Whole Foods is going to move into the GTA, because people living in condos want organic close by. Good for Whole Foods, only problem is that organic products are not within the 100 mile limit that eco-nuts have imposed on lefties.
Whole Foods to double its GTA footprint
“We looked at the longer traffic patterns of our customers, and that is when you start forming ideas of where to put a store,” she said.
“There is a growing awareness of where food comes from, and a growing need or desire for organic products. People know we are not an average grocery store.”
...
“There has been a migration to the 416,” said Ms. Evans. “With more people moving into condos and downtown living, these people want to have easy access to grocery stores and not have to schlep their groceries too far.”
But she says Whole Foods’ decision to turn to the suburbs is comparable to a more standard grocery chain’s decision to move downtown. In both cases, they are targeting areas underserved for their product.
“They had entered the urban market, that was their first store. They are looking at pastures that hopefully will be greener for them. The suburban customer really doesn’t have access to Whole Foods,” she said.
Growing awareness of where food comes from??? Are they kidding me? Hello urbanites, do you understand that food needs CO2, you know that POLLUTANT! Yikes, you better stop eating.
Here is a quick lesson. Our farmers plant seeds that sprout into plants that take in CO2 and give off oxygen. They grow better with more CO2, fertilizer and water. Then, to get rid of those yucky bugs, the farmers sometimes spray chemicals that kill the bugs but not the plants (or people), the plants can then continue to grow and end up on your plate. Now, for a veggie to be truly organic, no chemicals can be used, so watch out for the caterpillars in your cabbage and aphids on your herbs (they especially love dill, so watch out for those dill pickles you buy). Seeing as you are "growing aware of where your food comes from", don't be squeamish if your organic veggies contain the occasional slug, they really like lettuce.
Most concerning are the frozen dinners you buy because you have no time to actually cook anything from scratch. Read the labels. My rule is, if I can't pronounce it, it can't be good for you. Try it for one week, then you will see how stupid you are to pay extra for "organic" food, when you are stuffing your face with chemicals in all the frozen meals and canned goods you buy.
So, forget about the 100 mile limit. It's another scam just like global warming!
'Buy local' campaign is no help to environment
More heresy on the environmental correctness front.
The Montreal Economic Institute published a report today arguing that buying locally-produced food "is a poor indicator of a product’s impact on the environment and is thus not a valid way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions."
The authors, Pierre Desrochers and Hiroko Shimizu, write that there are "perfectly legitimate reasons" to buy products raised close to home, but, says Desrochers, “the supposed environmental benefits of buying locally just aren’t there.”
If you knew what a "free range" chicken ate, you wouldn't eat it. Better yet, really get with nature and go out to a farm and help kill a chicken for your meal, oh and you need to pluck it, and clean it too. Good luck with that! HA! While you are on the farm, why don't you muck out the barn (compost material), and feed the livestock.
Oh heck, that probably sounds like too much work, and it's disgusting too. But you idiots will pay twice as much for something that is labeled "organic" and Whole Foods knows that, they are playing you for suckers with their we won't use "dirty oilsands" but our food is organic so you can feel better by paying 2 times more for the same carrots. Try planting your own garden then you can observe the 100 foot rule and you can feel really really special because you grew it yourself.
Next time you go into Whole Foods ask them whether the strawberries you are buying are within the 100 mile limit, ask them that same question for every single item you buy there.
It's time for Whole Foods to fess up, I bet they do not observe the 100 mile rule.
17 comments:
My guess is that people that eat organic foods don't eat TV dinners. People that live in trailer parks eat $1.49 Swanson...
"Whole Foods is going to move into the GTA, because people living in condos want organic close by."
Wrong.
Wholefoods is opening locations in the suburbs because they discovered a suburban market was driving into Yorkville on the weekend and spending a whack of money.
Other big chains, Sobeys, Loblaws etc. are showing up downtown. You didn't make the distinction.
Urban Torontonians and neighbouring Hamiltonians have long understood and appreciated where food comes from Huntsy - you should walk up Spadina sometime and buy some ramps or holy basil from the ladies who spread produce from their gardens over plastic drums at the corner of Dundas. Or head for the markets in parks like Dufferin Grove from Spring to Fall. We also have butcher shops quite apart from chain grocery stores.
Buying strawberries in winter is dumb BTW.
I'm still on the fence with the whole "Organic" thing. I've tried it and didn't knock my socks off. Often when I'm in the grocery store the organic produce looks more withered and hard done by than 'chemical' produce.
As for free-range chickens I disagree with your statement. Check out Food Inc. it's a brilliant documentary about the food we eat. It's biased like any doc, but the core arguments are irrefutable.
As for Whole Foods, I suspect, as you said, they are simply cashing in on peoples fears that were created by environuts
Just had my first batch of fresh strawberries (from California - flew up with Aaaarnold for the Games). So so Good!! And it is Winter!!
We out here on the "upper crust" condo-coast usually dine on M&Ms. Did you know that the M&M french fries are actually MacDs rejects? Not Swansons at all.
EsQue and Mysty-Sue sure miss out on a lot of good eats hahahaha
"My rule is, if I can't pronounce it, it can't be good for you."
