Whole Foods empties my pockets, heart
Krystal Bick
We all want to save the world.
It’s true, isn’t it? No one wants to be “that guy” who is responsible for killing off the earth. When you’re throwing your aluminum cans in the garbage and throwing your garbage on the ground, it makes getting dates tough and the Environmental Protection Agency sends you nasty bomb threats.
So with people like “that guy” still running around, what’s a tree hugger to do? You go green, you ride your bike as often as you can and, of course, you’re supposed to buy lots of organic food.
That’s right. I said the “O” word. But before you start conjuring up images of long-haired hippies practicing free love in a patch of eggplants, let’s discuss what it really means to be organic.
U.S. Department of Agriculture standards must be met in order to wear the badge “organic.” Crops must be produced without conventional pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge and bioengineering.
One would think without the use of all those delicious ingredients, organic food would be cheaper. Unfortunately, unless you are a yuppie who can afford to buy a hybrid car and you’re willing to shell out nearly $3 a pound for organic apples, you’re probably poor like me.
Just last week, I saved part of a measly paycheck and went grocery shopping at the Whole Foods Market on South Virginia Street. For anyone who has ever visited a Whole Foods, it is best described as an organic, health food orgy, with an atmosphere that indescribably just makes you feel healthier upon entering.
I didn’t feel healthy when I left, though.
For my one bag of groceries, including apples, cous cous and a block of tofu (don’t knock it until you try it) I spent $50 for the word “organic” to be printed on it.
Nearby, a group of women were taste-testing foods with little plastic spoons. Instead of putting their spoons in a recycle bin next to them, they threw all six or seven of the plastic devils in the garbage can.
As people were grabbing the latest detoxifying fruit juices and monk-grown bread, I could barely grasp the hypocrisy I was seeing.
While I have concerns for the environment and my health just as much as the person behind me in line, is this really worth it? Or are we buying some kind of self-satisfaction, a smug contentment as we all go back to our SUVs and (hopefully) recycle our shopping bags?
I wonder what hippie greats before us would say if they knew what kind of blasphemous prices Whole Foods was demanding. I think they would agree that Whole Foods missed the free part in free love.
In San Francisco, the city of free love, most concert events have three labeled bins to choose from, including recycling, compost and finally one labeled “landfill.” It’s funny how when you’re presented with that decision, you stop to think twice about where you are putting that piece of garbage.
Until we stop being a wasteful society and start thinking about where our garbage goes, buying organic foods won’t be making much of a difference besides in the pockets of a corporation.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some eggplant seedlings to attend to.
Krystal Bick is a columnist for The Nevada Sagebrush. She can be reached at kbick@nevadasagebrush.com
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September 3rd, 2008 at 9:26 am
You’re sexy.