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A high tech solution for monitoring blood sugar sounds good especially for type 1 diabetics -- but for most people with type 2 it would be better to just reverse the disease entirely.

Example books on how to do this:
https://www.drfuhrman.com/shop...
http://media.wholefoodsmarket....

As Dr. Joel Fuhrman says, most prescriptions for drugs for chronic diseases are just permission slips keep doing unhealthy behavior.

tl;dr -- Eat (whole) food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

And even Type 1 diabetes can be greatly improved by diet so it is more easily manageable with less complications.

Easier said then done of course. A good social support network and supportive family makes a big difference. Good luck!

I agree that you can get similar or better quality at other places on some items. You can go to a good local butcher to get good meats and cheeses. You can go to a local farm stand and get better veggies, etc. I think the advantage of Whole Foods is that you can get all that in one place. I'm not a frequent Whole Foods shopper but when I go I do notice much higher quality (albeit at a much higher price) than my local chain stores (stop and shop, market basket, shaws), especially for meats.

I can go to a nearby farmer's market and get a good approximation of what I can get at Whole Foods in one place. Excellent produce and meats and there is a top shelf meat market and fish monger and deli literally right next door for anything not carried by the local purveyors in the market. I also have three road side veggie stands, one upscale grocery store (plus three normal ones), and an awesome butcher on my drive home from work. Maybe not all under one roof but hardly inconvenient. In the summer I can pick up corn from a stand that was on a plant less than 6 hours prior. Whole Foods couldn't match that if they tried.

A question for Midwest slashdotters: how common are they in the Midwest, compared to other grocery stores?

There are several Whole Foods in most major metro areas - they have over 400 stores nationwide. I have 5 within a 30 mile radius of where I live. Unsurprisingly they tend to be in relatively affluent areas. You could answer your question on their website. It's not hard to find them. However in my town (Metro Detroit/Ann Arbor) there are several other upscale grocery store options within driving distance. One of them is a blatant local knock off of Whole Foods and another is actually better in my opinion. We also have a wide variety of specialty markets, many of which put Whole Foods to shame.

If Amazon really wants to drop prices to attract a lower income crowd, then I'd think they'd want to start building them in areas that are accessible to that crowd (not that the Midwest is all low income, just that it's easier to access high income folks in coastal urban areas).

I think you need to actually spend time in the Midwest because you clearly have some misconceptions about the region. You seem to think that folks in the Midwest are poorer which simply isn't true as a general proposition - they're just less densely packed outside of the major metro areas but that's not really any different anywhere. It's just as easy to find high income people in the midwest as it is on the coasts - possibly even easier if anything. You simply go to the towns where they live. Look at a map of where Whole Foods stores are located and you'll have a pretty good idea where the money is in a given metro area. I live in a location that someone from Boston would probably classify as semi-rural (lots of hobby farms) and I can be in a Nordstroms in an upscale mall within 30 minutes of leaving my house. Furthermore cost of living in most of the Midwest is FAR lower than places like Boston so "low income" doesn't mean quite the same thing here and your money tends to go a fair bit farther.

I went to school on the east coast so I've seen a lot of folks from NYC and Boston and Philly who really don't have a clue what life is like in the midwest. They often think it is all farm country full of uneducated hicks and that there is nothing interesting happening. It's not true at all of course but since they've never spent any time here they have no idea. Major cities are pretty much the same no matter where you go. There is nothing in Boston has that you won't find a rough approximation to in Metro Detroit or Cleveland or Chicago. People who live elsewhere think Detroit is some sort of desolate wasteland. While it's certainly got some issues if you were to come to downtown Detroit today you'd find it's a VERY nice place to be (yes there is a Whole Fo

We have plenty of rural farming. If we wanted to make farming more productive overall, we could do so there without the capital investment required to do urban farming. The main thing that urban farming does is give hipsters in Park Slope better and fresher luxury vegetables. I'm sure these are in fact tasty, but it's hardly a needy group that needs subsidizing...

There is no confusion regarding homeopathic treatment on my part, you are stuck on the historical description of homeopathy instead of looking at the current definition and use of the term. Current actually goes back to when I was a kid, which could easily be before you were born.

http://homeopathyusa.org/homeo...
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/AR...
http://abchomeopathy.com/r.php...
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.co...
And I even have a link to Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...

