Slate Takes on Whole Foods
I always support potshots aimed at Whole Foods, such as the ones lobbed by Field Maloney at Slate. The massive grocery chain is big on union-busting and low on locally grown produce.
Still, I have to wonder where the author Maloney has been. The article promises to reveal “organic food’s dark secrets,” but it doesn’t expose anything particularly new. When big corporations started milking the organic cash cow, they diluted the spirit, if not the letter, of the organic movement. Yes, it still means lower pesticide use, which is important for our environment. But the original philosophy never envisioned organic produce shipped around the world to the tune of tons of fossil fuel.
“Organic” hasn’t had real meaning for years. “Local” is the hippie principle du jour, with “sustainable” coming up right behind. But these “organic isn’t as good as you think” articles continue to sell.
Field Mahoney talks about Organic Chile vs. Local Conventional. This is a big problem with Whole Foods. Specifically, there’s too much conventional produce, too much produce from way, way too far away (Chile and now, China), and too much produce from big food rather than small, local farmers. I strongly feel Whole Foods compromises too much here.
Whether this will change positively with Wal-mart jumping on the Organic band-wagon is a big question. I wouldn’t count on it.
And Derrick, comparing the amount of local produce in a Safeway vs. Whole Foods - well, there IS local produce in Whole Foods…is there ANY at Safeway?
– Jack
P.S. And I don’t understand the point of Field Mahoney stating “Take the produce section, usually located in the geographic center of the shopping floor and the spiritual heart of a Whole Foods outlet…” - this is not true. Not one of the six Whole Foods I have been to has the produce in the “geographic center”.