Learn about the art of the Affineur from a world-renowned master, Hervé Mons who discusses the business practices of Mansion Mons as well as their Tommes de Bois Noir goat’s milk cheese.

Traveling for the holidays can be appealing, but let’s be honest…not all of us can afford a trip to Europe, South America or even northern California. You can take a journey by bottle instead of by plane with our “top notch wines at easy-to-swallow prices.”

Your vinous passport to so many wonderful places minus the flight delays and inclement weather and – get this – all for under $15 a bottle. Now THAT is a deal that can’t be beat! Read the rest of this entry »

It’s November 5th and Thanksgiving Day is exactly three weeks away. (Cue Psycho-esque scary music here.) Whether you will be serving a house full of guests or a special dinner for two, preparing your kitchen ahead of time and thinking through your entertaining plan of action now can definitely save last-minute hassles on the big day.

Here are some of our ideas and tips for getting ready for the impending holiday crunch. Read the rest of this entry »

Busy, busy, busy – that’s what it’s been like around here as we tested recipes, searched out unique gifts and pulled together our very best tips to help you get ready for a memorable holiday season. Here’s a sampling of what we’ll be sharing with you on our blog over the coming weeks. Check out our introductory holiday video featuring Top Chef Season 5 winner Hosea Rosenberg and explore our great tips, recipes and creative ideas for taking this holiday season to a new level of taste.

Find meaning in the present with our fantastic selection of holiday gifts.

Everything to do your party good, from wine pairings to holiday decor.

Helpful tips that will make your holidays easier & your guests happier.

Get the goodness in every bite with our holiday recipes and menu ideas.

All Things Good. We hope you’ll make us your “go to” bookmark for all your holiday needs.

I was flipping through the October-November issue of The Whole Deal and this money-saving tip caught my eye (I wrote the piece months ago, so I’d almost forgotten it):

Make Décor do Double Duty. Decorate your table with winter squash, fresh herbs, citrus, apples, pears, pomegranates and nuts, and then use them in recipes. Read the rest of this entry »

Wow, we’ve got some creative shortcut chefs out there, chock full of creative ideas for saving time in the kitchen without sacrificing quality. From stocking up on fresh veggies in season and freezing them yourselves to inventive uses of rotisserie chicken to “cheating” with our Prepared Foods and Bakery selection – there’s lots of wonderful ways to save both time and money in our dinnertime pursuits.

And without further ado, this week’s randomly selected* winner…

Denice H:

If I am in need of a quick meal, I turn to soup. It is healthy, tastful, and easy. However, all the chopping,washing,peeling of the vegetables can be a pain. Instead I just open a jar of good quality mild salsa and add it to chicken stock. It is a great, quick foundation for many soups. It already has the mirepoix plus a nice small amount of heat.

Denice will be receiving a $100 gift card! We hope you enjoyed “value contest month” on our blog during October. For more giveaways, check out our Facebook Fridays and Twitter Thursdays for more weekly contests throughout the holidays.

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* This comment was randomly chosen using random.org.

In Part 2 of our series on natural health during cold and flu season, we’ll hear about how the immune system works, which supplements have been shown to support wellness, and some of the best ways to help maintain health year-round. Malia Curran, MS, MPH is a nutrition consultant and speaker, and sees clients in the Denver, CO area.

Podcast: Download

Let’s face it: The holiday season can be pretty stressful. There’s shopping, working, gift buying, crowds, family stress and all of that “special” food! At best, it can feel overwhelming. At worst, completely out of control. What to do?

Well, before we get to that, let’s review how stress affects our bodies. Stress is a natural reaction to danger and isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Cortisol, the main stress hormone, kicks in during times of crisis to make you more alert and prepared for action. Your senses are heightened, and the brain and immune system are primed. Other functions, like digestion, slow down. When safety returns, the body goes back to status quo. The challenge comes when the “danger” doesn’t resolve – the body never gets the chance to “settle down” and recuperate. Chronic stress can lead to slower immune system responses, impaired cognitive function, lack of appetite control and sleep difficulties. Yikes!

Read the rest of this entry »

I work in a part of Whole Foods Market that our customers probably don’t think about very much – one of our regional distribution centers. Here in Maryland, my facility stocks and moves most of the product that you find on the shelves in our Mid-Atlantic Region stores. We’re moving pallets of food around all day and we do that with a lot of forklifts and pallet jacks.

