Who's your favourite organic grocer?

[JayHawk]

Why do we hate Whole Foods? I hear they have one in Vancouver and it seems popular enough.

Because you can find vastly overpriced items on their shelves. We call them Whole Paycheck.

 

[cgymike]

Because you can find vastly overpriced items on their shelves. We call them Whole Paycheck.

Some yes...but their 360 brand items are often cheaper than Safeway comparable organics for staples like Olive oil, pasta, bottled water. Also, their hot bar is at 8.49 a pound seemingly expensive but you can get a good amount of food for under a pound and enjoy a lunch for about 6 or 7 bucks. Not bad. Plus they have a pretty awesome bulk section and again it is comparable to other organic bulk offerings maybe a bit less than Natural Grocers Vitamin Cottage etc.

The are area where their pricing is bad is in the fish counter and meat counter but I only eat fish any more rarely meats so that's not a big deal to me. Their cosmetics can be a bit high but I buy very little there so it's not huge for me.

The point is you have to shop selectively. If you are picky eater and want a certain type of cheese that only they carry then you will pay for it often at somewhat inflated prices. It's supply and demand there.

But to make a blanket statement that they are whole paycheck and just overall expensive ignores the details.

I am sure Overland Park has a Wal*Mart though....

LOL

 

[cgymike]

I don't really care about organic products...

Thank you for your opinion and it has been duly registered. We value your input blah blah

 

[JayHawk]

Some yes...but their 360 brand items are often cheaper than Safeway comparable organics for staples like Olive oil, pasta, bottled water. Also, their hot bar is at 8.49 a pound seemingly expensive but you can get a good amount of food for under a pound and enjoy a lunch for about 6 or 7 bucks. Not bad. Plus they have a pretty awesome bulk section and again it is comparable to other organic bulk offerings maybe a bit less than Natural Grocers Vitamin Cottage etc.

The are area where their pricing is bad is in the fish counter and meat counter but I only eat fish any more rarely meats so that's not a big deal to me. Their cosmetics can be a bit high but I buy very little there so it's not huge for me.

The point is you have to shop selectively. If you are picky eater and want a certain type of cheese that only they carry then you will pay for it often at somewhat inflated prices. It's supply and demand there.

But to make a blanket statement that they are whole paycheck and just overall expensive ignores the details.

I am sure Overland Park has a Wal*Mart though....

LOL

No we have these goofy things called 'farmers' it is a weird concept, getting your organic foods from organic growers... lol

That graphic makes your point and mine. And if you look at my original post i shop around plenty of places for the items I like. Whole foods does have roasted garlic on their bar but relying upon them for all items is ignate << new word.

 

[eastofeden]

My problem with Whole Foods is the lighting. It is waaaaaayyyyyyy too bright for me. I have never liked really bright lights and they are the brightest of any store I can think of.

 

[cgymike]

No we have these goofy things called 'farmers' it is a weird concept, getting your organic foods from organic growers... lol

That graphic makes your point and mine. And if you look at my original post i shop around plenty of places for the items I like. Whole foods does have roasted garlic on their bar but relying upon them for all items is ignate << new word.

Thanks for the graphic. OK you make a few good points. But honestly who would buy a baguette from Kroger's (King Sooper's). When I lived in Denver, they had the WORST "fresh" bread. Stale or soggy take your pick and/or loaded with preservatives if not. Mac and Cheese is dreadful can't abide the stuff myself. Sprout's charges that much for eggs? Shocking! I eat a fair amount of eggs so that would be a downer. Apples at the local QFC Kroger's are currently 2.49/lb same as at the WF...the cookies you mention is where you have a good point. QFC has 'em now for 3.99. But honestly who goes to a WF for those cookies whereas they have sooo many others freshly made at the baked goods counter.
Shopping at a farmer's market makes perhaps the most sense but just because it's a farmer's market doesn't mean it's organic of course. Pesticides could still have been used. Plus, farmer's markets rarely have the year-round selection a store would offer and getting to them is often less convenient particularly in winter. But, on the other hand I love the experience of shopping at a farmer's market and it's far more social than a store.

 

[cgymike]

My problem with Whole Foods is the lighting. It is waaaaaayyyyyyy too bright for me. I have never liked really bright lights and they are the brightest of any store I can think of.

I always wear sunglasses anyway leftover behavior from my small town days where everyone knew everyone in the grocery and you just wanted to get in and out without getting trapped in trivial convos. But yeah I have noticed that and yet WF claims each store is different and they have say on how each store should be run (not a franchise). But I don't believe that....

