Okay, so we all know that local products are cool – but they can cool you off, too! A yummy locally-produced frozen dessert is just the thing during the hottest parts of summer, and the products made by recipients of our Local Producer Loan Program don’t disappoint. Organic ice cream, non-dairy ice cream, sorbet… you name it, our loan recipients make it. From California to Colorado to New York, these local icy treats are a hit. So go grab a pint and support your local producers! Read the rest of this entry »

Looking for some great ideas for getting a good, simple meal on the table this week? These “Best Meals” from readers and team members are sure to help. Don’t forget to share your “best meal” in the comments below. We’re always inspired by what other people are cooking, right? Remember, “best” is highly subjective: healthy, super quick, inexpensive, fabulously delicious – or a combination of all that and more.

Note: Images are of similar recipes from our website, not specifically the reader’s best meal.

From Hannah, a reader:

My favorite meal this week was a really simple, tasty wrap! First, I sliced a zucchini with a carrot peeler into long, thin strips. Then I chopped up a red bell pepper. I sprinkled both with a little olive oil and crushed garlic and roasted in the toaster oven. Yanked out the zucchini before the red bell pepper, since it cooked much faster. Then I made a wrap with a tortilla. I filled it with the zucchini, red bell pepper, shredded lettuce, crumbled feta, and a handful of cranberries. Then a spritz of vinegar and oil on top. It actually surprised me how good it was!

Here’s another simple wrap recipe for Turkey and Cucumber with Ranch Dressing. Read the rest of this entry »

I know food lovers who create incredible meals out of what appears to be a chaos of abundant ingredients covering every kitchen surface, coaxing from each ingredient the very best it has to offer and…leaving to rot or get tossed any part that is not the most perfect or succulent portion.

I know other fine home cooks who work meticulously in a neat and orderly kitchen, producing lovely meals from carefully selected ingredients, perfectly measured and diced, following recipes to a tee and getting the results they promise, and…just as meticulously, putting down the disposal any portion not called for in the recipe.

Read the rest of this entry »

Every summer season there are a few special items I just can’t wait to see in our stores, and Joe Soghomonian’s certified organic champagne grapes are on the top of my list come the middle of July. I’ve been eating Joe’s grapes for years and his champagne grapes are among my all-time favorite produce items.

This year we’re featuring Joe’s fruit nationwide and putting the word out about why we are feeling the love. Here’s the story:

We love champagne grapes for their unusual appearance and sweetness – small, deep purple grapes on tight clusters. The fruit is super sweet and the stems are so tender that they can be eaten along with the grapes.

We love the Soghomonians for being an authentic family farm. Joe and Johnni Soghomonian’s 540-acre certified organic ranch is located near Fresno, CA, in California’s Central Valley. Joe has been a farmer all his life, working on his parents’ farm from early childhood, eventually taking over the farm and growing it to its current size. Joe and Johnni’s daughter, Natalie, now supervises the harvest and packing of grapes and is the 3rd generation farmer on their land. FAMOUS for their champagne grapes, the Soghomonian’s also grow several varieties of table grapes as well as wine grapes. (We’re looking forward to later in the summer when the Soghomonian organic wine grapes will be ready. Fresh wine grapes are fragile and delicate, but a wonderful treat eaten out of hand!)

We love to satisfy and delight our customers! Expect to find organic champagne grapes at Whole Foods Market stores nationwide from late July through August. Enjoy!

Summer is prime season for all kinds of peppers. Hot, mild or sweet, you can find all the colors of the rainbow! Peppers are usually separated into those that have capsaicin – the heat component – and those that do not.

Hot, Hot, Hot

Fresh hot peppers are often called chiles. Red chile peppers are full of vitamin C and carotene, more so than green or yellow chiles. They contain Vitamin B6 and other B vitamins. Peppers high in capsaicin may help keep cholesterol levels healthy. Read the rest of this entry »

In this episode, I traveled to Monroe, WI to visit the Klondike Cheese Company, one of the few feta producers in the United States that meets our Quality Standards. The Buholzer family has grown the company tremendously since they started making cheese in 1925. Our partnership with this family owned, third generation operation began back in 2002. Even though they are now a large company, they only work with 85 locally family-owned dairy farms and because the milk is fresh, the cheese is deliciously fresh too. My personal favorites include the Mediterranean feta and the feta with black pepper.

Time to toot our own horn a bit. We’re very honored to be recognized with the following:

Most Humane Grocery Store
For the second year in a row, Whole Foods Market ranked number one in the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) survey ranking U.S. grocery stores on the availability of humanely labeled foods.

