whole foods sucks (Houston, Austin, Mercedes: home, buy, compensation)

[extremeturro]

Everything is over priced, the produce quality leaves a lot to be desired and quality and longevity, and the prepared foods section is awful. Central Market takes a massive dump on whole paycheck in my opinion.

[Pruzhany]

You're paying for it to be chemical free, pesticide free, wax free and not be irradiated. So of course the produce will not look beautiful. But it will be healthier. But you can really trust the FDA on acceptable levels of poisons in our foods if you want.

[starsnangels]

which whole foods did you visit? my husband works @ the Wilcrest location and their produce is ALWAYS up tp date and fresh. yes I agree the prices are high but you're getting what you paid for...healthier,chemical free,all natural food.

[hsw]

Can easily mock any WholeFoods or Starbucks which are by no means panaceas...and sell lots of junk amidst a few useful things

But before these mass marketers arrived, groceries and coffee in all of US (incl allegedly sophisticated Manhattan) were simply awful from any taste or health standpoint

And one's daily choice of food intake (both total cals and how chemical-free) probably explains one's risks of obesity and eventual risks of heart dz and cancer better than anything else....rather cheap preventive healthcare by spending on a healthy daily diet

Kinda like how one's choice of commuting car is critical vs one's riskiest daily activity....driving...even if a billionaire, can't ever buy back one's health post-brain/spinal/major orthopedic injuries in a car crash....thus a new Mercedes sedan (not SUV or convert) is incredibly cheap vs many allegedly "cheaper" cars or commute modalities

[RCH99]

^ this all makes perfect sense, but you still make me lol.

[Topaz]

Originally Posted by extremeturro

Everything is over priced, the produce quality leaves a lot to be desired and quality and longevity, and the prepared foods section is awful. Central Market takes a massive dump on whole paycheck in my opinion.

Classy.

[CRBoyd91]

The thing that errks me is that the H-E-B plus and Central Market carries a lot of the same stuff as Whole 'Paycheck' Foods and it is all about half to 2/3 the price of the same brand and everything as what you will find at WF. HEB Plus sure is chaotic though.

[fnh]

I've been a loyal WFM shopper since I used to frequent the tiny original market in Austin 25 years ago. It is a very different shop than it was then and many decry it as having sold out, but WFM did bring quality food awareness and animal welfare standards to the entire industry, raising quality and standards for everyone, not just WFM shoppers. The store consistently ranks very highly for treating its employees and communities well, and frankly that costs more money. The company executives do not take home millions of dollars (the store has a policy of capped executive compensation) so most of the profits go back into product, employee benefits and community giving. I'm happy to pay a little bit extra to both improve the well-being of my family (even the store layout encourages healthier choices) as well as support an enterprise which in my view is healthier for the country and its economy as a whole.

[fnh]

I also think the produce quality is the best I've seen in Houston for a store, and the prepared foods are excellent. I'm not sure what the OP is comparing it to, but I suppose if you are accustomed to the high salt/high fat/highly processed generic selections of a typical chain grocery you will find the WFM options to be less appealing and too exotic.

[hhheights77007]

In addition to what others mentioned, WF shoppers also paying to shop with a higher class of people, unlike the OP.