Problems with Whole Foods Markets?

JonSR77

JonSR77

Senior Member
I have been encountering endless problems with Whole Food Markets. Horrible food, spoiled food. Terrible stuff.

Now, I love natural food. I worked in two natural bakeries, one natural foods restaurant and 5 health food stores.

But this is different. Just greedy evil businessmen, refusing to throw away spoiled food and selling it.

At least that is the best of my recollection.
 

Wow, that doesn't sound good. I don't normally shop at WF, but occasionally I'll go there to purchase some hormone creams or vitamins.

When I used to walk my dog, that I no longer have, we would walk behind WF where their dumpsters and back entrance was, and I would see all the food and vegs that they had disposed of. Some of it still looked good.
 

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Pinky said:
That is shocking! Their prices are much higher too.
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yes, that is the thing. You go there. It is supposed to be a specialty place and the food quality is worse than a regular supermarket.

Maybe it is just the store I go to..or just the stores in Northern Jersey, I don't know..
 
dobielvr said:
Wow, that doesn't sound good. I don't normally shop at WF, but occasionally I'll go there to purchase some hormone creams or vitamins.

When I used to walk my dog, that I no longer have, we would walk behind WF where their dumpsters and back entrance was, and I would see all the food and vegs that they had disposed of. Some of it still looked good.
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Well pre-packaged stuff produced by other companies, that does not need refrigeration...that should be fine.

I suspect that they hire a lot of kids. Cheap labor. And the kids aren't responsible around food safety issues.

as far as fresh vegetables in the dumpsters...

I have been a volunteer with the Community Foodbank of NJ for over 20 years. It is a large regional warehouse that serves food pantries and soup kitchens. The warehouse is about the size of 2 football fields.

They had a special program to go around and grab all those kinds of veggies from supermarkets and restaurants. They were not able to sustain the program, because the travel costs of transporting it with refrigerated trucks was too much for them. So, they rely on companies like that delivering them the food.

There are laws that allow foodbanks to utilize some dated items.

So, generally I am familiar with that issue, to some degree. At least enough to know that the folks working on hunger issues are quite aware of it...and have been working to find solutions in that area.

I think their program was called "Second Harvest."

Here's the general link to the foodbank:

https://cfbnj.org/
 
I shop at Whole Foods pretty regularly when I need something quick to heat up for dinner and I personally haven't had any issues. I don't know if you have Sprouts in NJ, but they are my go-to for fresh meals. Also, I can never believe how much I can buy at Trader Joe's for so little $$$ and most of it is pretty tasty.
 
JonSR77 said:
Well pre-packaged stuff produced by other companies, that does not need refrigeration...that should be fine.

I suspect that they hire a lot of kids. Cheap labor. And the kids aren't responsible around food safety issues.

as far as fresh vegetables in the dumpsters...

I have been a volunteer with the Community Foodbank of NJ for over 20 years. It is a large regional warehouse that serves food pantries and soup kitchens. The warehouse is about the size of 2 football fields.

They had a special program to go around and grab all those kinds of veggies from supermarkets and restaurants. They were not able to sustain the program, because the travel costs of transporting it with refrigerated trucks was too much for them. So, they rely on companies like that delivering them the food.

There are laws that allow foodbanks to utilize some dated items.

So, generally I am familiar with that issue, to some degree. At least enough to know that the folks working on hunger issues are quite aware of it...and have been working to find solutions in that area.

I think their program was called "Second Harvest."

Here's the general link to the foodbank:

https://cfbnj.org/
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Thank you for providing the link. I have contributed to North Texas Food Bank in the past. So many were devastated during the height of Covid. I'm sure cases are rising once again due to extremely higher prices.
 
dseag2 said:
I shop at Whole Foods pretty regularly when I need something quick to heat up for dinner and I personally haven't had any issues. I don't know if you have Sprouts in NJ, but they are my go-to for fresh meals. Also, I can never believe how much I can buy at Trader Joe's for so little $$$ and most of it is pretty tasty.
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I have never heard of Sprouts. As I mentioned, this could entirely be this one store. Or, it could be the Jersey stores? Maybe it is the distributor in the area and not the stores.

I don't know.

