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Whole Foods, an Austin-Based Store with Over 400 Locations in the U.S. and U.K. - Being Purchased by Amazon for $13.7 Billion


Al Dente

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Anyone else who used to like the smell of cinnamon? :(

Please, Corporate. Entering the store at this time of year is like sitting behind, between and in front of guys who splashed on an entire bottle of cologne.

Good news: bags of Meyer lemons are back. $3 a lb., around 9 small, but plump and juicy. They're usually a better deal than at Trader Joe's.

Chanterelles (from Canada) are on sale here, too, though at $20 lb., probably more than at Costco.

Italian chestnuts at $5 lb.

Turkey wings for stock, gravy et al at $1.79 lb.

Last week there were 5# bags of grapefruit for $4 which was then the best deal in town. Not sure that's still true.

FYI, I'm with Dean on much of the grumbling about local foods, though in fairness to the Silver Spring store, there were apples from Toigo at the time of his post. I think WFM is trying a little harder to sell from more local farms in VA and MD during the height of the growing season. (Problem w some of the locally purchased fruit was that it was picked under-ripe just like the stuff shipped from afar.)

On the other hand, I don't respect the company's notion of sustainable seafood. Atlantic and farm-raised salmon. Asian shrimp farms...

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FYI, I'm with Dean on much of the grumbling about local foods, though in fairness to the Silver Spring store, there were apples from Toigo at the time of his post. I think WFM is trying a little harder to sell from more local farms in VA and MD during the height of the growing season.

I'm not a big WH fan...think they've been living on reputation for a long while, and agree about the lack of local stuff...but, to give credit where credit is due, I was very pleased to find bakery items from our very local Chez Hareg at the P Street location recently.

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How you know you are getting old: you become completely unable to cope when your grocery store remodels and moves things around. I am not quite OCD enough to make aisle-by-aisle shopping lists, but I'm close, and the Silver Spring Whole Foods is really tweaking my nerves right now.

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How you know you are getting old: you become completely unable to cope when your grocery store remodels and moves things around. I am not quite OCD enough to make aisle-by-aisle shopping lists, but I'm close, and the Silver Spring Whole Foods is really tweaking my nerves right now.

You should have seen me hunting for juice boxes yesterday!:(
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FYI, I'm with Dean on much of the grumbling about local foods, though in fairness to the Silver Spring store, there were apples from Toigo at the time of his post. I think WFM is trying a little harder to sell from more local farms in VA and MD during the height of the growing season. (Problem w some of the locally purchased fruit was that it was picked under-ripe just like the stuff shipped from afar.)

Mark Toigo told me that he has been selling to them since the Bread and Circus days.

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1) Do any of the WFM locations still carry grits (polenta) in bulk? After failing to find it in Silver Spring again, I am hoping P Street has it.

2) Always check expiration dates on what you buy in prepared foods. I used to like the chicken pot pies which they no longer carry; most of the veggie pot pies in SS had dates of 10/11/09 when I rifled through them earlier this week.

3) So I spooned out some beef stew into a container to do a semi-made dinner at home where I had some cooked brown rice, mushrooms, broccoli, carrots. Blech! Ever since they transformed the chunky, spicy Heirloom applesauce to jarred consistency, the quality of prepared foods seems to have gone downhill. If the company has expanded this department in the belief that it will increase profits and meet growing needs of a non-cooking, busy demographic, why can't it at least take the high road when it comes to quality and taste?

4) After dispensing too much of an item in the bulk section, employee told me he wasn't allowed to put excess back into the bins. However, the item would be donated as opposed to discarded. Gleaning program?

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1) Do any of the WFM locations still carry grits (polenta) in bulk? After failing to find it in Silver Spring again, I am hoping P Street has it.

P Street didn't as of three days before Thanksgiving, but it's possible they were just sold out at that point (although I didn't find a bin where they would be...)

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1) Do any of the WFM locations still carry grits (polenta) in bulk? After failing to find it in Silver Spring again, I am hoping P Street has it.

