole Foods once.
I was not impressed.
However, I did see the picture of one of our local organic farmers prominently displayed on a banner above the registers.
So I mentioned to my farmer friend that I saw his picture there.
He replied that he has never sold anything Whole Foods.
Imagine that.
I wonder where their food comes from?

I shopped at Whole Foods just once and left with the realization that those who shop there regularly are Whole Fools.

The fact of the matter is that for myself, Whole Foods, is conveniently located and we can get the type of vitaman supplements and wheat free foods for my son that we find we can't get, have to mail order for, or are simply to far to drive to.

Local co-ops exist in Houston but are not nearly as developed as they are in say Dallas or Austin. Now Dallas has an awsome farmers market and you can get any kind of produce you want, organic if you like, at a fair price. Houston has a lot of work to do to catch up but I look forward to the day when Houston has a farmers market it can be proud of.

the issue of meat eating is never "off the table," as it represents a truely political/philosophical action - one that ideally is deeply contemplated by large numbers of people.

there is nothing intrinsically harmful with reading or listening to an opinion different than your own, seeing where you agree or disagree, maybe making adjustments in your overall views if arguments are persuasive, or doing the same for others. it has nothing to do with feeling superior - just that the sense of urgency represented by the issue is real.

the fact is eating meat is a choice for humans, unlike many carnivorous animals who don't have the same deliberative faculties. and it is clearly optional, rather than required for survival (unless you are living in areas of the world not suitable for raising crops). so if you are choosing to eat animal products, it makes good sense to do some research about it, including listening to the arguments of vegetarians/vegans. even if you are not convinced to the point of changing your diet-style, you benefit from the process of sorting through it all.

I'm just not getting this anti-meat campaign here. Stop eating factory-farmed meat, I wholeheartedly agree. There's no sense in submitting animals to such cruelty because we only want to pay $x per pound instead of $2x or $3x. Plus there's the health factor.

But farms that treat their animals well and feed them good food produce meat this is good for you. My sister raises her own chickens and they are happy and healthy, well-fed, run freely, and pretty much do as they please. The ones that aren't egg layers are ultimately humanely slaughtered.

We are omnivores, let's not forget that. Lots of other animals eat meat, so obviously meat eating isn't inherently unhealthy. If you don't want to eat meat for whatever reason, that's fine. I can't stand mushrooms. But please don't think that you have a right or even a responsibility to tell responsible meat eaters to stop. Then you're like a suffocating religion.

I just finished reading all these "hate" comments about Whole Foods. But I like Whole Foods. Is it the best choice? No. I sell to Whole Foods for a small, local grower. Just so you know, the individual stores buy from the local farms or they can buy from their distribution center. Personally, I try to buy from the farmer's market, I grow a lot of my own food, raise chickens for eggs, and purchase some meat from local ranchers. I happen to live in a place where this is possible. It isn't always possible and that's great that Whole Foods is there to fill in the gaps for people. Is it a perfect option? No. Should we stop eating meat? For the environment, for the animals, or so we can possibly feed more people rather than feeding grain to livestock? Great idea! It's definitely something worth striving for. Bottom line...Whole Foods isn't all bad...glad they are there. If it weren't for Whole Foods, I bet Safeway and (gulp) WalMart would've never felt the need to start selling organics...and isn't that a step in the right direction?

Whole Paycheck is a more appropiate name. Those intent on paying $3 for conventional oranges, removing butt loads of aphids from their greens before consumtion and in general just overpaying for everything to avoid looking common, must please shop here. WF also buys up Wild Oats stores and promptly close them, thus eliminating their compition, something the Anti-Trust boys could care less about, but continue to take our tax dollars to prevent just such a thing from occuring. Boycott these shucksters.

Vegetarians often seem the most out of touch about raising food. Anyone who eats organic produce but thinks that MEAT comes into contact with manure and is thus dangerous obviously doesn't understand organic farming, and hasn't read about spinach and tomatoes contaminated with bacteria.

But vegetarians seem to consider themselves above nature, not part of it.

Well, like any supermarket it depends on what you are looking for and how big the difference is. At my local Giant, there isn't a significant difference in some of the costs. Yes, I watch my money, but I am really caring that that can of soup cost me 1.69 at Giant and 1.70 at Whole Foods.
And in my location, the Whole Foods is the closest supermarket to me. I walk more often than not.

