WOW!! What a great green store for the Lakewood neighborhood!
For those who don’t know, Lakewood is an area of Dallas and Whole Foods Market has just built the greenest store we have ever built in this area of the country. If you are ever in this neck of the woods, come check it out! When we open new stores, we try out all kinds of innovations. Some work, some don’t. We learn from them and share the scoop with our other stores. In this way, our stores around the country all benefit from new store openings and can try out new ideas themselves. So even if you can’t make it to Lakewood, what we do here could affect your local store. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve been avoiding this post. Not because I don’t love talking about what I do, but because I couldn’t figure out how to shrink this topic – an overview of our Quality Standards – into an easily digestible post. But then our lovely blogmistress (Paige Brady) told me I could write a series rather than a single post. Yeah!
Just as I was breathing a sigh of relief, she hit me with this bombshell: Could you use the first post in the series to explain our Quality Standards in a way that an 11-year-old can understand? What!?
Seems that she was in our downtown Austin store over the weekend with her daughter’s 11-year-old friend, who had never been to our store before. She was thoroughly enthralled and amazed – remember your first step inside our store? Anyway, the friend asked, “Is everything here organic?” and Paige said “no” but that everything was natural. And then fumbled through various attempts at explaining what natural means – realizing as she rambled that a typical 11-year-old doesn’t have the background to understand how much junk is in our conventional food supply. Paige eventually came up with this: “You won’t find blue ketchup here because ketchup comes from tomatoes and tomatoes aren’t blue in nature.” And the friend got it: “So, ketchup is red here?” Yes. Read the rest of this entry »
As many value experts will tell you, one of the best ways to avoid impulse buying is to come to the store with a list of what you need. Great advice. But, as we all know, new products come out that fit our needs and we really want to try! So, to help you know about the latest and greatest before you get to the store, we’re going to start a monthly What’s New post. These aren’t the only new items, but it will give you a head start. You can find more info about these in our Products section.
Amy read our last “Best Meal of the Week” post and commented: “…I’d LOVE to keep these ideas and know they’re coming on a bi-weekly basis! I’m often food-inspired by what I see and smell in the Whole Foods produce section to make a quick/easy/healthy dinner, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.” Definitely not the only one! I’ve been inspired by several of the recipes featured here and we do plan to have this “Best Meal of the Week” post about every couple of weeks. So, join the fun by sending in your best meal of the week and get inspired by this week’s features.
From Kate, a team member:
I used to only make polenta from scratch and since it’s not hard – just frequent stirring for about 30 minutes – I hadn’t tried out the pre-cooked, ready-to-use polenta (it comes in a tube or roll) until recently. Now that I’ve tried it, I will always keep some in the pantry for quick weeknight meals.
Just slice the polenta into rounds, brown in a skillet or broil in the oven, and top with whatever you fancy. This week I cooked tomatoes, both canned and sun dried, with onions, garlic, kale and chard and spooned this over some browned polenta rounds. I grated some Parmesan over the veggies, and dinner was ready. Read the rest of this entry »
Do you have a favorite recipe that could use a natural makeover? Let us help!
Maybe your recipe is chock full of processed ingredients. We’ll show you how to swap those out for natural versions.
Could the nutrition profile use some lightening up of calories, fat or sodium? Or maybe you want to get more of the good stuff – like fruits, veggies and whole grains. Let us tweak the ingredients to improve the nutrition without losing any flavor.
Special diets call for special recipes. Whether you focus on gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian or vegan, one of the hardest challenges of changing your diet is missing out on old favorites. Send us those family classic dishes that you crave and let us make them fit your new dietary needs.
Maybe you’ve already created a healthy makeover of a favorite recipe. Send us that, too!
Post your recipe, along with any interesting background on the recipe and why you are looking for a healthier version, in the comments section below. If we select your recipe for a healthy makeover and publish the improved version on our website, we’ll send you a $25 Whole Foods Market gift card.
