Why am I blogging about this? Well, I have been trying a wide variety of products from Whole Foods lately and thought that I would post my recommendations on things. I've been wanting to try a whole range of new, better-for-us products at Whole Foods but always thought it was too expensive for the average shopper. And yes, there are still those things that are expensive. But there are reasonable purchases to be made that might be a whole lot better than what you would buy at the regular large grocery chain in your neighborhood. Plus, Whole Foods has high standards for its products and so you can feel more assured that what you buy, organic or not, is still a better product than most. And, they do label products that are non-GMO as well as tell you the eco-scale of cleaning products so you know which one is better for the environment.
Let's get some conflict of interest things and disclosures out of the way first. I am not being paid for these blog entries. I just enjoy finding out about things and sharing them with others. Additionally, my husband works at Whole Foods so I am able to try a lot more products than I normally would if he were not working there. Although we have some perks, we do pay for our groceries so I am actually a consumer in addition to being the spouse of an employee; I do take our money seriously and have been known to calculate down to the very cents about which bundle of toilet paper is actually cheaper rather than grabbing the one that's on sale. (My husband can't stand this sometimes because I can spend minutes upon minutes in the toilet paper aisle.)
Finally, I used to have the impression that you had to be rich to shop at Whole Foods, but I have come to discover that it's a misconception. You can still buy your cage-free eggs, organic kale, hothouse tomatoes, milk, yogurt, bread, coffee, snacks, cleaning products, and whole trade/fair trade bananas at Whole Foods at prices comparable to say, Pathmark (a market chain in the NY/NJ area). It all depends on how you consider spending your money. And I have to say that I prefer buying fair trade and whole trade products for a little bit more than buying products made with no consideration for the source of the raw materials. I think it's a good thing all around. But trust me, I do understand that sometimes your money can stretch more elsewhere. I've been faced with that dilemma many times. But if you are wanting to buy something at Whole Foods and wonder what to try because you don't want to spend a chunk of money and not like what you bought, here's one woman's point of view that you can take into consideration that might help you make a decision.
So I hope you enjoy this blog. Feel free to leave me comments (good ones of course, and constructive criticisms too) and questions you might have. Thanks for visiting!!
