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Brainwashing, Aisle 3 (Whole Foods Market and Peter Singer)
The Weekly Standard ^ | 5/18/05 | Andrew Breitbart

Posted on 05/18/2005 5:47:03 AM PDT by Unam Sanctam

LOVE WHOLE FOODS. I love the Austin-based boutique supermarket chain so much I find ways to go there almost every day. Sometimes I go for the Siciliano sandwich (rare roast beef, caramelized onions, Gorgonzola spread on a toasted French roll); sometimes I go for the trail mix and dried fruit bins (yogurt-covered raisins and pineapple rings). Other times I go to buy an $18 Pinot Noir on sale, so I can race home to tell my wife it was marked down to $11.99. They've got a lot of those deals.

The produce is fresh and, by demand, "organic," one of the new synonyms for "virtuous." Samples of expensive cheeses and other culinary delights make the procession up and down the aisles a gastronomic treasure hunt, and there are no Cap'n Crunch displays to impede your cart and depress your spirit along the way. With a massage therapist in the front of the store charging only a dollar a minute, the place is a veritable culinary day spa.

THE DOWNSIDE to the Whole Foods experience is that its success is driven by one of our era's more grotesque phenomena: the upwardly-mobile urban dweller, the one who wants to indulge class-conscious epicurean yearnings and save the world, too. Whole Foods is a wonderland molded to accommodate the psyche of the socially-responsible, guilt-ridden liberal--the crunchy Kucinich capitalist.

What other conceivable reason would the chain have for displaying Out magazine at the checkout stand? Even if the wishful demographic estimates of gay-rights groups don't economically justify this niche product's front-and-center placement at the point of sale. Out--with other unreadable yoga and nutritionist-approved lifestyle monthlies arrayed around it--screams: You are an open

(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: cary; wholefoods; wholepaycheck
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1 posted on 05/18/2005 5:47:03 AM PDT by Unam Sanctam
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To: Unam Sanctam

This guy thinks too much. Sometimes, an organic zucchini is just an organic zucchini.


2 posted on 05/18/2005 5:49:40 AM PDT by Piranha
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To: Unam Sanctam

He doesn't have to shop there. I've never shopped in Whole Foods but I shop at other health food stores.


3 posted on 05/18/2005 5:54:00 AM PDT by cyborg (Serving fresh, hot Anti-opus since 18 April 2005)
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To: Unam Sanctam

That's about right. The daughter of a business owner I know said she eats organic food becuase it "gives her life meaning". Oh brother...


4 posted on 05/18/2005 5:57:13 AM PDT by Vision (When Hillary Says She's Going To Put The Military On Our Borders...She Becomes Our Next President)
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To: Unam Sanctam

Sounds like Trader Joes. They must have over 100 stores in half the states.


5 posted on 05/18/2005 5:58:01 AM PDT by elfman2 (This space is intentionally left blank.)
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To: Unam Sanctam

THE DOWNSIDE to the Whole Foods experience is that its success is driven by one of our era's more grotesque phenomena: the upwardly-mobile urban dweller, the one who wants to indulge class-conscious epicurean yearnings and save the world, too.

***

Well, his definition of the Whole Foods shopper doesn't exactly fit me. And I've seen all kinds of people in that store -- young, old, yuppies, hippies, suits, gay, straight, and every ethnic group. I like the place for its better produce, maybe a bit more expensive than conventional chain supermarkets, but at least a tomato bought from Whole Foods TASTES like a tomato, instead of styrofoam.

Yes, I did see an Out magazine in the rack near the checkout. But then again, no one is forcing me or anyone else to buy it.

Our one and only Whole Foods Market was opened a couple of years ago and it's been a phenomenal success. Day or night, the parking lot is filled and the store is jammed with people. The store has meant jobs and has been good for the economy here. Some of us residents have been pressing for the company to open another store in the area.


6 posted on 05/18/2005 5:58:18 AM PDT by fatnotlazy
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To: Unam Sanctam

Just don't sample any of the produce. Ecoli is 4 times more present in organics than non.


7 posted on 05/18/2005 6:02:21 AM PDT by Ron in Acreage (It's the borders stupid!)
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To: cyborg

Feh on Whole Foods. My local Giant Food Mart has food that's healthy enough for me. I got reduced fat Oreos and baked Lay's BBQ chips just last night. ;-)


8 posted on 05/18/2005 6:02:22 AM PDT by TheBigB ("You should meet MY boss. He'd turn Buddha into a chain smoker."~the wit and wisdom of Carl Kolchak)
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To: TheBigB

LOL


9 posted on 05/18/2005 6:03:01 AM PDT by cyborg (Serving fresh, hot Anti-opus since 18 April 2005)
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To: elfman2

I love Trader Joes. Wish they would put some stores in the Midwest.


10 posted on 05/18/2005 6:05:12 AM PDT by babaloo
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To: Ron in Acreage

"Ecoli is 4 times more present in organics than non."

Source, please.


11 posted on 05/18/2005 6:05:14 AM PDT by webstersII
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To: Unam Sanctam

About 20 years ago I lived in Santa Fe, where I often shopped at the local food co-op. They had a bulletin board where members were invited to post anything they wanted. It ran heavily to libertarian/anarchist/socialist radical politics.

I sometimes got the urge to post some right-wing stuff, just to see how long it would stay up. But never followed through. I strongly suspect their "anything goes" policy wouldn't have included my ideas.


12 posted on 05/18/2005 6:07:32 AM PDT by Restorer
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To: Ron in Acreage

Please cite a source for that. Or admit you made it up.


13 posted on 05/18/2005 6:07:50 AM PDT by savedbygrace ("No Monday morning quarterback has ever led a team to victory" GW Bush)
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To: fatnotlazy
but at least a tomato bought from Whole Foods TASTES like a tomato, instead of styrofoam.

Amen. Their produce is superior. Great cheese selection.

People shop there for good quality food, not to save the world.

14 posted on 05/18/2005 6:08:16 AM PDT by lizma
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To: TheBigB; cyborg
Feh on Whole Foods. My local Giant Food Mart has food that's healthy enough for me. I got reduced fat Oreos and baked Lay's BBQ chips just last night. ;-)

Exactly.

Last night I stopped at a Country Express for gas....that place has pork rinds in three different flavors! THREE!



;OP

15 posted on 05/18/2005 6:08:25 AM PDT by Petronski (A champion of dance, my moves will put you in a trance and I never leave the disco alone.)
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To: babaloo

http://www.traderjoes.com/locations/all.locations.pdf


16 posted on 05/18/2005 6:08:43 AM PDT by elfman2 (This space is intentionally left blank.)
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To: Ron in Acreage

Not true for all organics. Not all organics are grown in animal manure either. I wash everything with a vegetable wash and sometimes a teatree oil and peroxide mix,esp.if I buy stuff from the fruit stand.


17 posted on 05/18/2005 6:10:01 AM PDT by cyborg (Serving fresh, hot Anti-opus since 18 April 2005)
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To: babaloo

Son lives in Seattle and took us to "Whole Paycheck Foods," as he calls it.


18 posted on 05/18/2005 6:10:10 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: Petronski

pork rinds


19 posted on 05/18/2005 6:10:28 AM PDT by cyborg (Serving fresh, hot Anti-opus since 18 April 2005)
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To: Unam Sanctam
--the crunchy Kucinich capitalist

no such animal; they're all as red as they can be.

20 posted on 05/18/2005 6:10:56 AM PDT by martin gibson
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