WHOLE FOODS: THE MYTH, THE MYSTIQUE, THE MISTAKE

Where Premium Prices Are No Guarantee of Superior Food


By ALICE SHANE

It became blazingly clear after my last visit to Whole Foods where I dropped $242.00 that I may have been brainwashed by clever marketing and media hype.

Gullible me. I believed I was buying fresher, higher quality food than was available at other supermarkets in my New Jersey suburban community. But I’ve since learned that higher prices charged at this supermarket chain do not necessarily translate into premium food:

Flashback: the Cornish hens I purchased in that $242.00 order were spoiled. No sooner had I unwrapped these birds in preparation for roasting, a foul stench pierced the air, permeating my kitchen and dining room, necessitating that I sterilize my kitchen counter and all the dishware and utensils that came in contact with this diseased poultry. Ultimately, we had to settle for take-out because it was too late to defrost anything else for dinner. Close examination of the original packaging failed to reveal an expiration or “sell by” date.

Flashback: the vegetable pate I brought home in the same order was moldy -- despite its $12.99 per pound price tag. The “sell by” date indicated that it had expired three days before my purchase.

Past departures from wholesome freshness ticked off in my mind: I was coming home with bad and/or second rate produce and meats on a regular basis: slimy (organic) carrots which had to be returned, roast beef deli -- so fatty it was inedible and had to be thrown out (at $12.99 a pound), “organic” celery, the stalks of which were internally filthy and bruised; turkey hotdogs that had begun to slime ($6.99 for a package of six) and undercooked rotisseried chicken.

Not one to be snookered, I called the manager and expressed my dissatisfaction with their merchandise. He cavalierly apologized and told me to bring the offending items back for a refund. Only after balking at his suggestion that I make another trip back to Whole Foods to collect a refund -- after a ruined dinner, after enduring the inconvenience of dining on take-out -- not to mention having to sterilize my kitchen environment -- did he make a peace offering of a $25.00 gift certificate – a paltry sum but better than nothing (though I must confess to kicking myself for not holding out for more).

Will I continue to shop in Whole Foods? Well, yes -- but as a more cautious consumer with fewer illusions, no longer mesmerized by media hype and clever marketing. In the meantime, I’m going to give Wegman’s a try.

© 2007; Alice Shane/Alice Shane Communications. All rights reserved.