Does Whole Foods Suck?
Dave Koch | Monday, February 8, 2010 at 7:45AM I was sent this video from multiple people last week. It is from an exposé by ABC 7 (WJLA - Washington DC). They tracked down the source of many of Whole Food's brand 365 Organic (by looking at the label on the back) and found that many come from China. It appears as if the footage aired in May 2008.
The video raises several questions. Can organic certification be trusted in China? What's better, organic produce flown in from half way across the globe, or a little FDA approved pesticides on produce grown locally? If the "California Blend" of frozen vegetables comes from China, shouldn't they call it the "Chengdu Blend"? Why are people just circulating this video now?
I know that I love the deli section of Whole Foods and have been known to drop some coin on a gourmet lunch every now and then. I don't think Whole Foods sucks, do you? What are your thoughts? If you had to choose only one... would you go with local? Or, organic?
Reader Comments (2)
I find whole foods to be really, really expensive. The whole foods I have been to has a really limited bulk section, which is irritating as well. I prefer my local co-op, they source locally and keep it cheap.
Thanks for the add on Foodbuzz! I like your blog so far.
I'm a Whole Foods fan, and no, I'm not rich. I actually go to the WF they featured this.
I mostly go there for the bulk foods, because they have a great selection of whole grains and nuts and seeds that cost an arm and a leg to buy (if you can even FIND them) in a normal grocery store. I don't usually buy anything else there, save for some cheese and their peanut butter that's just peanuts and salt. I just went to look on the peanut butter label and it now says "Product of Canada". I don't know if they were referring to a different WF peanut butter in the video or if the store changed where it comes from after the story came out. But it seems like they've raised their standards, and in 2008 I didn't care about what was going into my mouth so I wouldn't have made any big stink about such a story.
If I had to choose one, I think I'd go with... urgh... uhm. Probably organic. Local is great, but there's no real guarantee that the farmers are treating the food and their customers the best they can.
However, I had no problem with the whole "The California Blend is from china" thing. People make "Californian cuisine" all the time. In that case, can an American spaghetti sauce company be called under scrutiny for calling their sauce Italian?