2) Always check expiration dates on what you buy in prepared foods. I used to like the chicken pot pies which they no longer carry; most of the veggie pot pies in SS had dates of 10/11/09 when I rifled through them earlier this week.

3) So I spooned out some beef stew into a container to do a semi-made dinner at home where I had some cooked brown rice, mushrooms, broccoli, carrots. Blech! Ever since they transformed the chunky, spicy Heirloom applesauce to jarred consistency, the quality of prepared foods seems to have gone downhill. If the company has expanded this department in the belief that it will increase profits and meet growing needs of a non-cooking, busy demographic, why can't it at least take the high road when it comes to quality and taste?

4) After dispensing too much of an item in the bulk section, employee told me he wasn't allowed to put excess back into the bins. However, the item would be donated as opposed to discarded. Gleaning program?

Much like the oft suggested advice about talking to a restaurant manager when you have a bad experience at dinner, please do the same at WFM. Ask for the shift lead or store team leader.

Yikes on the pot pies. I highly doubt those were pot pies from october-- it was probably a mistake with the stickers. Nonetheless, they should have noticed that. As far as your question about a gleaning program, most stores do try whenever possible to donate extra product to local food banks.

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Whole Foods is getting into the mobile chicken processing biz, for better or worse: Click

One of the comments: I love the author's subtle yet repeated nods to Whole Foods' "good intentions..."

Whole Foods is a business. Period.

Their move to invest in mobile meat processing units was inspired by a growing demand for farm-raised poultry and the potential for higher profit margins, not "good intentions."

Calling Bev Eggleston!!

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One of the comments: I love the author's subtle yet repeated nods to Whole Foods' "good intentions..."

Whole Foods is a business. Period.

Their move to invest in mobile meat processing units was inspired by a growing demand for farm-raised poultry and the potential for higher profit margins, not "good intentions."

Calling Bev Eggleston!!

OMG! A business thinking about how to make more money? The horror!

Seems to me that his could help out a bunch of small farms like Bev's immobile processing plant.

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1) Do any of the WFM locations still carry grits (polenta) in bulk? After failing to find it in Silver Spring again, I am hoping P Street has it.

Haven't seen it there or Rockville in some time, My Organic Market (Rockville) as well. Been buying the packaged Bob's Red Mill instead.

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Thanks for suggestions and info, everyone!

The store in Silver Spring was open for shopping between 8 and 10 AM. It just closed, so you might want to call other locations before you head out the door. (Around 9, employees at Tenleytown were still deciding whether or not they shoud stay.)

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Has anybody noticed that almost none of the sandwiches and other prepared food from Whole Foods are offensive, but at the same time almost none of them actually taste particularly good? It's like they purposefully shoot for just average, maximizing the number of people who will be okay with eating them, yet simultaneously removing any chance that they'll ever be particularly flavorful or desirable.
No, because I've never been tempted. Next time, get the soup and sit down and eat it there w a wedge of cornbread.
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A sandwich from Whole Foods.

Has anybody noticed that almost none of the sandwiches and other prepared food from Whole Foods are offensive, but at the same time almost none of them actually taste particularly good? It's like they purposefully shoot for just average, maximizing the number of people who will be okay with eating them, yet simultaneously removing any chance that they'll ever be particularly flavorful or desirable.

I don't remember it always being that way. I used to make a meal out of stuff from the prepared foods every few weeks or so and then in the last few years stopped because nothing was good. Wasn't bad. Just wasn't good. This unfortunately occurred at just the time in my life when being able to not think about cooking dinner would have been a good thing.

And still I consistently walk part the section, hoping something will thrill me. I will even stop at other Whole Foods in the futile hope that somehow other stores are better and it is just the Kentland's store that sucks ventworm nuts.

Sigh...

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I don't remember it always being that way. I used to make a meal out of stuff from the prepared foods every few weeks or so and then in the last few years stopped because nothing was good. Wasn't bad. Just wasn't good. This unfortunately occurred at just the time in my life when being able to not think about cooking dinner would have been a good thing.

