The Whole Story blog is a great place to find value tips from The Whole Deal, the Value Guru and even from our customers sharing with one another. Well, we here at Whole Foods Market University (WFM-U) are joining the value conversation with our “Virtual Value Tour.” Originally created to help our Team Members better understand how to become more astute value shoppers in our stores, this short WFM-U course will also assist you in making smart, value-oriented choices the next time you visit Whole Foods Market.

A wheel of Hervé Mons Camembert is a strong, earthy, creamy little piece of heaven. Check out the footage of my interview with Mons during my spring visit – including footage of the caves and the surrounding region. We’ve partnered with Mons, one of the most well respected French affineurs, who selects Camembert exclusively for us from small producers near the lush green pastures of Normandy and then oversees the aging process. Delicately salty and smooth, Hervé Mons Camembert is exquisite when paired with a sparkling wine or a dry French cider and warm, crusty bread.

Interested in learning more about cheese? Follow our Global Cheese Buyer and Cheese Fanatic, Cathy Strange on Twitter @WFMCheese.

Would you like a quick, easy way to better understand what we mean when we say one of our products has earned the “Whole Trade Guarantee”? Well, now you can learn about Whole Trade Guarantee the same way that many of our Team Members have-with a quick, easy educational piece produced by Whole Foods Market University (WFM-U). WFM-U is Whole Foods Market’s internal online educational resource that’s available for all of our Team Members to access so that they may learn, grow, and enrich their knowledge of our business. This Whole Trade Guarantee piece was originally produced for our Team Members, and with a few slight modifications, it’s now ready for you to experience! And we’re just getting started. Watch this blog for other WFM-U educational tools coming your way.

This morning, I ran out of my house without eating breakfast. I know, I know. My mother would be terribly upset with me. Thankfully, I work at the Whole Foods Central office, located just above our flagship store in Austin, TX on Lamar Street. Woo, not only did I manage to scrap together a delicious breakfast for under $5 (vegan breakfast tacos and organic OJ!), but since Paige is out, I also got to pick this week’s The Whole Deal™ winner!

This week’s tip comes to us from Jeanne Delagardelle:

Once a week my husband shops at the Whole Foods near our home. He picks up everything we need for the week, and if a staple or non-perishable is on sale he really loads up. And about two or three times per week I walk to the Whole Foods that is about six blocks from my workplace. I pick up anything that he may have forgotten plus I get to take my time in the Whole Body aisles. I get some exercise and I get to do some good old-fashioned browsing. I love that Whole Foods puts out so many testers of the skin care products that they carry.

Great teamwork, Jeanne and yes - we are happy to let our guests test out our products before buying, whether it’s food or body care - all you have to do is ask. Keep those tips comin’!

For some value tips straight from our store, check out this Value Tour video with Jim Palladino of our Austin-Lamar flagship location. Team members give daily value tours to our guests, helping them find the best deals on our products around the store for their various needs - whether it be shopping for one, a family or a party. Check your local store’s online calendar and see when they offer value tours.

The prices mentioned were valid at the Lamar Whole Foods Market® store on 06/19/08. Prices are subject to change beyond that date at this store or at your nearest Whole Foods Market®.

Whole Foods Market partnered with Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) to
present the first-ever Peter Roberts Memorial lecture to celebrate
CIWF’s 40th Anniversary. Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey presented
“Food for the Future” at The Institution of Engineering and Technology
on June 5, 2007, the evening before the Company opened its flagship
store in London. The lecture, named in honor of CIWF Founder Peter
Roberts, was followed by this Q&A and discussion panel. To view the lecture, please see the preceding video post.

Whole Foods Market partnered with Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) to
present the first-ever Peter Roberts Memorial lecture to celebrate
CIWF’s 40th Anniversary. Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey presented
“Food for the Future” at The Institution of Engineering and Technology
on June 5, 2007, the evening before the Company opened its flagship
store in London. The lecture, named in honor of CIWF Founder Peter
Roberts, was followed by a Q&A and discussion panel.

John Mackey and Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, discuss their thoughts and ideas concerning the past, present and future of food. To view John’s preceding presentation, please view the last post.

The co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods, John Mackey, offers a presentation of the past, present, and future of food. Mackey then joined Pollan in conversation, continuing in person the exchange of views the two have been conducting since the publication of Pollan’s 2006 book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma. To view their conversation, please view the following post.