Whole Foods Under Fire for Chinese "Organics"

by: Jill Richardson

Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 11:05:17 AM PST

After many years of aggressive growth of organic imports from China, and overt pressure from the Cornucopia Institute and others to audit operations in China, the USDA finally sent staff to scrutinize the certification operations.  In the entire country of China they only inspected two farms and found substantial noncompliances (no follow-ups to ascertain whether these were aberrations or systemic problems).

An Ann Cooper School Lunch Makeover

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Feb 18, 2010 at 23:33:59 PM PST

Part of today's activities focused on bringing together local farmers with the San Diego school lunch staff and talking about how they could work together to bring local produce into the schools. Chef Ann kicked off the meeting with an absolutely brilliant set of props:

What you have here is a pretty standard American school lunch. Chicken nuggets (which serve as the grain and the meat), French fries (the vegetable), and some fruit cocktail (the fruit... and the high fructose corn syrup). Plus a carton of chocolate milk. Pathetic. We make fun of Reagan for making ketchup a vegetable, but calling French fries a vegetable ain't much better.

Now add a piece of whole fruit (maybe even fruit from a local farm):

Okay, the meal still pretty much sucks. It's junk food plus an apple. Yay. A little more fiber, a little less sugar. It's still not a healthy meal. Ann said that step one is replacing the chicken nuggets and the fries:

Ta-da... healthy lunch! Chicken breast, broccoli, brown rice and beans, with an apple. With white milk, not chocolate milk. Now that's a healthy lunch. And if the apple and broccoli are local, that's even better.

Ann deals with seasonality and local food by writing all of her menus with a specific entree plus generic "fresh fruit" and "salad bar." Then she works with local farmers and her distributors to figure out what's local, what's seasonal, what's affordable, etc. And, because supplying large quantities of a single item is often difficult for small or even mid-size local farms, she offers a variety of seasonal veggies in a salad bar. That way she only needs to get a little bit of 24 different items instead of a whole lot of one item.

Chef Ann explained what she did in her current school district in Boulder, CO and it's really quite amazing. When she showed up they had tons of freezer space but not enough refrigerator space. That means they could easily store and serve frozen meals, but not fresh fruits or vegetables. Switching over to healthier, less processed foods required getting not just refrigerator space but also knives and cutting boards. And the staff training so everyone knows what to do with the knives and cutting boards. She gave her staff 12 full days of training this year. As you can see, schools don't just need more money so they can buy better foods. They need the labor, training, and equipment to go with it.

More about the day's other events below...

Whole Foods, Costco, and Starbucks Against EFCA

by: Jill Richardson

Sun Aug 30, 2009 at 16:30:42 PM PDT

And who is their lobbyist? The vile Lanny Davis, who is ALSO currently shilling for the Honduran Chamber of Commerce in favor of the coup government of Honduras. He's got ties to both parties, as he was a member of the Democratic National Committee for many years, then served President Clinton, and was then appointed by Bush to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board in 2005.

Boycott of Whole Foods Week 2

by: Curtis Abbey

Tue Aug 25, 2009 at 11:43:19 AM PDT

It's week two of the Whole Foods boycott, the Facebook boycott page has 28,157 members. It also now has a website called Whole Boycott Dot Com.

The boycott sprang up out of progressive resentment toward an article in the Wall Street Journal written by Whole Foods CEO John Mackey. It's titled The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare.

Mackey claims that the Rupert Murdoch owned WSJ editors wrote that title. It contains the annoying right wing slogan Obamacare. Which is an ironic term since the President has asked for Congress to write the bill, and to consider all ideas. We didn't call it the Bushraq War even though he didn't consider opposing ideas.  

I'm In the Village Voice!

by: Jill Richardson

Tue Aug 25, 2009 at 09:37:16 AM PDT

As for the benefits, a high deductible health insurance plan kicks in after you've worked there about 6 months (800 hours worked), plus an HSA (health savings account) that covers the entire deductible. Whole Foods covers your entire family so long as you work full-time (30+ hours per week). You have an option to buy the health plan when you reach 400 hours worked (about 3 months), and then it becomes free when you hit 800 hours. They also offer paid time off and stock options for employees. These become quite generous once you've worked there for some time.

That said, I don't know how Mackey thinks Americans can afford to prevent health problems by shopping at his store when he doesn't pay his employees enough to shop there. Starting pay is $10/hour in San Diego, and that's not a lot of money. I might have struggled less if I wasn't paying $800/mo for rent and $200/mo in COBRA, but ultimately I couldn't make ends meet on a Whole Foods wage and I had to go back to work in a corporate job.

A Former Whole Foods Employee's View of Whole Foods

by: Jill Richardson

Sat Aug 15, 2009 at 11:57:30 AM PDT

I've been asked by several people to weigh in on Whole Foods (or WFM for short... the M stands for Market). I worked there for 5 months in 2007 and I wrote a chapter about it in my book, Recipe for America: Why Our Food System is Broken and What We Can Do To Fix It. So here's my take on it...

Some Thoughts On Whole Foods

by: Jill Richardson

Sun Jul 19, 2009 at 12:23:36 PM PDT

She reminded me that the Whole Foods management was quite "corporate" in the sense that the employees cannot be themselves 100%. I hadn't noticed this because I came to Whole Foods from a previous job that was even MORE restrictive, so Whole Foods felt pretty relaxed. Also, my team leader was VERY chill about things. I asked her for details and she said employees could get written up for saying the wrong things to customers.