It's been more than 4 years now since I bought Whole Foods prepared foods, but we ate them a lot when we were renovating our kitchen. All I had to cook with for many months was a crockpot, microwave, and toaster oven (and the sole water source for food prep and dishwashing was the laundry tubs in the basement). Eating meals out got tiresome (and expensive) quickly. The Whole Foods prepared items were a good compromise--expensive enough that I hadn't bought them before but of good quality and cheaper and more convenient than restaurant meals. I'm sorry to hear they've declined. The store I shopped at during that time has since closed, so even if they were relatively better than other locations, it's irrelevant now :angry:.

I don't think I've ever bought a sandwich there, but on the few occasions that I've gotten slices of pizza, they've surpassed my expectations.

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What started out as a beautifully written and thoroughly researched article, collapsed under its own weight. By the end, I was desperate to finish.

(Unfortunately, I find that happens often to Nick Paumgarten when he's taken out of the Talk of the Town-sized pieces. Alas.)

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Today's the last day for sale on fresh, whole chickens at WFM: $1.49 a pound. Great price, so I picked up one.

This is what the package tells me:

Raised without Antibiotics

Fed an all vegetarian diet

No added growth hormones*

Air chilled....

*Federal regulations prohibit the use of artificial hormones in poultry

What the packages used to tell me is they were from Bell & Evans. Still? And in terms of the way they are raised, how are they superior to Perdue's chickens, say? (Obviously, I believe they are, but I am starting to wonder.)

I am not sure why vegetarian diets matter since free-range chickens eat grubs, worms and such, though this does reassure me their grain-based feed does not contain ground-up bones. I'd rather know they get up and walk around and feel sun warm their joints. But that costs more.

As to the info followed by an asterisk, it's what helps Pollan update his lecture notes. Sort of like "Fat-Free" on a 5-lb. bag of sugar.

* * *

A while ago, Mrs. B complained about the price of butter at her local supermarkets and we all urged her to shop at WFM where a lb. of store-brand goes for $2.69. Well, now the other supermarkets are wising up. Giant's went on sale for $1.99 last week and Safeway slashed its regular price to $2.49. That $2.49 reflects the influence of Trader Joe's; WFM has followed suit. $2.49 on the signs (except the ones that haven't been switched yet) and at the register this week, $2.39, perhaps in error. I feel like such a hypocrite taking advantage of the situation since I've witnessed first hand the loss of dairy farms in New England.

Interesting that as Wegman's expands in the region, WFM seems to pick fights primarily w Trader Joe's. Populism matters more than epicurean creds, though certainly the latter category remains significant.

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The quality of Whole Foods baked goods has been increasingly disappointing in general, but the hot cross buns I picked up yesterday are possibly the worst bakery item I've ever purchased. Dry and stale, with big raisins instead of currants & candied fruit and not even a hint of cinnamon or allspice. The frosting forming the cross was flavorless and dried out enough that it could be lifted off. Just horrid. Entemanns would have been better than this. If I don't have time to make them again next year, then we will just skip it.

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The quality of Whole Foods baked goods has been increasingly disappointing in general, but the hot cross buns I picked up yesterday are possibly the worst bakery item I've ever purchased. Dry and stale, with big raisins instead of currants & candied fruit and not even a hint of cinnamon or allspice. The frosting forming the cross was flavorless and dried out enough that it could be lifted off. Just horrid. Entemanns would have been better than this. If I don't have time to make them again next year, then we will just skip it.

I got a marble pound cake at WFM the other day that I could swear they forgot to put butter in. ;) I still have pretty good luck with the bread though.

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I still have pretty good luck with the bread though.

REALLY? Geez, I haven't gotten a decent loaf from WF in a long time. The La Brea breads at Harris Teeter are passable, though I still usually have to bake them some more.

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REALLY? Geez, I haven't gotten a decent loaf from WF in a long time. The La Brea breads at Harris Teeter are passable, though I still usually have to bake them some more.

The sesame semolina's acceptable, and the big round potatoey thing (forget what it's called) isn't bad either. The baguettes are really terrible, though.

