It’s November – the perfect time to start jotting down your appointments and events on a new 2010 calendar. Here to help is the third annual edition of the Whole Planet Foundation calendar featuring beautiful photographs of inspiring entrepreneurs from Peru, Bolivia, India, Haiti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Guatemala, Thailand, Nepal, Indonesia, the United States and East Timor.

This isn’t your run-of-the-mill calendar! This one not only helps you keep track of your busy life but also helps you save on your favorite products with over $30 in coupons and ALL PROCEEDS from the sale of these calendars benefit Whole Planet Foundation microcredit clients. All that for $2. Seriously, $2.

Last year, our shoppers purchased $72,000 in calendars and empowered 1,775 poor women and their family members with microloans to create or expand a home-based business and create prosperity. These women live in communities where the products you purchase at Whole Foods Market are sourced. We’re hoping to raise a bit more this year so we can empower 2,000 more women with an opportunity to change their own lives and lift themselves out of poverty.

And if that wasn’t incentive enough, our vendor partners came through with some great coupons to sweeten the deal. $3 off from New Chapter, $3 off Seventh Generation, $2 off GoodBelly, $1 off Ben & Jerry’s, $1 off Nature’s Path, $1 off Muir Glen, $1 off Whole Trade Guarantee Vegan Sugar, just to name a few. You can see the whole coupon list for more incentive.

Pick up your copy (or two or three!) of the Whole Planet Foundation 2010 Calendar in your local U.S. Whole Foods Market store now through January. Thanks for your help in making this a great season of giving… in more ways than one.

Now is the time to focus on staying well, and supporting the immune system is a smart way to do so. In part 1 of a 2-part series, Dr. Kenna Brooke talks about natural approaches, formulas for wellness and lifestyle suggestions for promoting seasonal health. Dr. Brooke is a Naturopathic doctor who practices as a wellness consultant in the Cherry Creek area of Denver, Colorado.

Podcast: Download

Your “Buy-Some-Make-Some” Ideas Could Make you a Winner

I truly enjoy cooking and I get a decent meal on the table pretty quickly most nights of the week, but I’m not too proud to take shortcuts when my time is especially valuable. And, while going the buy-some/make-some route usually-not always!-costs a bit more than completely homemade, it is still a money saver compared to dining out.

So, there are plenty of times when I pick up a rotisserie chicken or pre-cut veggies from the salad bar to help me save time in the kitchen by omitting a few steps in a recipe. What about you? Tell us your tip for using an item from our Prepared Foods department to cut your cooking time and get a meal on the table PDQ. You might win a $100 Whole Foods Market® gift card just in time to help make your holiday meals a little easier, whether you order a complete prepared feast or buy-some/make-some-perhaps starting with a cooked turkey. We’ll draw a winner at random from all the tips we receive by the deadline of November 3rd.

Remember, if you haven’t already, sign up for The Whole Deal e-newsletter. You’ll hear from us a few times each month about in-store specials and money-saving tips…and future contests, too.

Hope you enjoyed “value contest month” on our blog during October. Tune in to our Facebook and Twitter feeds for more weekly contests throughout the holidays.

With tight budgets, lots of cooks are turning to their home kitchens to recreate their restaurant favorites. We’re happy to hear lots of you out there being ambitious and creative with your culinary endeavors! Check out our winning entry for this past week’s Value Guru contest:

Congratulations to our randomly selected* winner…

Docletic:

Pasta Pomodoro in San Francisco bay area has a simple butter sauted bay leaf butternut squash ravioli recipe that I have made at home using store bought Japanese noodle/dumpling dough wraps. I’d love a better recipe. Also, the pomogranate martinis at Longhorns steakhouse – to die for. The cactus pears are good to, but nothing like pomogranate.

Docletic will be receiving a $50 gift card and three of our favorite cookbooks! Keep an eye out tomorrow and all this month for more great value giveaways on The Whole Story!

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* This comment was randomly chosen using random.org.