I'm sure in some sense this is normal at any place of employment (no telling a customer to "F" off anywhere, right?) but I was reminded that even in the bakery I was scolded for telling customers that "I don't like" certain foods. To me, that was just bogus. It's normal that people have different tastes and of course, every person isn't going to like SOME foods - even foods that other people like. Besides, I wasn't telling customers to buy nothing. I was saying to buy one tastier cake instead of a different, less tasty one. That should help sales, because customers who get a good tasting cake and excellent service will come back for more. (For the record - the Perfectly Sweet, Galaxy, and Sugar Plum Fairy brands at Whole Foods taste great, and the Fabe's brand is disgusting. They only carry it because it's vegan in my opinion. For better tasting vegan desserts, go for the Gianna's or Uncle Eddie's cookies, or stick to sorbet.)

The other point that my former co-worker made is that the prices on the grocery items are very high, for a processed (if organic) food that's been sitting on a shelf for six months. This is something I hadn't thought of because I worked in the bakery where the food is all fresh (save for a few items that are frozen and then thawed before they are sold like naan, pita bread, tortillas, and some brands of bread). But she's right. If you shop at Whole Foods, for pete's sake, buy whole foods. Don't go for the processed stuff. But that goes for all grocery stores, not just Whole Foods.

Local Insanity In The Whole Foods FTC Case

by: JayinPortland

Mon Dec 08, 2008 at 01:54:58 AM PST

Seemingly, the nine-store chain, which opened its first Portland market in 2000, represents a like-minded if not diminutive rival for the 28-year-old Whole Foods, which operates more than 270 stores in North America and England.

Whole Foods contends that New Seasons is at the heart of its defense in an antitrust case that, if lost, could cost the ritzy retailer big fines and the loss of the Wild Oats stores it gained across the country.

The subpoena demands two years' worth of New Seasons' weekly sales data, internal e-mails, inventory records, marketing and expansion plans. Whole Foods said it sent nearly identical requests to 93 other retailers and vendors nationwide, including two others in Portland -- the two-store Food Front chain and the lone People's Co-Op.

It's interesting that in trying to prove their case to the government that they're not a monopoly seeking to stomp out competition at all costs, they've used this very case to attempt to gain a significant advantage in one of the very few cities in America where they don't currently hold a monopoly in the organic and natural foods market.

Open Letter to Whole Foods Market

by: Jill Richardson

Tue Oct 28, 2008 at 16:25:47 PM PDT

As you may know, I worked at Whole Foods Market for five months in 2007. As an employee, the store had a fun atmosphere and although I have a number of problems with Whole Foods, I also saw some good in them. I heard over and over about their Animal Compassion Fund while I worked there. I also heard a lot about John Mackey, the CEO, being a vegan. It's fantastic - truly fantastic - that the owner of such a major company respects (or at least professes to respect) the rights of animals - but what about humans?

I am all for animal rights, but I am also for human rights. And I don't think it's a question of 'either/or' - we can be for both. Let's respect the rights of all sentient beings on earth, animal or human.

A New Rant on Whole Foods

by: Jill Richardson

Sun Sep 21, 2008 at 21:22:22 PM PDT

Beef: Unsafe at any price, even at Whole Foods

by: Michele Simon

Wed Aug 13, 2008 at 12:10:08 PM PDT

Whole Foods Beef Recall

by: Jill Richardson

Mon Aug 11, 2008 at 08:00:00 AM PDT

Details on Whole Foods:

The recall of Whole Foods Market ground beef sold between June 2 and Aug. 6 has shed a new spotlight on Nebraska Beef of Omaha, one of the country's largest meatpackers. Whole Foods has said it did not know that its vendor, Coleman Natural Foods, had used Nebraska Beef to process the meat.

What a screwed up system we have. I'd like to know what actually happened here. This article makes it appear that the 5.3 million pounds Nebraska Beef recalled from May and June were a different E. coli outbreak from this one. That time people got sick in 7 states. This time the Nebraska Beef E. coli outbreak has sickened 31 people in 12 states, DC, and Canada, resulting in a new recall of 1.2 million pounds of ground beef. And this is all just a continuing saga...

-- US Department of Agriculture shut down the plant three times in 2002 and 2003 for problems such as feces on carcasses, water dripping off pipes onto meat, paint peeling onto equipment and plugged-up meat wash sinks.

--In 2004 and early 2005, Nebraska Beef was written up at least five times for not removing brains or spinal cords from the food supply, as required. The company corrected the problems. Those parts may be infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease.

--US inspectors in August 2006 threatened to suspend Nebraska Beef operations for not following requirements for controlling E. coli. The company corrected the problem a week later, USDA records show.

--Also in 2006, Minnesota health officials blamed Nebraska Beef for sickening 17 people who ate meatballs at a church potluck in rural Minnesota. Several victims filed lawsuits against Nebraska Beef, including the family of a woman who died.

Whole Foods Photo Diary

by: OrangeClouds115

Wed Jul 16, 2008 at 12:00:00 PM PDT

Anti-Monkey Butt Powder, a local product