As long as fake "liberals" keep relying on BIG GOVERNMENT to "play nice", small farmers trying to get grass fed meat and diary will get no say all the while Big Agri gets to poison the country with corn-fed meat and diary. The fucking snobs who want to lecture others about not eating meat fail to tell you that vegetarians are not safe either. Meat eaters and vegetarians can get along as long as they sit down, unite, and realize that BIG GOVERNMENT and Big Agri are the culprits. Instead of lecturing people about the need to not eat meat, let's get back to going grass-fed instead of corn-fed for a change !

>>It has been putting Mom&Pop run stores out of business for years, and then raising the prices, after the locally run stores are gone.<<

Really? I have lived in the Bay Area for most of my life where we have the best of the best when it comes to food. I grew up and went to market in Berkeley, Palo Alto and San Francisco and nowhere were there any stores that had the range of things that WF does. No mom and pop shop had close to the selection. I don't love the management, but the products are just Duckie as far as I can see. Except maybe the ground beef.

Anyway, when it isn't Farmers Market, its WF for my family.

Kelmer, most of the meat that I eat comes from inside the cow and the manure stays *outside* the cow. I also eat my meat while it's red. Your tastes may vary of course being a vego you probably don't have much contact with meat.

Farmer's Markets... Yay! Out here in the SF area it is easy to get homekill beef, lamb and poultry. We just bought cow in a group with some friends, everyone gets about 150 pounds of mixed cuts. We have the chest freezer so we're going to do great with that.

Local produce with local farmers is the way to do your part with your dollars and heart and to not support big agra.

We use as much imported oil to put meat on the table as fuel in the car.

me thinks I just dont understand meat eaters. Especially those who think they are doin good for the "environment."

Why would you eat something covered in manure? Is a flavor additive?

What do i know? I just try to eat fruit and vegetables because they have nice colours like the rainbow, meat is brown and black and greyish white--the colour of something else.

I dont have to say what since the article mentions it.

Natural foods or yuppie foods? The 2 concepts are really quite separate.

How sick.

I have been recently trying to not shop at Whole Foods as there is one just 3 blocks away from me. I live in Portland, Or so it is actually quite easy.

My beef with Whole Foods is not only their sad excuse to allow employees a say in Healthcare, the lack of unions in the organization, the pathetic excuse of a wage, etc BUT they pride their store on NATURAL foods which is one of the biggest ploys for the higher prices.

Not only are their 'local' goods a few states away not making it very local as it could be compared to a lot of the agricultural land in each state they are in but also the term NATURAL isn't certified with any specific meanings unlike terms like ORGANIC.

I can understand paying more for organic foods, the farmers have to pay for their certification and for some reason the better things for the planet are more expensive as the shit polluting our planet is cheaper than air.

The thing is it is almost impossible to go into Whole Foods and get organic products and their prices are far higher than going to a farmers market or even smaller markets that have more of a local approach that doesn't stretch as far as the 'local' that WF plays by.

Just because it says natural doesn't mean it does not have pesticides or any synthetic chemicals. Your only gaurantee that you are buying non polluted products and foods is if you have a certified label on there.

If you are dealing with meat- it doesn't matter if someone things the animals are being treated humanely. They still get slaughtered just like all other cows- the assemly line of disassembling the cow is just the same. So the flesh is bound to get contaminated. They should take a stand and stop selling NATURAL FOODS and only sell certified organic foods.

Just stop eating meat. Its not that hard to do. Spend the extra savings on the good, healthy stuff.

Eating meat is nasty business, period.

Easy, dont eat meat. That's what the global warmers say.

Sadly, Whole Foods may turn out to be be a prime example of the "Pretty Foods" movement in which people are buying the high priced "thought" of thinking themselves feeling good.

Whole Foods is run a corporate libertarian ideologue, John Mackey, who would be quite happy to go back to the non-existent regulatory environment of the Robber Baron era where unions were merely a pipe dream of workers. Whole Foods travails with beef showcase what "deregulation" under Dubya, Cheney, & Co. has produced: another bad flashback from "The Gilded Age," impure meat that inspired the Food Purity laws passed during the Progressive Era. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Whole Foods is run a corporate libertarian ideologue, John Mackey, who would be quite happy to go back to the non-existent regulatory environment of the Robber Baron era where unions were merely a pipe dream of workers. Whole Foods travails with beef showcase what "deregulation" under Dubya, Cheney, & Co. has produced: another bad flashback from "The Gilded Age," impure meat that inspired the Food Purity laws passed during the Progressive Era. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Whole Foods is a Money driven Corporation. It has been putting Mom&Pop run stores out of business for years, and then raising the prices, after the locally run stores are gone. Their just more corporate evilness. Buy Local, grow your own! Join a CO-OP.