I won't argue the next points because instead of addressing my points you make a false dichotomy and a fairy tale about people not caring what milk they buy, which is absolutely detached from reality.

In fact, let me change that and address the portion about milk. People read the labels on milk all the time, and in fact if people started selling "Milk" without specifying whether it was from a Cow, Pig, Goat, or Cat people would have an absolute fit. If the grocery store is out of someone's brand of milk, you will see them read label after label until they are comfortable with what they are purchasing. Milk _is_ labelled for all kinds of information, as is just about everything else I can find in a store.

In fact we have seen companies intentionally over label in order to trick people into purchasing their products. People wanting to avoid HFCS have had to learn all of the various names used for HFCS just to avoid unwanted sugar in their diet. There are numerous ways for salt to be labelled, and MSGs are another tricky one. Yet with GMO, people are not given the information. Since Monsanto can spend a few billion dollars over a few years lobbying, this can't be an issue of just money. That should make you suspicious at a minimum.

I'm extremely skeptical that we are worse off, but I'm willing to hear more

Well you seem to be a skeptic about a lot of things that concern most people, but I'll bite. Are the super pests only after the GMO foods or do they attack the non-GMO foods as well? GMO foods produce more so are not impacted as much as their natural counterparts who can't survive super pests. Super pests are a byproduct of the GMO foods, not a natural occurrence. Similarly super viruses are a byproduct of overuse of antibiotics. Science backs both of those stances.

The sooner cold and flu symptoms are treated with homeopathic remedies, the better chance there is for a quick recovery and minimum disruption of lifestyle.

You're right. It's time for the FDA to grow a pair and end this quackery.

The GF section of your average Whole Foods hasn't grown that much since the products became a mainstream fad, you probably just weren't paying attention to it until recently. They've always had a large section for them, and they pushed into that market hard with their own "GlutenFree Bakehouse®" products ten years ago. That was based on the observation that almost 1% of people in the US has celiac disease, and those people heavily sway food purchases for their entire house/family.

If they sell homeopathic items

I thought, surely they don't actually sell homeopathic crap. People are just exaggerating. Then I found this link:

Homeopathy for Cold and Flu Season

Wow.. that is disappointing.

It's the entire existance of the Creation Museum. To be fair I would like to see them get rid of that one aisle.

Whole Foods is doing a lot of really good initiatives, see:
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.co...

And they don't just say blindly yes God said so to questions like "Is Organic better for you?:
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.co...

And probiotics after taking antibiotics makes logical sense.... I remember a study that showed that our natural bacteria wasn't at the same level 1 year after taking antibiotics (please don't use this as an excuse to not take antibiotics). If we have the right probiotics available to us is a different story. My wife just got antibiotics and the hospital recommened probiotics...

*Disclaimer: I own a small bit of Whole Foods stock. I'm sure this post will greatly increase it's value....

It's the entire existance of the Creation Museum. To be fair I would like to see them get rid of that one aisle.

Whole Foods is doing a lot of really good initiatives, see:
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.co...

And they don't just say blindly yes God said so to questions like "Is Organic better for you?:
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.co...

And probiotics after taking antibiotics makes logical sense.... I remember a study that showed that our natural bacteria wasn't at the same level 1 year after taking antibiotics (please don't use this as an excuse to not take antibiotics). If we have the right probiotics available to us is a different story. My wife just got antibiotics and the hospital recommened probiotics...

*Disclaimer: I own a small bit of Whole Foods stock. I'm sure this post will greatly increase it's value....

Dark chocolate is kind of healthy, and can be organic as well as fairly traded.

I'd suggust the following replacement:

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/products/whole-foods-market-organic-dark-chocolate-bar-tanzania-schoolhouse-project

I mean its for kids! In Africa! How better to not be evil, than by activily doing not evil?

