A New Rant on Whole Foods

I have... (4.00 / 2)

something to say here on this, but unfortunately I have to finish up my laundry in like 5 minutes and then run down the block to meet somebody for drinks and dinner...

I'll post my thoughts here when I get back then, and also a diary (or two or nine...).

:)

Sorry to hear earlier about your unemployment, but maybe for a little while at least that means you can stay up late with me...

:)

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 04:30:39 AM UTC

oh, don't be sorry (4.00 / 2)

I quit. I'm thrilled about it. Just so long as I don't go broke in between now and my next paycheck.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 04:45:20 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Well here's to hoping... (4.00 / 2)

that next paycheck comes very soon.

It's not really "food-related", but if you want I can definitely post something here about my experiences earlier this year transitioning from an abusive temp agency to real employment.  Your call...

And fwiw, you've got a real true friend here and you'll never go "broke" Jill.  If need be, I'll hitchhike my damned way down to you to deliver fresh home-cooked food to you if you ever need it...

:)


"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 04:56:47 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

hahaha you are TOO nice! (4.00 / 2)

I think I might have a job. That is to say, I don't really know how this all works BUT I signed a thing with a consulting company saying I will start on or before 10/10. So I think that means PAYCHECK. I just don't have a client yet, which means I don't have a date to start showing up to work or a place to show up to. And until I get the client sorted out, I'm not really considering this a solid job when it comes to planning my finances.

Glad to know I've got such a good friend in PDX though. I hope I can come up there and buy you a local beer one of these days. Just gotta get the goddamn book finished!!!

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 07:25:34 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I Promise To Keep This Short (4.00 / 3)

since it's gettin late here and some of us have to submit to overlords in the morning.  If you think it would be useful for me to expand on any of these, I can do so in the coming days.

Here are some thoughts from your resident cynic/skeptic, playing devil's advocate for things to keep in mind here.  As far as I can see, I'm pretty much in agreement with these ideas, so if any of this comes across as unduly critical, that's not my intent.

Overall, remember that Whole Foods is a public company, which means that management, under the auspices of the board of directors, has a fiduciary duty to maximize shareholder value, subject to a certain amount of business discretion, but only within "reason".  This means that it gets very hard to undertake any change that could result in a long-term loss of revenues (such as eliminating profitable product lines like bottled water, conventional foods or produce out of season) or increase in costs (recyclable plastics, biodegradable silverware, etc.).

Recognize also that some ideas might not really be feasable nationwide, such as not importing foods from South America:  transportation costs (and the related food miles issue) may make bringing smaller loads from across the country worse in some instances than larger shipments from another continent.

Additionally some of their programs might be local only, such as not giving leftover food away -- for example, in NYC, Whole Foods is one of the major partners for City Harvest, to which they've donated ever since opening their first stores here.  It's entirely possible that some localities might have health laws that restrict against giving away food after a certain date or a day after it was prepared.

I know it seems like I'm being deliberately difficult, but I'm simply trying to ensure that we have fully anticipated potential bumps along the way.

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by: The Maven @ Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 05:10:07 AM UTC

no, you're entirely right (4.00 / 3)

and actually Whole Foods is managed on a regional basis to a large extent and I have observed differences between regions quite often. There are also certainly differences in state laws from place to place. In TX they gave free samples of booze. Here they do $10 wine or beer tastings monthly but no freebies and I believe there is a legal basis for that.

Re: giving food to homeless shelters - they do that SOME here. They give away the bread that is baked that day. But the rest of the stuff goes in the compost - even pastries that were baked same day. They cited liability in the case of a lawsuit as their reason for not giving more to the hungry when someone asked them about it in a training. The other reason they don't let even employees take home the leftovers (at the store where I was) is because you'd have employees baking 6 pizzas 20 minutes before the store closed if you allowed that, so they could be like "Whoops, leftover pizza!" and take it home for themselves. When I worked there, I snuck quite a bit of pastries and bread out of the store (stuff that would've gone to compost otherwise) to give to homeless guys in the park.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 07:30:17 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I've always been a little torn (4.00 / 3)

Whole Foods started in Austin and of course now, they're everywhere. When they redid their facility I had mixed feelings because I didn't want it to take away business from my local co-op. Then I realized I could shop at both and I wouldn't be ignoring my principles. However, shopping at Whole Foods has become somewhat of a fashion statement and you applaud them when they give some of their proceeds to local nonprofits, or host sustainable cooking demos, but it still pisses me off to see all those dead fish that aren't healthy for consumers, bad for oceans, and cruel to fish.

And I'll give a shout out to United Farm Workers and UFW supporters for petitioning Whole Foods to develop higher standards for the treatment of workers at their supplier facilities, like a humane treatment rating system.

If you don't have it in you to grow your own food, shop at co-ops or farmers markets whenever possible, and make sure that all consumers know shopping at Whole Foods should be part of a green lifestyle, and challenge this corporate entity whenever they aren't with the times!

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by: Daniela @ Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 16:16:42 PM UTC