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We really like the Pan de Campagne.

i don't mind its flavor, which iproves if you steam it in the oven. it's at least as sour as my disposition some days, and a wedge can cost as much as an entire loaf. it's fairly elastic but clumpy in texture, to the extent that if you placed a heavy dictionary on it for a few minutes you probably would be left with a thick crusted pancake. most of whole foods bread these days is best for conducting mold growing experiments, although we still buy the odd loaf for the convenience.

if you want even more convenience, instead of buying a pineapple for $2.99, for about $8.00 you can purchase just about the same pineapple that has been cleanly pared and cored for you and sealed in a plastic container. this is much easier and lighter to transport in your recyclable plastic bag, and when you get it home you will save at least five minutes having to prepare the pineapple yourself.

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The quality of Whole Foods baked goods has been increasingly disappointing in general, but the hot cross buns I picked up yesterday are possibly the worst bakery item I've ever purchased. Dry and stale, with big raisins instead of currants & candied fruit and not even a hint of cinnamon or allspice. The frosting forming the cross was flavorless and dried out enough that it could be lifted off. Just horrid. Entemanns would have been better than this. If I don't have time to make them again next year, then we will just skip it.

I agree. In general, I find WF baked goods to be pretty poor. The only things that I've tried that are consistently good are the lemon bars and the brownies (individual regular size, not the tubs of bite-size brownies). And don't get me started on the bread. I don 't remember if it was on this site or another one, people were raving about WF's pretzel baguettes. I found them to be doughy and unappetizing. The other breads I've tried from WF (ciabatta, sourdough, etc.) haven't impressed me either.

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Maybe I should stop buying pork at Whole Foods. The last time I was there, I bought baby back ribs, a couple of days before their "sell by" date. They seemed okay when I took them from the package, but we discovered upon eating them that they had started to spoli. I was going to bring that up with the meat department on my next trip; however, once there, I felt it wiser not to bring it up...Yes, today I was that PITA customer. :lol:

The "next trip" was to buy pork tenderloin for dinner tonight (a friend is in from out of town). After a spell where they only had pre-marinated tenderloins (which I've ranted about before), I had seen regular ones, so I gambled on them having them. Nope, pre-marinated only. There was nothing in the meat cases, but they had some in the glass case at the counter. At least they appeared to have been marinated in-store, so I asked when they'd been marinated, thinking I might be able to wash the marinade off to some extent. It was hard to get an answer, but it seemed to be last night. I was quite irritated at myself that I'd waited until the last minute and also had a menu built around a particular preparation of the pork. I didn't have time to rejigger the menu and even pre-marinated (for my convenience!) pork was going to require changing what I was making. Normally I enjoy grocery shopping and am not hurried and stressed while doing it. This was not one of those times :D .

While I thought about that, I asked if they had pork shoulder, which I need for a recipe I'm testing* but will not be making until later in the week. I need between 4 and 5 lbs., bone-in. I had been to Giant already and they had exactly what I needed but with a sell by date of today, so I didn't chance it. (Didn't look for pork tenderloin there but probably should have.) The woman waiting on me indicated the pork chops and said that was the only pork shoulder they had. I hadn't looked very closely at the case and was just asking if they had the things I wanted. Another employee came over and gestured to the item next to the chops. Aha. Boston butt. I didn't see it there. He seemed to be explaining to her that the cut was from the pork shoulder and was what I was asking for. If I had been paying attention, I would have asked for the cut they had out, but it's pretty bad that the person working there didn't know the cuts. All of the roasts they had out were under 4 pounds, and I mentioned (oh, apparently at least one time too many!) that I needed something between 4 and 5 lbs. Another employee offered to check in the back to see if he had something larger. Well, yes, thank you. I was ready to take one a shade under 4 lbs. just to get out of there. He came back with a piece that was clearly too big and asked if I wanted a whole shoulder. No, I replied, that's too large. I need <all together now> something between 4 and 5 lbs. I understand that, he said, his voice clipped, and he offered to cut a pound off. By that, I thought he surely meant a pound and a half or so, since the whole piece was over six and a half pounds.