Exactly. Our proto-fascist government responds only to what is most profitable for the megacorporations, but this is one area where I think the citizens have to take a little responsibility. Most supermarkets have some kind of grass fed "organic" beef available for a higher price. If no one bought the cheap stuff, not only would cows live a much more pleasant life before being executed, but people might find that their steaks and hamburgers taste noticeably better. Anyone who has had steak in Argentina or Uruguay (and maybe Brazil?) can attest to the fact that it tastes much, much better over there. I asked a local why he thought this was so. He suggested it may have something to do with feeding them grass and allowing them to graze as they would in the wild. I think it probably also has something to do with having a slightly different sub-species of cow. Nevertheless I definitely notice a taste difference between the "naturally raised" meat and the factory processed stuff. Enough of a difference that that is all I have bought for years now. I'm not rich so I just buy a bit less to make up for the higher cost.

Makes sense, Sagan was all about the "organics," man.

He shopped at Whole Foods?

You do realize that this has been going on for over a century, right? Farmers using hybrid seed, so they just buy new seed year after year.

Some do but many more save seeds.

people who were concerned about gene spread got what they demanded

No we didn't. We got more genetic engineering not less.

I think heirloom growers should embrace GMOs.

Not at all, and you admit it yourself. The reason we don't see tomato varieties like Cherokee Purple or German Striped in supermarkets is because they don't all look or taste the same. Large scale growers want their products to have a uniform look and taste. If you want other varieties then coops, farmers markets, and roadside stands have them. Heck, look for orange or yellow tomatoes in chain grocery stores and more than likely you won't find them unless you go to Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. Looking in gardens though will increase your odds.

Finally, there is no need for GE crops. All they do is enrich the pockets of big agribusinesses.

Falcon

High priced organics at whole foods aren't locally produced. According to Whole Foods themselves, sourcing organics has "gone global."*

*"gone global" == "gone Chinese" Source: Whole Foods Blog

I concede the point that even if this wasn't the case the majority, including myself, still would buy cheap chinese products but it is a moot point because there really is not another option anymore.

Yep, with a 100% efficient solar panel over the roughly 3m^2 of surface, you might actually gather the full 1334 watts of available power per meter squared on a bright, cloud-free day, giving a full 4002 watts, almost 6HP! That's almost 20% of enough to run a small motorcycle, but you gathered it using a solar car!

OK smart guy explain this. I'm pretty sure the beancounters at Whole Foods are smart enough to do the math on whether rooftop solar is a good deal. You're making a mistake in presuming that rooftop/cartop solar has to be the primary power source to be useful or a good idea.

Why draw 100% of your power from the grid or gasoline when you don't have to? If the solar cells even partially recharge an electric powered or plug-in hybrid car it could be conceivably worth it. Say for example while it is sitting in a parking lot.

Personally I wonder why every cell phone and laptop does not have supplemental solar cells attached. Won't power them but it would extend battery life and prevent drainage when not in use.

Good call - Anyone know if this is already being done?

Yes it is already being done as a supplemental power technique. Whole Foods is testing such systems at several of their stores. They basically purchase power at a pre-established rate for a period of years (20 or so I think) from the company which builds and maintains the solar cells. Since the number of days of sunlight in a given year is predictable AND the sunlight tends to be most intense when air conditioning needs are the highest, it apparently greatly offsets their power needs at peak times. Doesn't get them off the grid but it apparently does reduce their draw from the grid significantly.

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Am I the only fool who shops at Whole Foods to save money? Sure, I don't buy expensive fresh produce there (which is generally higher-quality compared to your average supermarket), but their bulk food section (selection varies by location) and store brand products offer a lot of low-cost healthy food.

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Bulk rolled oats are 69 cents per pound and cheaper than any packaged oats I've seen. 365 Organic whole wheat pasta is the cheapest I've tried that doesn't have the texture of cardboard. 18oz jars of 365 natural peanut butter for less than $2, 365 whole wheat flour, bulk beans, bulk cocoa powder, etc.

Honor, ethics, and good reputation are quaintly outmoded concepts, and those who cling to such silly traditions are in a race to be the last sucker.

While a lot of businesses may not operate this way some do, and they are doing well. One of the fastest growing grocery store chains is Whole Foods Market which does. Their mission statement, Declaration of Interdependence goes over what they work on.

I know this is only one example but there are others.

Corporations are efficient at finding the maximum price that the market will bear, and minimizing their own costs, so as to maximize profit.

