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I’m sure you all know by now that I much prefer to buy all our food at our local farm or farm market. (And those of you who can go to your own yard and pick your produce make me sooooooooo jealous…) But as you also know, that’s not always possible, and for that reason, I love Whole Foods Market and wish there was one near us! Apparently, others agree that this is a great store. Read about WFM and others at this link with CNN’s list of the healthiest grocery stores. But beware of one eensy weensy HUGE problem with one sentence in the article…hopefully you’ll know it when you see it…ends in “butter”.
- Meal Planning/Kitchen Tips
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, what a funny article, Kelly. I've shopped at many of those stores over the years and in various locations (I've lived in 3 different regions of the country). Just about any grocery store has both healthy and unhealthy food options, but the issue is what the consumer puts in the cart, right?
I gained 20 pounds and and was not feeling very good when I did most of our food shopping at Trader Joe's, because I thought somehow their ready-to-eat products were so much better tasting and better made than the ones at the conventional grocery stores. Ha! I was deluding myself.
I still shop weekly at TJ's for some staple ingredients to round out what I get from direct producers, but I can pretty much avoid most of the ready-to-eat or heat -and-serve offerings in the meat case, the frozen food aisles, and the boxed grocery aisles. I mean, are people really so inept or lazy they need to buy precooked oatmeal or precooked rice, and bags of pre-sliced apples?
I stopped buying anything from Trader Joe's (and anywhere else) that is heat & serve, boxed cold cereals, baked goods, pre-marinated or pre-seasoned or -sauced, etc. For about 7 years I was too easily coaxed at TJs into becoming a very lazy cook. But I've gone back to my kitchen and only rely on TJs for a few ingredients and foods that I can't get from more direct routes (local farms) or are not easy to make myself (like aged cheeses, dark chocolate, etc). And we are much healthier and slimmer for it.
I think the same sort of thing can be said about Whole Foods or any other grocery store. Plenty of unhealthy convenience foods are available at any store, too, especially in those center aisles or in the heat & serve/ready-to-eat categories. The big "O" label means little if the product is still empty calories (especially sugary calories).
Ultimately, at any store, one has to be smart about what is put in the cart.
Hi Anna,
I’m in total agreement, but sure love TJ’s or WFM for those things I do get at the store – MUCH CHEAPER organics and bulk items there!
Even though we don’t have those stores here in GR, thankfully my sister lives near them both and gets me what I need.
Kelly
The list made me nostalogic for when we lived in Atlanta . . .
I had a Publix, a Harris Teeter, a Food Loin, a Kroger, two local groceries and A HUGE year round farmers market fileld with local grown produce, and locallly farmed raised meat and poultry.
I shopped there regularly and wasn’t even aware of all the great nutrition I was giving my family. It was just great nutritous food sold cheaply!!!
Too bad we don’t always appreciate what we have when we have it!
jeanne