 

[JPGhost]

Whole foods always dazzle me. I think I'll shop over there when I live in penthouse but not for right now..

In my area, we have Shoreline market- good place to get authentic pacific northwest oyster and organic soap

 

[frankfrank]

Some yes...but their 360 brand items are often cheaper than Safeway comparable organics for staples like Olive oil, pasta, bottled water. Also, their hot bar is at 8.49 a pound seemingly expensive but you can get a good amount of food for under a pound and enjoy a lunch for about 6 or 7 bucks. Not bad.

The are area where their pricing is bad is in the fish counter and meat counter but I only eat fish any more rarely meats so that's not a big deal to me. Their cosmetics can be a bit high but I buy very little there so it's not huge for me.

I remember I was going to mention how I liked the hot bar, soup bar, salad bar...but I forgot to go there in my post. Their hot entrees seem to be "from scratch" and are pretty good, usually. That also probably means that quality will vary between different WF stores.

Add vitamins/supplements to a section in Whole Foods which is quite expensive. Though expensive, I would be buying their fish sometimes, if I had the choice between their fish, and what selection is currently available here locally. No doubt, though, that if this place was large enough for a WF Market, it would also be large enough for a stand-alone fish market, etc.

 

[JayHawk]

Thanks for the graphic. OK you make a few good points. But honestly who would buy a baguette from Kroger's (King Sooper's). When I lived in Denver, they had the WORST "fresh" bread. Stale or soggy take your pick and/or loaded with preservatives if not. Mac and Cheese is dreadful can't abide the stuff myself. Sprout's charges that much for eggs? Shocking! I eat a fair amount of eggs so that would be a downer. Apples at the local QFC Kroger's are currently 2.49/lb same as at the WF...the cookies you mention is where you have a good point. QFC has 'em now for 3.99. But honestly who goes to a WF for those cookies whereas they have sooo many others freshly made at the baked goods counter.
Shopping at a farmer's market makes perhaps the most sense but just because it's a farmer's market doesn't mean it's organic of course. Pesticides could still have been used. Plus, farmer's markets rarely have the year-round selection a store would offer and getting to them is often less convenient particularly in winter. But, on the other hand I love the experience of shopping at a farmer's market and it's far more social than a store.

It is a random comparison... now translate that across the 50 thousand items carried by a grocer and you begin to see how one must know what is good and what is not.

Kroger's may be run by idiots in your neck of the woods but their bread is baked fresh in house in most the locations I have been near in Ohio and on the eastern seaboard.

Still odds on favorite is to shop around. I still get the best deals direct from farmers so they remain my main resource of food.

 

[JayHawk]

I remember I was going to mention how I liked the hot bar, soup bar, salad bar...but I forgot to go there in my post. Their hot entrees seem to be "from scratch" and are pretty good, usually. That also probably means that quality will vary between different WF stores.

Add vitamins/supplements to a section in Whole Foods which is quite expensive. Though expensive, I would be buying their fish sometimes, if I had the choice between their fish, and what selection is currently available here locally. No doubt, though, that if this place was large enough for a WF Market, it would also be large enough for a stand-alone fish market, etc.

Well I am outpaced for fish here in the Midwest but I like a local butcher for beef. In Seattle it would be foolish to forgo the fish market and buy fish at wholefoods. I guess I just like local resources the best. I dunno.

 

[bankside]

I'd pay 4 dollars more for better quality baguettes and fast customer service.

 

[Spiff]

I can't let myself shop at Whole Foods. I don't believe in spending a whole paycheck on a week's worth of groceries. I have quite the healthy diet with a fraction Whole Food's cost. And I'm not a delusional snob, which is whom Whole Food's is marketed toward.

 

[JayHawk]

I'd pay 4 dollars more for better quality baguettes and fast customer service.

That is the problemo... you pay the four dollars more and don't get better of either.

 

[bankside]

TBQH I'd pay $4 just to shop at a store with a name that's not quite as terrible as "king sooper."

That being said, I'd agree with you about enjoying local excellence. I love our farmers market. We're damn good at beef. We could be good at lamb but no one bothers with sheep which is a shame. And fish are hard to come by. If they are fresh at all, they are expensive no matter where you go. There are lake fish, I suppose, pickerel from Manitoba. Or arctic char from up north. But that's not exactly local local.

 

[nycguydowntown]

Everything is very expensive where I live--I wish I had more of a choice--but Whole Foods is it---my regular grocery store D'Agostinos is so freaking expensive it's comical at this point---we don't have and never heard of Sprouts or King Scoopers or whatever.