Oh, in my previous reply I missed replying to this. Not all corporations are concerned only with maximizing corporate profits. Corporations like Whole Foods Markets work to improve local economies and sustainability. The first corporations were granted a corporate charter for the purpose of improving society. The first corporation to be issued a corporate charter and issued shares was the Dutch East India Company, not to be confused with the Honourable East India Company which was the second corporation to be issued a charter, by England's Elizabeth I. Because shipping was so risky, from both pirates and the weather, not many people wanted to invest in a ship. If a ship sunk and lost all it's cargo or the sailors were drowned the ship owners were financially liable. So the Dutch government started granting corporate charters that limited the liability of investors, all the investors could loose is the amount they invested in the corporation.

The problem with corporations today is that they were able to get the government to get rid of laws that required corporations to improve society. Thomas Jefferson warned of the Corporate Aristocracy: "I hope we shall take warning from the example and crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and to bid defiance to the laws of their country." What needs to be brought back is the original purpose of corporate charters, to serve and improve society.

[wildsurf wrote]Does any system like this currently exist?

Whole Foods is doing something similar; refer to http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/issues/greenaction/solarpower.html for the corporate view.

PBS's science program Nova did an episode about solar energy (title: "Saved by the Sun"; broadcast date:April 24, 2007) , and talked about the Whole Foods concept (transcript at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/3406_solar.html); a brief excerpt of the transcript here to whet your appetite:

But one trend is showing real promise here, and it's not being led by government but by business.

This Whole Foods market is in Ridgewood, New Jersey. At first glance it's pretty much like any other Whole Foods: neat and bright, with lots of great looking food at premium prices.

CASHIER (Whole Foods): Hi, would you like paper or plastic?

NARRATOR: But there is one thing different about this particular store. The roof is covered with solar panels. They look expensive, but Whole Foods didn't pay a cent for them. They're owned by a solar energy power company called SunEdison. Its founder and CEO is Jigar Shah.

JIGAR SHAH (SunEdison): We help companies like Whole Foods move to solar power. SunEdison and its investors pay all of the upfront costs for these solar systems, and Whole Foods promises to buy the power over a long-term contract.

NARRATOR: Jennifer McDonnell is a Green Mission specialist for Whole Foods.

JENNIFER McDONNELL (Whole Foods, Green Mission Specialist): And we use a lot of energies. And solar power powers everything in this store, from lighting to the steamers, slicers, the coolers, freezers, anything that requires electricity, even the registers.

So it's important for us to look at ways to make that energy clean and be aware of the amount of energy that we use.

NARRATOR: Solar panels on this store complement, do not replace energy from the grid.

JIGAR SHAH: The solar power only produces 15 percent of the store's use all year around. But it produces between 50 and 100 percent of its energy needs during the daytime. And that's the time when the power from the utility company is the most expensive.

NARRATOR: This is especially true in the summer.

LARRY KAZMERSKI: During the summer months, when you have all this air conditioning demand during the dayyou know, it's 95 degrees with 98 percent humidity outsideyou're not paying seven cents a kilowatt-hour. You're paying up to 30 cents a kilowatt-hour during the summer.

JIGAR SHAH: Whole Foods' air conditioning bills are the highest when the sun is beating down on their roof. That's when these solar panels are producing the most power.

NARRATOR: So at these peak hours, solar power is cheaper than grid power. And there's more potential energy savings for the store.

Electricity rates fluctuate with the price of fossil fuels. And since most experts expect fuel prices to rise, the SunEdison deal has an added benefit for Whole Foods.

JIGAR SHAH: We are guaranteeing Whole Foods a fixed price, for 20 years, from these solar panels. That's something that their traditional utility company can't promise them.

NARRATOR: How much Whole Foods saves over the next 20 years will depend on the cost of their conventional energy, but SunEdison knows precisely how much it will make from the Whole Foods deal.

JIGAR SHAH: I know exactly how much sun is going to hit these panels every year. I know exactly how long these panels are going to last, which is about 40 years. And because of that, just based on interest rates and based on my cost of installation, I can figure out exactly whether these systems will be profitable or unprofitable from day one.

VIJAY VAITHEESWARAN: If you look at companies, like SunEdison, who are helping retailers p

I'd never heard of HEB and Googled them a few minutes ago. Apparently, they're based in Texas. Whole Foods has some Texas locations.

I'd never heard of HEB and Googled them a few minutes ago. Apparently, they're based in Texas. Whole Foods has some Texas locations.