Read the rest of this entry »

So, Whole Foods Market is this really “super-green” retailer with a strong Green Mission. Right? Then why are we still providing single use, disposable, non-recyclable, non-compostable, fossil plastic cutlery in our stores? Our customers ask every day why we seem to overlook our values on this. What’s up with that?
As with any decent conundrum, there are a number of ways to look at this issue. The Whole Foods Market Green Mission Specialists would like to share with you why this is one of the most complex and convoluted challenges we face in trying to put our values into action.

Here’s the gist of the problem:

As you may know, reuse is higher on the waste hierarchy than recycling or disposal. And prevention and minimization are higher still. So from a Green Mission standpoint, the best thing we could provide would be either no cutlery (so everything would have to be “finger food”) or reusable cutlery. At our Global Green Mission Congress in May of ’08, attended by about 70 company representatives (including store-level team members as well as Vice Presidents), this goal was adopted: Utilize reusable plates, bowls, coffee cups, drinking cups and serve-ware in cafes and team member break rooms (where Health Department regulations allow).

Wherever we can adopt this goal and use reusable cutlery, we should be doing so. Yes, it adds expense to a certain extent, and, yes, it requires certain operational accommodations to make it work — such as bussing, dishwashers and the like. And, no, reusable cutlery does not cover all the bases, so there is definitely a need for cutlery that customers can take with them when they’ve purchased food to go. That need can best be served by recyclable cutlery first and then by compostable cutlery.

Where possible we should be offering cutlery that can be recycled. Of the plastic resins that are known to be highly recyclable, the best choices for cutlery are either #1 PET or #5 Polypropylene. In a number of our regions, we have implemented the “Gimme 5” recycling infrastructure for recycling #5 plastics. This is a partnership with Stonyfield Farms, Organic Valley and Preserve/Recycline to promote recycling of these plastics (many of which are containers such as yogurt cups and other dairy packaging) and to return them to Preserve to be made into the housewares, picnic goods, and other items such as toothbrushes and shaving razors that this company makes and we sell. More stores are getting involved with this program.

Compostable cutlery is where we get into the “nitty gritty” of some of the most challenging issues we face in trying to put our values into action. Here’s why:

• To be truly “compostable” by our standards, a product or material needs to be certified as such by a recognized 3rd party entity. The best known in the U.S. is the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI), which certifies items according to American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D6400 standard, essentially requiring that items need to break down and decompose within a strict time frame, without leaving toxic residues such as heavy metals, and must not inhibit healthy seed growth in the medium into which they evolve.
• Source material for cutlery must be certified non-GMO to meet the very strict guidelines Whole foods Market adopted for the use of materials in our supply chain.
• We strongly promote the idea that source biomaterials (as they are referred to) should not be derived from food-based feedstock, such as corn, potatoes, wheat, soy, etc. — food should be used for food, not plastics or fuel.
• Any cutlery developed would need to perform at least as well as existing cutlery (in other words, not melt or dissolve in hot liquids!)
• It needs to meet our cost needs for a commodity item as vast as this is for us.
  Finally, it needs to be an acceptable material for commercial-scale composting at “end of life” since this stuff doesn’t break down well in home composting environments.

The good news is that many producers and manufacturers of foodservice wares know our requirements and are scrambling to make cutlery that “gets it right.” The bad news is that very few have hit on all cylinders yet, and those that have got most of this right, are not yet cost-competitive enough to fit our supplies budgets. We firmly believe that the answer to this challenge is to hold out for the “real deal” and to aggregate our demand together with other end-users in the natural products industry, as well as other industries seeking this type of goods such as the health care and hospital industry, in order to ultimately drive the cost down through this aggregated demand.

So why don’t we just take items with some of the “right stuff” as a starting point, rather than holding out for the perfect solution? (In other words, why not settle for “less bad” as a step towards “good?”)

The answer to this may not be so apparent, but it lies in the fact that Whole Foods Market is considered to be the voice, the authority, and the standard-setter for so many things that touch our industry. Many look to us to be the barometer for trends, especially when it comes to “green” issues. Because of that, we strongly feel that we need to hold out for the most optimal solution. One that really speaks to all of the issues and values outlined above, even on so seemingly simple a category as cutlery. It is coming; it will come. And we can dramatically influence the course of that development, if we keep the faith and hold fast to our values and standards.

That’s the story with cutlery. Thanks for asking!

Lee believes his two jobs (EcoCzar and Forager) are the coolest in the company, allowing him to combine several of his passions in a way that makes work a dance. (Thanks, Coach!) With Whole Foods Market since 1996, Lee enjoys all of the many natural wonders and flavors of New England with his wife Susan and their two teenage sons.