Food is the best at Whole Foods, right...?

When I talk to folks that care about the quality of their food, they more often than not report that they shop at Whole Foods. Gasp!

Commonly known as “Whole Paycheck”, these people think they’ve reached the highest echelon of food consumption by choosing this specific supermarket.

But, even though it does focus on providing more natural food choices, Whole Foods is still a supermarket. It is still part of our conventional food system. 

Don’t get me wrong. I shop at Whole Foods for specific things. I’m happy it exists… for now. However, our food system needs to be better than this. 

So, this is for our community of conscious shoppers. Let’s explore Whole Foods a bit.

You deserve transparency and honesty with your food.

We know how important food is to your health and the health of our planet. We want you to make educated food choices, and that means knowing everything about how your food was produced. 

Supermarkets like Whole Foods use confusing product labels. I’ll name a few - certified organic, grass-fed, % fat content in meat, GMO-free, gluten-free, pasture raised. None of these labels mean much anymore. Just because a food has this label, doesn’t mean it’s automatically healthy, chemical-free, or anywhere close to what you think it means.

And, if you try to reach out to Whole Foods or the companies that supply Whole Foods, good luck! Much of the information is “proprietary”.

We don’t use confusing product labels to make you think the food is healthier than it appears. You deserve honesty, not shady marketing and advertising efforts. And, if you ever need more info, we will go above and beyond to find you an accurate answer.

We need to minimize food waste.

If you’ve ever peeked inside a supermarket’s dumpster, you know that an exorbitant amount of food is simply thrown away. I mean, would you buy a bruised banana or expired bread? 

The USDA estimates that total food waste in the US is around 30-40%, and 31% of food at supermarkets is wasted. That’s about 131 billion pounds of perfectly good food! Such a shame.

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, Whole Foods got a B for their path to zero food waste. They do track their volume of food waste but do not share that information publicly. They report being committed to reducing food waste, but the commitment is not company-wide or time-bound.

At Miller’s we have zero food waste. That’s right. If any food is produced but can’t be sold, it gets composted or fed to the pigs or given to staff or donated. Food never gets thrown away.

Small farmers need your support, not conventional agri-business.

Let’s get this straight. Whole Foods is a supermarket. A big one. Especially now that it’s owned by Amazon - the company that made $11.2 billion in profit in 2018 but did not pay any income tax. 

I mean, who do you want to support?

It’s the farmers that are out every day - tending the fields, milking the cows, and keeping the barn clean. It’s that sweat equity that deserves some financial thanks. 

With modern technology, it’s getting easier and easier to buy from small farmers, and I do hope that you make an effort to do so.

Thanks so much for your support and love of real farm food! Best wishes for you and your family in 2020 :)