Nearly a decade ago, I dated a guy who always raved about Whole Foods Market.
I didn't get it.
Now, with one in Naperville, I get it. Sadly for the ex-, it's 10 years too late for me to say, "You're right. It rocks."
My husband and I love to spend a few hours at Whole Foods on a Saturday. We can eat lunch (outside when it's not freezing) and generally while away the hours amongst healthful and organic products. It's 50,000 square feet of adult amusement park if you're into groceries. Plus, Saturday is a good sample day.
As if that weren't enough, Whole Foods offers various seminars and classes on site. This excited me and also helped to explain the little community room and kitchen tucked away in to one side of the store.
There are support groups, discussion groups, cooking classes, nutritional discussions, health events, sample giveaways and more. Some are free, some aren't. Some require you to sign up in advance, some don't. Just go to your local store's page at the Whole Foods Web site to see the calendar.
If you'd told me last year that I'd sign up for a class at my grocery store, I'd have laughed at you and told you that I already know how to saute, thank you very much.
But last week, I was calling Whole Foods to register for an event.
Right now, the two closest Whole Foods are in Naperville and Wheaton at
2607 W. 75th St., Naperville (630-579-7700) and 151 Rice Lake Square, Wheaton (630-588-1500).
Shop, sign up and enjoy!
Grocery shopping with class
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Julie Todd
Julie Todd is the night editor at The Herald News in Joliet. She and her
husband are looking to cut the chemicals and get back to basics -- minus the
granola and hemp clothing. They live in a home they bought last year in
Plainfield, where they're making changes to create their own little patch of
utopia.
That's all good if you can afford their prices and your not feeding a family of more than two adults. With people tighting their budgets and losing their income, Whole Foods is too expensive.
I agree. Whole Foods is expensive but I don't do all my grocery shopping there. I get specific items I can't get elsewhere like ground buffalo. Yes, it's pricey, however, it's as lean or leaner than chicken, no heavy meat taste and definitely healthier than beef all around. I would much prefer to eat tastier and healthier foods, in smaller portions and cut back on the junk that I eat. To me, that keeps my food costs down, and I get healthier by cutting out the extras.
If you ask me, I think the entire food system in the US is a mess. It's so much easier to feed ourselves and our children large quantities of fattening foods like mac n cheese that's 3 boxes for $1 when on sale than it is to give them fresh veggies with lean meat at the main meal. Eating well means better health and right now, it's much easier to eat cheaply and be fat and unhealthy.
It is indeed pricey. We certainly don't do all of our shopping there. On our Whole Foods Saturdays, we do a lot of window shopping there, and get the items we can't get anywhere else or the items that are so different that they're really important to us.
Then we head to Jewel with the Preferred Card and coupons in hand.
I caught "Oprah" the other night. This is a confession because I'm not an Oprah person. But they had the author of "Eat This, Not That" on. He was explaining the tricky choices, like how a glazed doughnut can actually be healthier than a multigrain bagel with low-fat cream cheese. (I'm hoping the Plainfield library gets those books. They look like a hoot.) Anyway, one of the mothers of the obese teens on the show said that even if she knows the right choices, they're often too expensive. I swear to god the rich editor/author and Oprah just kind of blinked at her. I think they can't remember having to make meal choices based solely on what meat is less than $2 a pound or using canned veggies (with less vitamins) because they're a fraction of the cost. Or realizing getting a fat-laden value meal at McDonald's can be cheaper than putting together a fresh salad with veggies on top.
It's screwed up; it really is.