I'd never heard of HEB and Googled them a few minutes ago. Apparently, they're based in Texas. Whole Foods has some Texas locations.

Or go here: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/ (assuming there's one near you), and get soda from there. They have HFCS free soda, using real sugar instead. It tastes a whole hell of a lot better too.

Wow, does he really have nothing better to do with his time?

You should check out his blog. He surely can't have time to do anything else.

I absolutely stay away from the Big Corporate chocolate: Hershey's, Cadbery's, etc. It's all shit. High Fructose Corn Syrup and other crap in there. Ever had fine, European chocolate? The taste and texture is so much better.

There is a healthy and damn tasteful alternative to "corporate chocolate": Scharffen Berger Bittersweet Fine Artisan Dark Chocolate. I buy the 70% and 100% Cacao bars. You can really taste the cacao beans in the 70% but it's not completely bitter. The 100% takes a bit getting used to but once you've enjoyed these high quality chocolates, the "corporate chocolate" tastes like the shit that it is. I buy these bars at Whole Foods Market.

Except that when you make money the motivating factor for why you do things, the things that SHOULD motivate you as a human being in a human culture - cease to function. The RIAA's recent behavior (suing a 10 year old girl.. come on) eloquently demonstrates this assertion.

Though this is true with some businesses it's not true with all. Take Whole Foods Market, thier corporate philosophy is such that they support their employees and the communities they operate in. That was the idea when the business started, they kept it when they had their IPO, and they still have it. And it is one of the fastest growing grocery store chains in the USA.

Except that when you make money the motivating factor for why you do things, the things that SHOULD motivate you as a human being in a human culture - cease to function. The RIAA's recent behavior (suing a 10 year old girl.. come on) eloquently demonstrates this assertion.

Though this is true with some businesses it's not true with all. Take Whole Foods Market, thier corporate philosophy is such that they support their employees and the communities they operate in. That was the idea when the business started, they kept it when they had their IPO, and they still have it. And it is one of the fastest growing grocery store chains in the USA.

Of course a company can take more "pro consumer" policies, and donate to charity, but it has to justify those policies as working towards generating profits. If it can be reasonably shown that the officers aren't acting in the best financial interests of all the shareholders, any of them can sue, regardless of the desires of the majority.

While I agree a company can make and use more "pro consumer" policies, they don't have to justify them as a method to generate profits. Whole Foods Markets is one company that was started on the primary goal of helping the community and stakeholders. Here's a page on thier core values.

From the original story post:

the products will likely not be branded as such and there is no way to know if we're currently consuming products from cloned animals

While this is unfortunately true, there are products branded in such a way that you know you are not consuming products from cloned animals. Whole Foods sells meats that will most certainly not be from cloned animals (FDA hasn't approved it yet, so the linked text doesn't refer to it). USDA Organic standards will also certainly be amended (or are currently written) to preclude any meat originating from cloned animals.

So, in short, if, as a consumer, you're interested or concerned about meat from cloned animals, or want to make a statement for ethical, moral, scientific, technical, or whatever concerns - you can write a letter AND speak with your wallet.

If meat or derivative products from cloned animals isn't a concern to you, its a free country!

Thank god that hippies have not made any inroads. Here they were busy pushing such weird ideas as Organic Food, Alternative energy, cleaner environment (they blew up so much crap). And best of all, the military never listens to such weird ideas.

Nice try, that wont work either, most food cannot be grown or survive without the very extensive use of, you guessed it, petroleum based pesticides.

Really? Not where I shop. This is a large part of why the organic food movement talks about sustainable practices as part of its rhetoric. Sure, I pay about 20-30% more for my food, but it's still much cheaper than eating out, and I get the peace of mind of reducing my pesticide exposure other unnatural things in my food like trans fats and high fructose corn syrup.

...and ahead of Nike, Toyota, and Victoria's Secret?

Apparently they generate $800/ft^2/yr --> 32+ million/yr which means that they expect people within a 20min drive radius to spend $160/person/yr.

I wonder how much these other companies(that I might not have any interest in) project that I will spend on them per year...

That doesn't mean that there is no corporate connection to Starbucks, (I don't know one way or another) but at least the Starbucks coffeehouses aren't the only retail establishments to by the tea from.