October is a perilous time for apple and pear growers everywhere, because you never know what Mother Nature will dish out this late in the fall. The 2009 harvest season is no exception – snow in New England and hard freezes in Michigan and Washington State are putting late harvest varieties at risk of severe damage or even total loss. This is also an El Niño year, which means a wetter, more blustery winter – a concern even after the harvest is finished and the trees enter dormancy. The damage this season has been minor so far, but still painful. A prized organic Braeburn apple crop in Washington was nearly wiped out by cold that also caused severe damage in Pink Lady crops (generally the last variety to come off the trees). The risk of freeze damage is a powerful motivator for growers to get apples and pears off the trees all over the country. The positive side effect? Local product is now at its best and most abundant. Read the rest of this entry »

September brought rain to Georgia and lots of it! At first, people were excited. Our lakes and rivers were replenished and our gardens and farms were happy, but then it kept raining… and raining… and raining. Georgia suffered severe flooding, which caused damage to people’s homes, cars, businesses and even families. Among those affected by these horrific floods was a group of small farmers who lost their crops, structures, equipment, precious topsoil and livestock.

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My very favorite pie is pumpkin. Made from freshly cooked sugar pie pumpkins, it’s something I look forward to each year. While fresh pumpkin might sound challenging, it’s really a lot easier to prepare than you might think! Whether you cook from scratch or open a can, pumpkin is nutritious, versatile and a must for your recipes.

The word pumpkin originates from the Greek word “pepon” which means “large melon.” Pumpkin is a fruit (like all members of the melon family) and is native to North America where it has been used as food for thousands of years. In the United States, 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkins are produced every year, and they can range in size from very small (less than a pound) to gargantuan (over one thousand pounds!).

Read the rest of this entry »

Capriole Farmstead Goat Cheese
Greenville, Indiana
In 1976, Judy Schad and her family fled the suburbs for a small farm in the hills of southern Indiana, in search of a more sustainable lifestyle. More than 30 years later, Judy has built a goat cheese farm on the 80 acres surrounding her home where some 500 goats roam the pastures and woods, while Judy and her crew use their goat milk to make fresh, ripened, and aged chevres by hand.

Did you know October is Fair Trade Month? We’re celebrating with Fairhills Bus Stop Red and Bus Stop White. Both of these wines are products of one of the world’s largest Fair Trade projects, a joint venture between exporter, Origin Wine, Mendoza Vineyards in Argentina and Du Toitskloof Winery in South Africa. Over 1,400 farm employees and their families benefit from this unique social development project.

The Fairhills Bus Stop Red is full-bodied with aromas of berry fruit and chocolate and hints of plum on the lingering palate. It goes great with fall and winter dishes like hearty soups and stews, grilled meats like pork loin and lamb chops or pastas in red sauce. You don’t have to take our word for it’s great taste – The Beverage Institute’s World Wine Championships awarded it the Gold Medal. And what makes this wine taste even better? Proceeds are dedicated to purchasing a school bus for the children of the over 800 farm employees and communities of San Martin, Lavalle and Medrano in Mendoza, Argentina.

If you’re in the mood for something a little on the lighter side, try the Fairhills Bus Stop White. It has a creamy acidity on the palate with flavors of apricot and melon and aromas of lemon grass on the nose with a hint of spice. You can enjoy it with shellfish, grilled trout and vegetables, poached salmon or chicken dishes. This one brought home the Silver Medal in the World Wine Championships. Plus it will be so much more enjoyable knowing that proceeds from this wine are dedicated to purchasing a small bus to transport tourists from the city to the communities.

So raise a glass to Fair Trade this month and know that you have impacted the lives of over 1400 farm employees and their families. Salud! Cheers!

Given the heightened focus on flu this season, here’s a very pertinent encore presentation about the homeopathic remedy Oscillo.

Christophe Merville the national Pharmacy Development Manager for Boiron joins us to talk about homeopathy and share with us the benefits of Oscillo during the cold and flu season.

Podcast: Download