 

[cgymike]

Everything is very expensive where I live--I wish I had more of a choice--but Whole Foods is it---my regular grocery store D'Agostinos is so freaking expensive it's comical at this point---we don't have and never heard of Sprouts or King Scoopers or whatever.

NYC must be tough for any grocery to survive with the high rents so yeah they have to charge 10 bucks for a melon or whatever. And people there are wanting a higher minimum wage too so it makes it even tougher for such businesses to survive. Maybe the solution is to have a roof top garden to get around the high costs of groceries though that only works if you are not a meat eater..

 

[JPGhost]

Everything is very expensive where I live--I wish I had more of a choice--but Whole Foods is it---my regular grocery store D'Agostinos is so freaking expensive it's comical at this point---we don't have and never heard of Sprouts or King Scoopers or whatever.

Organic Brussel Sprouts in W.F cost $7 per lb

 

[JayHawk]

TBQH I'd pay $4 just to shop at a store with a name that's not quite as terrible as "king sooper."

That being said, I'd agree with you about enjoying local excellence. I love our farmers market. We're damn good at beef. We could be good at lamb but no one bothers with sheep which is a shame. And fish are hard to come by. If they are fresh at all, they are expensive no matter where you go. There are lake fish, I suppose, pickerel from Manitoba. Or arctic char from up north. But that's not exactly local local.

Did you know the reason sheep herders were so sparse in America is because it was falsely believed that the sheep damaged the land for the cattle. When in reality the sheep will eat what the cattle leave behind, but if not moved will destroy the grazing land. Random fact four hundred fifty six.

To cattle ranchers, sheepherders were even less welcome than homesteaders. Sheep grazed the grass to the roots and contributed to overgrazed, depleted ranges. Ethnic and religious prejudice added to tension with sheepherders. In the southwest, shepherds were usually Mexican or Indian, while in Nevada and the northwest they were often Mormons or Basque immigrants from the region along the French-Spanish border. With these new elements on the plains, violent range wars sometimes broke out as cattle drovers, homesteaders, and sheepherders found themselves at odds. Eventually land and water use was worked out between ranchers and farmers through laws and agreements, and sheepherders took their flocks to marginal and high altitude ranges that were unsuitable for cattle but where sheep did well. Land use was everywhere restricted, and the great sweep of open country that had once characterized the West became only a memory.

I wish I could find a grocer or baker here that did sourdough and crusty baguettes as well as when i lived in both California (Ralphs) and Tennessee (Kroger).... here it is like they forgot to cook it twice as long.... it is just bread. yuck...

 

[frankfrank]

I love our farmers market. We're damn good at beef. We could be good at lamb but no one bothers with sheep which is a shame. And fish are hard to come by. If they are fresh at all, they are expensive no matter where you go. There are lake fish, I suppose, pickerel from Manitoba. Or arctic char from up north.[/B]But that's not exactly local local.

Dammit, I wish our farmers market was like that. THIS FARMERS MARKET SELLS NOTHING WHICH REQUIRES REFRIGERATION after more than four or five hours. So, therefore, finding ANY kind of meat (other than, sometimes, some sausages) at my local farmers market, is something I have NEVER seen. I would kill to be able to buy pickerel OR Arctic char - both are exquisite.

I have to travel HUNDREDS of miles, EVER, to get fresh pickerel [walleye], lake perch, grouper, bluegill - some of my favorite fish. I can't even get OCEAN PERCH here, for Chrissakes. I've never seen Arctic Char in the United States AT ALL, and I've never seen ono (my new fave OCEAN fish, by far, which I "discovered" in Hawai'i in April) on the U. S. mainland. So everything that I can get here are secondary favorites, other than the occasional wild-caught salmon - or, rarer, trout - which isn't entirely fresh.

There's no butcher shop here, either.

I wish I could find a grocer or baker here that did sourdough and crusty baguettes as well as when i lived in both California (Ralphs) and Tennessee (Kroger).... here it is like they forgot to cook it twice as long.... it is just bread. yuck...

I wish that I could find good challah anywhere near here. The closest good challah I'm aware of is about 700 miles or so away from here - at Wegmans in Pennsylvania or upstate New York. (Sure, there is probably great challah to be had much closer in places like Skokie or Evanston IL, very Jewish suburbs, but I don't know about it, or where.) GOOD? No, theirs is wonderful!!

I also really like the baguettes which are "done a little dark" and are CRISPY/HARD on the outside. I've never seen those within hundreds of miles of here either.