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comment by kleinbl00
kleinbl00  ·  3930 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Whole Foods: America’s Temple of Pseudoscience.

There is nothing the author attacks in this article that is not available at my local Kroger.

- Ezekiel 4:9 bread? check.

- probiotics? check.

- homeopathic remedies? check.

- what doctors don't tell you? check.

    Synagogue kitchens are the only other places in which I’ve seen signs implying that level of food-separation purity.

"Processed at a facility that also processes nuts."

There's plenty of things to criticize Whole Foods for, but carrying the same shit as Safeway is a piss-poor place to start.





user-inactivated  ·  3930 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    "Processed at a facility that also processes nuts."

Cross-contamination is actually a legitimate thing for people allergic to nuts to worry about, though the warnings are so ubiquitous that they're probably not good for anything but a laugh when they show up on containers of nuts.

kleinbl00  ·  3929 days ago  ·  link  ·  

That does not make the statement correct or true.

As far as "legitimate" it's "legitimate" for someone wanting the extra processing of kosher-certified food to benefit from kosher processing. It's "legitimate" for someone wanting their meat to be halal to buy halal meat. And if someone wants the extra stringency of organic certification and is willing to pay for it, there is a reasonable expectation for such a label.

For the record - I rarely shop at Whole Foods. I buy organic when it's one of a dozen or so different things. But fuck-a-doodle-do - you can buy oscocillococcinum fuckin' everywhere. Singling out Whole Foods simply for also having Tibetan salt crystals is clickbait bullshit.

b_b  ·  3928 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    That does not make the statement correct or true.

That's exactly correct. Many people have many reasons to believe what they believe and feel how they feel. Strict idealism seems to give a lot of people a sense of purpose and belonging, and I fail to see anything wrong with that.

I have no idea what is written in a book like What Doctors Don't Tell You, but even if it's full of bullshit, that doesn't mean your local GP is always correct. People eat that shit up, because doctors are wrong so often. The bad news for people is that doctors aren't typically wrong out of malevolence and greed; they're typically wrong because biology is complex and know how patient A is going to react to this or that medicine compared to patient B is impossible. Weird shit happens in medicine, and doctors can only prescribe you what has been "proven" to work (often by arbitrary standards). Whole Foods can't really be blamed for capitalizing on people's fears about health, as that's the American Way.

Personally, I like Whole Foods. A lot. And I shop there probably 3-4 times per week. They have really good quality food for the most part, and I don't mind paying for it. It's the only place in Detroit I can go and get a half gallon of locally produced, small production milk (sure it's double the price of a gallon of shit at Kroger, but let's be honest--that translates to what, an extra $6/month, considering one bottle per week). If I lived in an area with many quality food options, I might shop elsewhere, but where I live, WF feels like a godsend. The liquor store on the corner doesn't, for example, sell imported gouda. Who knew?

I'm not going to argue that WF is the answer to the world's problems, but if more people shopped at WF-like stores, I think we'd have fewer health problems, and I can get behind that any day, no matter what BS they're also peddling.

JakobVirgil  ·  3929 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I think that is what is wrong with Whole Foods nothing different for a 50% moron surcharge.

pseydtonne  ·  3928 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Then again, it's the easiest place to get Lake Champlain chocolate in Los Angeles. My in-laws used to live five blocks from the factory in Burlington and I miss getting the only discount they had -- factory seconds.

For all their health concerns, they don't keep the milk cold at the coffee stand. Would you like some agita with your evening decaf?

JakobVirgil  ·  3928 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I sometimes get cheese there because they have a upscale selection.

I think that is really what it is a low rent Dean and Deluca with a Health theme.