We do have a Trader Joes not far away. Has some things. I mainly go to Whole Foods for fresh fruit and veggies...

Thanks for taking the time to respond, appreciated...
 
dseag2 said:
Thank you for providing the link. I have contributed to North Texas Food Bank in the past. So many were devastated during the height of Covid. I'm sure cases are rising once again due to extremely higher prices.
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Oh, the Community Foodbank of NJ is a regional (Mid-Atlantic) headquarters for the national foodbank organization...Feeding America. I would take a quick guess that your foodbank is also a member. It is the big national group.

Sure, their need goes up and down with the economy. Absolutely.

Started by one lady, out of the back of her station wagon in 1981. Now the warehouse is the size of 2 football fields.

Every time I dropped by, I would bring chocolate for the staff. My goal was to find gourmet chocolate they never heard of...and each time find something new. Needless to say, they loved "The Candyman."

Doesn't surprise me at all that you helped out.

Take care...have a nice evening.

Laurie is heating up some leftover Pizza, I think we are going to watch some TV.
 
I don't know if it is always a racket but more the fact that these foods are pricier and the quantities are smaller. I shopped at Sprouts in CA when visiting and they had organic foods at Aldi's prices. Sprouts has over 120 stores in CA! But yeah, for the Whole Food places by me, I would have to shell out an extra $300 to $400 a month, if not more, to get my groceries.
 
Michael Z said:
I don't know if it is always a racket but more the fact that these foods are pricier and the quantities are smaller. I shopped at Sprouts in CA when visiting and they had organic foods at Aldi's prices. Sprouts has over 120 stores in CA! But yeah, for the Whole Food places by me, I would have to shell out an extra $300 to $400 a month, if not more, to get my groceries.
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I saw somewhere they're being sued (class action) for dropping the free delivery to $9.95 per delivery without reimbursing something to those of us who paid for a full Prime membership.
(Amazon Prime streaming movies and free WF delivery).
https://www.foodandwine.com/news/whole-foods-amazon-prime-free-delivery-lawsuit
 
Michael Z said:
I don't know if it is always a racket but more the fact that these foods are pricier and the quantities are smaller. I shopped at Sprouts in CA when visiting and they had organic foods at Aldi's prices. Sprouts has over 120 stores in CA! But yeah, for the Whole Food places by me, I would have to shell out an extra $300 to $400 a month, if not more, to get my groceries.
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Agreed and that is why we stopped. But Laurie has some health problems and I really have to get her some better quality fresh fruit and veggies. And the regular supermarkets around here are not at all good with those...
 
dseag2 said:
I shop at Whole Foods pretty regularly when I need something quick to heat up for dinner and I personally haven't had any issues. I don't know if you have Sprouts in NJ, but they are my go-to for fresh meals. Also, I can never believe how much I can buy at Trader Joe's for so little $$$ and most of it is pretty tasty.
Click to expand...
I don't know if I ever told you...but, you kind of turned me on to TJs Kung Pao chicken in the frozen foods section.
I remember reading that you had bought some, with good reviews...so I bought some. Love the stuff.

Have some currently in my freezer. I make it w/some white rice.
 
When the WFoods store opened here I tried it out; they had a few items better than elsewhere , but the inflated prices drove me away. I shop a variety of places: Sprouts, Trader Joe’s , a Kroger store, different things in different places, and just won’t pay extra for “organic”. And especially when Amazon took over Whole Foods, I really don’t want to enrich AZ any further.
 
Really! I don't go to Whole Foods often because as @Pinky pointed out, their prices are high. I've gone to the one in Ridgewood, N.J. and didn't see any items that didn't look fresh. I found out that their organic apples didn't taste any better than other places plus they didn't have the pumpkin ravioli I was looking for, so I didn't see a reason to go back. Do you plan to report the store to the health department Jon?
@Geezerette According to the Dirty Dozen, Clean 15 list, there is produce that buying organic isn't necessary. Organic is recommended for fruits with soft skins and some vegetables. I don't buy a lot of fresh produce and the ones I do happen to be on the Clean 15 list.
https://blog.givingassistant.org/shopping/food/dirty-dozen-clean-15-list/
I would like some fresh cherry tomatoes and will see if my son can get them from Trader Joe's.
 

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