If this is your rule, why doesn't it bother you that they are spraying a chemical cocktail on the food your kids eat? It is on the soil, which then leaches into the ground water. I live next to a cornfield where they plant actual FRANKENFOOD sprayed with FRANKEN chemicals brought to us by the nice people at Monsanto! Oh, did I mention I have to buy bottled water because I don't know what is in the tap water? Welcome to rural Canada and all the dirty little secrets...
You should stop ridiculing people who care enough to spend the extra money to not pollute a) themselves; b) their neighbour and c) the ecosystem.
The oil gets shipped over the ocean, in huge oil tankers that pollute the ocean and kill fish like seals and tuna and dolphins and whales. Nice.
I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure seals,dolphins and whales aren't fish. Just saying. You'd be a little more credible if you could get basic facts straight.
Enjoy your hormones and various other tasty additives from your factory chickens. I'm sure they're just what your kids need.
SQ typical lefty remark! You think people living in condos are superior to people living in trailer parks? How arrogant you lefties are.
Jesse, I love free range chickens and have helped clean them, it's the lefties who have no understanding of where their food comes from or what free range really means.
Carolyn, What, no defense against using blood oil so you pick on my calling seals a fish. Organic just costs more. Grow your own veggies.
Ah, Carolyn: another silly vacuous comment.
For those who want to eat pure food, you could try what I do: patronize a local farm which is certified as organic from the bottom up. No artificial fertilizers, no fake feed, no additives to the water, no antibiotics or hormones. The difference in taste between store bought fake meat and the real natural meat from 'my' farm is significant. It costs more but I don't eat much meat, anyway. I also buy vegetables from the same farm - all natural.
Carolyn: perhaps one day you will surprise us with a comment which contains intelligence and is devoid of silliness and pettiness. But, then again, perhaps not. Your comments are good for a laugh, though.
S (TD) Q: you have a problem with people in trailer parks? Snob, much?
I can't believe that I agree with something Stereo had to say: Whole Foods, like any other enterprise, can spin it all it wants but really, they would only open in an area where their is a good probability that a profit will be made. Any other spin they put on it is pure horsefeathers - organic horsefeathers, that is.
And it is an American company so I'm sure it sources Mexico, China, etc. for its goods.
Can't address the chemical issue, eh Hunter?
"...it's the lefties who have no understanding of where their food comes from or what free range really means."
You have no way of supporting that statement Huntsy.
People that live in trailer parks eat $1.49 Swanson...
Not a chance bud,we all eat whole steers & hogs over the pit,with Budweiser.A real treat is our annual venison,moose,ducks,pheasants,& various game birds in season before we hike off for our winter vacations in Mexico & Florida,trailer parks of course.Please note that all are bought or harvested within yer 100 mile feel good!In fact our dogs probably eat better than you do year round.What an arrogant,ignorant sharp end of a pin you are..
I've never been to Whole Paycheck Market. Is it like a health food store chain?
Often when I'm in the grocery store the organic produce looks more withered and hard done by than 'chemical' produce.
That is exactly what the chemo-produce would look like without the chems preserving them. Organics often taste better when they are fresh. And you can tell they are fresh when they don't look withered and hard done by.
Usually they come washed too, so any bugs on the surface are gone. There won't be many bugs because organic farming is designed to combine crops to help fight off disease and pests.
The biggest problem in organic farming is there are no enforced standards. Even when a farmer joins a certification programme, there is not enough inspection and auditing, so it becomes somewhat of an honour system.
Funny rant as usual though, Hunter.
Comment of the day has to go to The Red Fox!
Too funny, but unfortunately they will believe you.
West Coast Teddy:
I hope you really enjoyed those strawberries. Of all the fruits, strawberries have the MOST residual chemicals when they get to your table. Um, um, good, eh?
LS: I wish your comments were always so rational and devoid of insults. You are absolutely right - real produce and real food does not look perfect and its shelf life is limited because it is devoid of chemicals. I am more than willing to eat vegetables which are not bright and shiny so that I can enjoy the real taste and real benefits.
A couple of decades ago, I bought some natural, real wood smoked bacon from a butcher and when I cooked it, I thought it was 'off'. The next time I spoke with the butcher, I mentioned it and he informed me that I was tasting pork and not chemicals. From that time on, I bought mostly natural foods.
A couple of years ago, I was in a grocery store and was shocked to read a label on a pork roast which listed among its ingredients: 'pork flavour'. I asked the counter guy why a pork roast needed added artificial flavour. Given that he had no answer, I figured that it was from an unnaturally raised pig and therefore had no flavour of its own.
While some worry about what's going on in Afghanistan, I worry about the criminal assault on our bodies from food producers.
Oh, and you're correct about the lack of standards for organic food. It's just like 'fat free' which is allowed to contain up to a certain percentage of fat. I buy directly from a certified organic farmer and at least I'm assured of natural food.
Recently, the poultry marketing board (here in Ontario) tried to prevent natural turkeys from being sold - the fight was lost.
One thing I really miss when growing up on a farm was the fresh strawberries in the summer. My Mom used to pick a full ice cream pail of strawberries every day. It got to the point we tired of them and just let the birds eat them. We also had a row of raspberry bushes, about 100 feet long.
Eating rhubarb and strawberry or rhubarb and raspberry pie is truly a religous experience!
If we wanted fresh pork or beef, we simply took the rifle outside to where the cows and pigs were kept!
Ah, the good old days!
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