WSPA, the world’s largest alliance of animal welfare organizations, conducted a survey of 200 stores in 34 states to rank the top 25 U.S. supermarket chains based on the quality and variety of humanely labeled products available on the shelves – and we scored the highest, offering twice as many humanely labeled products than any other ranked grocer! Actually, that’s no surprise to us. We require all animal suppliers to meet specific and rigorous welfare standards applying to all stages of an animal’s life and environment, and we champion innovative production systems that support the comfort, physical safety and health of the animals.

2009 Socially Responsible Retailer Award
The Natural Products Association presented Whole Foods Market with their “2009 Socially Responsible Retailer Award” for excellence in integrating social responsibility into multiple aspects of business. While there were several determining factors for selection, the work of our nonprofit Whole Planet Foundation was the primary reason we were chosen for the award. Established in October 2005, the Whole Planet Foundation empowers the poor through microcredit in developing countries where we source products. To date, the foundation has committed $9.9 million for micro-lending projects and has provided $5.3 million in grants to microfinance groups around the globe, resulting in $13 million in microcredit loans – usually less than $200 – to start home-based businesses. The project has given more than 41,000 people the chance to lift themselves and, on average, five family members, out of poverty, effectively impacting a total of 205,000 people in communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

International TOBY Award
The Whole Foods Market headquarters building in Austin, Texas won the 2009 International TOBY (The Office Building of the Year) award in the 100,000 – 249,999 square feet category. An international TOBY award is one of the most highly recognized awards in the building management and real estate industry, and kudos go to our property management company, Schlosser Development. Judging was based on community impact, tenant/employee relations programs, energy management systems, accessibility for disabled people, emergency evacuation procedures, building personnel training programs and overall quality indicators. Among the aspects that impressed the judges:

• Managing the building to strict Energy Star performance standards – uses less energy, is less expensive to operate, and causes fewer greenhouse gas emissions than its peers.
• BEST (Building Emergency Safety Teams) involve tenants with Emergency preparedness and security.
• Building management partners with the Whole Foods Market Green Mission Team to accelerate and broadly expand Green Mission initiatives throughout the Headquarters building. The team works with employees to identify conservation ideas that benefit the building and the environment.
• 13,000-gallon rainwater collection tank collects runoff from the roof and is used for the irrigation system.

While we will keep doing what we do because it’s part of our mission, getting recognized for our efforts is nice too.

No doubt about it: wild Alaska salmon is delicious! You’ll find it fresh for a few short months each summer and we are busily stocking our seafood departments with the tastiest varieties found throughout Alaska.

But with so many seafood concerns these days – from overfishing to poorly-managed fish farms – how do you know that the salmon you are eating is good for you, good for the planet and will still taste good?

Well, here at Whole Foods Market we’ve made it our business to sell the highest quality foods we can find at the most competitive prices possible. We evaluate quality in terms of nutrition, freshness, appearance and taste, and this is true for our wild Alaska salmon as well!

Here’s a snapshot on how the wild Alaska salmon we carry in our stores fits into our overall Whole Foods Market quality standards: Read the rest of this entry »

I get to see a lot of cool products in my job. One of the coolest products we are currently carrying at Whole Foods Market is Siggi’s Skyr. Not only is it a great yogurt but the back story is awesome.

Skyr is Icelandic-style yogurt, a traditional delicacy that is thicker and higher in protein than most yogurts. It is made from skim milk and has almost no fat. Think Greek yogurt that has adapted to survive harsh arctic winters … hardier and refreshingly sour, with 16 grams of protein, zero saturated fat and just 120 calories per 6 oz serving.

Siggi Hilmarsson grew up in Iceland and was homesick one holiday season a few years ago. He had grown up hearing about his grandmother’s skyr and decided to try his hand at making some of his own. In 2006, he started selling his own brand of skyr. Read the rest of this entry »

In 1991, following in the footsteps of four generations of cheese makers, Felix and Ulrich Roth founded Roth Käse USA, the focus being to craft and cure European-style specialty cheeses in America’s Dairyland. Green County, Wisconsin was a natural home for the Roth Käse cheese factory, not only for its lush landscape and high quality milk supply, but also because the area is commonly referred to as “Little Switzerland.”

In the beginning, their focus was in crafting traditional alpine cheeses. As they’ve grown, they’ve added other outstanding cheeses from across the world to their range of products, including one of my favorites, Gran Queso, modeled after Spanish Manchego. To support their growth, rather than expanding their own facilities, they partnered with struggling local production facilities, helping to keep the dairy industry alive in their community and they work with local dairy farmers so their products are made from the freshest ingredients possible.