I am a frequent shopper at Whole Foods Market, mainly for their selection of organic produce. But, once I get through the checkout, I tend to ask myself, "Is this worth it?" I could go to a conventional grocery store and most likely go home with twice as many groceries but I've decided to support local, and organic farmers for environmental and health reasons.

What do you think?

Haha-- some of my friends call it "whole paycheck" because of the price premiums. I generally like whole foods because of the quality of their products even more than their eco-grooviness. I tend to buy the better tasting produce, and if it's environmentally friendly that's even better.

One thing that is really nice is how they have options for people with special dietary needs, such as vegetarian, vegan, non-wheat, non-lactose etc.

When I lived in SoCal, I used to go to a big Ralph's store where they had a few aisles of whole-foods-type products so I could mix and match cheaper stuff with eco-stuff. I haven't seen that in the Bay Area yet.

Safeway has organic food products, but it's mixed in with other items on the shelves.

Post edited by: greeniac13, at: 12/04/2007

Have you tried visiting your local farmer's market? There is also the option of joining a CSA. Trader Joe's is a cheaper alternative to Whole Foods for organic groceries in general.

Whether it's worth it probably depends on what your goals are. If you are buying organic produce to keep chemicals out of your body or out of the land then maybe Whole Foods is worth it (although as Greeniac10529 pointed out there are other sources of organic/sustainably grown produce). If your goals are to support local farmers, or establish personal connections, then probably Whole Foods isn't worth it. I looked at their website in the discussion of "local" produce and they write "Only produce that has traveled less than a day (7 or fewer hours by car or truck) from the farm to our facility can be labeled 'locally grown.'" http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/products/locallygrown/i
ndex.html

Seven hours! Is Philadelphia local to Boston then? On the other hand, they do have profiles of some of the farms they buy from, so you could, I suppose, track down the farmers to ask them about their produce or give them compliments about that particularly delicious apple.
There is also the convenience factor of Whole Foods- perhaps that is what you pay for- and perhaps it is worth it.

I do think it is worth it, for personal health reasons and to support the practice of organic farming as much as possible. However I also think it is worth it to seek out grocery sources that you are comfortable with. If paying top dollar at Whole Paycheck makes you abandon organics altogether, it's not worth it. I buy groceries from a variety of places: Safeways organic section, Trader Joes, a local organic co-op, and farmers' markets. I've also found it helpful on the wallet to stick with what is in season; there's no reason to pay extra money for organic blueberries from New Zealand. I'd rather wait till the summer and get them locally for a fraction of the price.