He came back out with the cut piece, put it on the scale and wrapped it up. 5.53 lbs. At that point, I don't know if he really didn't understand or was just so pissed off he gave me something different than I made clear I wanted. Yes, I can hack a chunk off the meat at home, but isn't that what the butcher is for? So, I didn't tell them about the spoiled meat.

(I did vent to the cashier because I was quite irritated about not getting what I came for. They always seem very concerned about that at Whole Foods. She was quite nice and gave me a bit of a discount for my trouble.)

And the marinade smell on the tenderloins is very strong even after washing it pretty well. It's pretty thoroughly penetrated the meat. So, I paid $20 for something that wasn't what I wanted and now have to change my plans anyway. And I just used up time better spent on other things complaining on the internet :blink: .

*This is the reason I was being so particular about the weight.

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It has been my experience that a lot of the counter staff in the meat and fish (and cheese) departments of various Whole Foods stores have been trained to weigh and wrap, but have little knowledge about what they are selling. There doesn't seem to be anything unique or local about the pork they sell at WF, so you might as well get it at Eastern Market. The butchers there know what they are doing.

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It has been my experience that a lot of the counter staff in the meat and fish (and cheese) departments of various Whole Foods stores have been trained to weigh and wrap, but have little knowledge about what they are selling. There doesn't seem to be anything unique or local about the pork they sell at WF, so you might as well get it at Eastern Market. The butchers there know what they are doing.

Oh, I was kicking myself for not having gone to Union Meats over the weekend. Oh, yes, I was :lol: . At this Whole Foods (Old Town), I find the people at the fish counter to be pretty good. I can't recall having a problem there. At the meat counter, it depends. This wasn't the first time I've had difficulty, but this was bad on multiple counts. I go for the pork tenderloins there because they used to be labeled "Niman Ranch." Not local but not factory farmed either.

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Maybe I should stop buying pork at Whole Foods. The last time I was there, I bought baby back ribs, a couple of days before their "sell by" date. They seemed okay when I took them from the package, but we discovered upon eating them that they had started to spoli. I was going to bring that up with the meat department on my next trip; however, once there, I felt it wiser not to bring it up...Yes, today I was that PITA customer. :lol:

I shop at the Whole Foods in the Kentlands in Gaithersburg. I've been really surprised to discover numerous times that items on the shelf had exceeded their sell by date. Usually I discovered this after I had bought it and brought it home. Often, the sell by date had been exceeded by months, not days :D I am very careful now to inspect the date on the package. So, I guess I'm not surprised that the meat you bought was over-ripe. As it turns out, Whole Foods is not all that.

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It has been my experience that a lot of the counter staff in the meat and fish (and cheese) departments of various Whole Foods stores have been trained to weigh and wrap, but have little knowledge about what they are selling. There doesn't seem to be anything unique or local about the pork they sell at WF, so you might as well get it at Eastern Market. The butchers there know what they are doing.

I have not been to Eastern Market in a long time so I don't know what they are buying. But last I looked at WFM, they are selling Niman Ranch pork which, while from a Johnson White pig, is at least grown in a lagoon free method. The producer farmers probably net 2 times as much income from a given farm selling to the Niman empire rather than the Smithfield. There are rivers that had their oyster beds closed for 4-5 years after Huricaine David which washed the fecal matter from their "lagoons" {holes int he ground filled with pig shit actually but oh doesn't lagoon sound better? Hey Gilligan, lets go down to the lagoon and see if we can see Mary Ann's belly button... but I digress}.

If Eastern Market is selling lagoon free pork, than by all means, I'd be there in a flash over WFM.

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If Eastern Market is selling lagoon free pork, than by all means, I'd be there in a flash over WFM.

I agree. I don't buy Smithfield pork. Generally if I can't get what I want/need from one of the pork purveyors at the farmers market, I get it at Organic Butcher of McLean or at Wagshal's, which are real butcher shops selling sustainably raised meats within reasonable travel distance from my home.

