Wholly Unsatisfied

The swallows return each spring to Capistrano. Elvis fanatics trek to Graceland for the King’s birthday each year. And each season, Red Sox Nation makes its annual pilgrimage to Fenway. We all have our Meccas.

When I started this local, organic food adventure I imagined that there would be no destination more fulfilling than Whole Foods. Now, it’s not exactly like Whole Foods stores are completely inaccessible to me. I have at least three within five miles of my house. However, I have a Roche Bros. Supermarket about 1,200 feet from my house. I don’t think I need to tell you that 99.9% of the time, I do my grocery shopping there.

But, last weekend we were heading to the Fleet Center (yes, that’s what I still and will always call it) for a Celtics game and we parked on Cambridge Street. Right in front of Whole Foods. With a grocery list in my bag. It was like Mecca came to me. It was a no brainer for us to “run in” to the store following the game and do my shopping.

Ug. Let’s just say, I’ll never do THAT again. First off, I’ll put in some disclaimers. It was the afternoon before the Superbowl; I’m sure every grocery store in the country was mobbed and this Whole Foods was no exception. Second, it’s tough to shop at a new store; I don’t know about you, but I have a detailed map of my grocery market burned into my brain.

With those things said, I thought that they would be well offset by how easy it would be to find healthful, local groceries at Whole Foods. I was wrong. Getting my shopping done took twice the normal time. It all started in the produce department.

Whole Foods makes no specific claims around local, seasonal food options, but I couldn’t help being stuck by the tomatoes and mangoes and leafy greens. Not interested. Which was fine, as the only produce on my list was shallots and mushrooms. Were they organic? No idea. They weren’t labeled. Also, in just a quick glace around, I counted at least ten signs that read “conventionally grown.” For a girl in marketing, I’d loved that spin.

Finding organic options on the shelves was – of course – very easy, though there were plenty of “conventional” options there too. And once I got back to the non-packaged goods – cheese, bakery, seafood – it was again murky as to what was organic, sustainable, or local. Very little of it had clear labels. To say the least, I left a little frustrated and a little poorer (I’d guesstimate my bill to be 20% higher than normal).

Now, the above may sound like an anti-Whole Foods tirade. It’s not exactly meant to be. You see, what struck me was that I found the experience to not be terribly different from what happens each week at Roche Bros. At Roche Bros., I still have to spend time considering each item I put in my cart… is it local? does it have one of those misleading “all natural” labels, but no actual claims to be organic? is it packaged in the least impactful way? It’s just that, at Roche Bros., I expect to have to do a little work to figure out which options are the right choices. Shopping at Whole Foods didn’t make these considerations a “gimme” the way I thought it would.

So, again this post isn’t meant to be anti-Whole Foods, but rather pro your local grocery store. If you spend a little extra time advocating for yourself (read labels carefully! what are they really saying about your food?), you can find lots of great local and organic options at your grocery store.

In a recent trip to Roche Bros., I found some excellent local and organic selections that I never knew they carried… including a delicious Brie cheese made on a small Vermont farm; organic spices; and organic hummus. Better yet, I did not pay more than $0.50 more for any of these things than I would have for their “conventional” counterparts. I look forward to new finds this week! I’ll keep you posted.

Ok, this whole post has been pretty preachy (sorry), but for my one actual suggestion this week, it would be to get involved with your local grocery store. You can take this as far as you want to… the chatty type? Ask to talk to the manager on duty – tell him or her about what you’d like to see them carry.

Looking for a less ambitious option? Do what I did… I Friended Roche Bros. on Facebook and I posted on their wall about how much I appreciated the local and organic offerings at their store. Guess what? They wrote back. They’re listeninggg. Talk to them. So, make that 99.99% of the time I’ll be shopping there.