We’re planning a special celebratory issue of our fl@vors recipe e-newsletter for Mother’s Day and we’d like your help in honoring Moms at this special time. Whether a fantastic cook or simply a one-dish wonder, surely Mom influenced your approach to food and cooking. Share your favorite recipes from your mother’s kitchen, and feel free to tell us a bit about her and how her personality came through in the meals she prepared.
Here’s a little incentive for you: as long as you share your mom’s recipes, you won’t have to read about my mom’s cooking – who, for the record, knew only one recipe when she married at 17: fried bologna. I love my mom but I’m betting you all have a lot better recipes to share!
So, help us create an “Ode to Mom” by providing some of your favorite recipes that pay tribute to her. Drop them into the comment box below by March 20th. We’ll collect the best entries to feature in a May issue of fl@vors and on this Whole Story blog. This could be that perfect Mother’s Day surprise gift – your mom’s recipes shared with all our readers!
P.S. Don’t worry, we’re not excluding Dad! We’ll ask for ideas for him next month.
Why are natural products important for babies? One reason is because what goes on the baby may go in the baby! Learn about more reasons and the best choices for baby’s sensitive skin. Whole Foods Market’s Senior Global Whole Body Coordinator, Jeremiah McElwee, has been working in the natural product industry since 1994 and has been a devoted father since 2005.
Celebrate the first flavors of spring with a fresh and easy weeknight-friendly meal. Join host Scott Simons for this encore Secret Ingredient presentation featuring tips and tricks for making dinnertime effortless and more nutritious with this episode’s secret ingredient, quinoa. Quinoa is one of the world’s most ancient grains and brings versatility and nutty flavor to the table. It’s the only complete grain-based protein and is packed with eight essential amino acids. Buy it in bulk for eco-savings and be kind to your wallet and the world.
Are you in the same boat as I am? I have a really old television because I just don’t really watch TV, and I don’t have cable, so it looks like I’ll be one of those folks who will benefit from a digital converter box to keep my perfectly good television working. The other choice is to invest in a new digital-ready television. If you aren’t up to speed on this whole thing, the digital switch is coming June 12th so find the details here.
Spring is the time of year for rebirth, renewal, and a fresh new start. What better time to try something new? We’re bringing in a great cross-section of wines from South America. While offering juicy and balanced examples of so-called “new world” wines – like chardonnay, cabernet and merlot – South America also offers a tasty hint of history with traditional varietal wines like malbec, carmenere and torrontes. Here’s a little background on this rapidly growing wine region: Read the rest of this entry »
Welcome to Whole Story, the official blog of Whole Foods Market.
Don’t know us? In a nutshell, we are the world's leading natural and organic grocer and we’re passionate about healthy food and a healthy planet. Learn more about us.
We’re lucky to have a whole bunch of smart, passionate people doing incredible things in areas like organics, supporting local growers, green practices, fair trade, micro-lending and all kinds of food related stuff. We’ll use this blog to share some of the cool things going on around here.
Of course, what makes this blog really exciting is YOU — so join the conversation!
Subscribe via RSS
I’ve been avoiding this post. Not because I don’t love talking about what I do, but because I couldn’t figure out how to shrink this topic – an overview of our Quality Standards – into an easily digestible post. But then our lovely blogmistress (Paige Brady) told me I could write a series rather than a single post. Yeah!
As many value experts will tell you, one of the best ways to avoid impulse buying is to come to the store with a list of what you need. Great advice. But, as we all know, new products come out that fit our needs and we really want to try! So, to help you know about the latest and greatest before you get to the store, we’re going to start a monthly What’s New post. These aren’t the only new items, but it will give you a head start. You can find more info about these in our 
Why are natural products important for babies? One reason is because what goes on the baby may go in the baby! Learn about more reasons and the best choices for baby’s sensitive skin. Whole Foods Market’s Senior Global Whole Body Coordinator, Jeremiah McElwee, has been working in the natural product industry since 1994 and has been a devoted father since 2005.