If, as in Pat's case, the choice is between two places within a reasonable distance from her home in Capitol Hill, and one of the choices is to pay a premium price for meat that isn't fresh...

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I agree. I don't buy Smithfield pork. Generally if I can't get what I want/need from one of the pork purveyors at the farmers market, I get it at Organic Butcher of McLean or at Wagshal's, which are real butcher shops selling sustainably raised meats within reasonable travel distance from my home.

If, as in Pat's case, the choice is between two places within a reasonable distance from her home in Capitol Hill, and one of the choices is to pay a premium price for meat that isn't fresh...

Do you know what type of pork Costco sells? My guess is the nasty CAFO raised pork.

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Do you know what type of pork Costco sells? My guess is the nasty CAFO raised pork.

I think I've actually seen labeling indicating that (Smithfield), which is a reason I rarely buy pork at Costco. Whenever I buy pork or veal there--well, most meats and poultry--I go into denial during the process. That's why I liked the fact that Whole Foods used to sell Niman pork, which they may still. I haven't seen labeling indicating that lately, so I don't know.

At some point, convenience is enough of a factor that I'll buy what I need where I happen to be at the time rather than drive all over. If not for the "sell by" date on the Giant pork shoulder, I would have bought it there just to have it and not have to look further. That would have eliminated the entire ordeal over how to come up with a 4 - 5 pound piece of pork shoulder at Whole Foods, since Giant already had it wrapped up, so to speak.

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I shop at the Whole Foods in the Kentlands in Gaithersburg. I've been really surprised to discover numerous times that items on the shelf had exceeded their sell by date. Usually I discovered this after I had bought it and brought it home. Often, the sell by date had been exceeded by months, not days :lol: I am very careful now to inspect the date on the package. So, I guess I'm not surprised that the meat you bought was over-ripe. As it turns out, Whole Foods is not all that.

Strangely enough, though, that store's butcher counter is one of the better ones. There are several men behind the counter who seem to know what they're doing.

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It makes no sense to put my deliberately unbagged produce into a plastic produce bag so that you can pack it into my reusable shopping bags. :lol:

I spend a lot of time discussing this with the manager at various Whole Foods. There is one checker at the Kentlands that I won't use anymore and I've told her why.

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I spend a lot of time discussing this with the manager at various Whole Foods. There is one checker at the Kentlands that I won't use anymore and I've told her why.

I don't blame you. I also wish they would quit rubber-banding every other thing. Yes, you can ask for no rubber bands, but if I get distracted & forget, there's another 4-5 for the kitchen drawer.

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I don't blame you. I also wish they would quit rubber-banding every other thing. Yes, you can ask for no rubber bands, but if I get distracted & forget, there's another 4-5 for the kitchen drawer.

Bring them to the farmers market. I make a point of collecting them and handing them over to growers who sell vegetables or flowers. While some prefer to take back only the ones that say "Organic", most are happy to receive them.

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and i wish they would quit asking me at the checkout if i found everything i was looking for.

i always tell them i found more than i was looking for -- which i suppose is the point of moving everything around all the time. whole foods is one store where you should never count on finding something the same place twice.

try to find the dried mushrooms at the p street store, or dried peppers. i know where they are right now, it think, but it's not where they used to be and hardly where you would expect to find them.

also, what's with this walling up the end aisles so you have to go down additional aisles to get to the inside aisles? they're treating us like rats.

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A chalkboard sign outside of the Whole Foods Market in Silver Spring announces "unique" and "seasonal" stuff for May.

First on the list is a peach lattice pie, neither unique (I've been eating them since childhood) nor seasonal, to say the least.

A couple lines down: Cherries!

Come on, Whole Foods. What's your point of reference for seasonality?

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Bought mild Italian sausage and Linguica from meat case at the Whole Foods in Old Town where a nice little sign proclaimed them to be made in the store. While both types were well spiced, I don’t believe that one could find even a spot of fat in these sausages, producing a vile dried out crumbly texture – I guess that is what happens when meat cutters attempt to make sausage.

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