Discussion Board

I am so happy that Whole Foods carries a variety of McDougall friendly foods with the Health Starts Here logo on them. Rip Esselstyn and Jeff Novick are involved in this project as well as many others I’m sure. The first time I saw the good healthy food was in Austin while on vacation at the mother ship Whole Foods. My wife and I drove 30 miles yesterday to the Whole Foods in Seattle to stock up on some of the products. We bought no oil salad dressings, Rip’s Big Bag Cereal and I bought a whole bunch of pre-made deli items that were delicious. What a great program! One of the deli items was quinoa, rice, sweet potato cakes. Man they were good! Check out your local Whole Foods and look for the label. The products have no added oil, all plant based, low sugar, low sodium and they taste great.

We have Whole Foods Markets in Atlanta, and they are impressive. Problem is I live 37 miles from the closest one. That and they are just priced way too high. The times I splurged and went there I really enjoyed it. Matter of fact my wife and I went with another couple to the FOK showing in Midtown last year and went to Whole Foods after. Nice night out.

I will definitely need to check that our on our next trip to WF. We go maybe every other month or so just to get things that we can't get elsewhere, like miso. I also like to stock up on the items in their bulk bin, like oats, beans and grains.

As much as I appreciate the few health starts here products and salad bar that are available at my store, I've noticed a steady creep towards allowing dairy, oil, and even meat in some of the products with this label, to the point where I don't trust it anymore. First it was a few things with oil in the health starts here salad bar, then eggs, then chicken, then the prepared lunch packages included feta, chicken, and even beef, but still have the health starts here logo. The Engine 2 and other books have all but disappeared from my local Whole Foods, and now they don't even bother to put out oil free dressings out anymore. Most of the people I see using the bar end up pouring gobs of creamy, fatty dressings on their salads anyway, so it doesn't seem to be doing much good for anybody. Now the one Health Starts Here soup they used to have in the soup bar has disappeared, and the prepared dish or two in the counter area had oil on them, despite the logo.

I'm still glad for the salad bar because I can pick out enough to get a good meal, but it's a bummer that the Health Starts Here logo can no longer be trusted as meaning it's really McDougall friendly.

thanks for the tip, HealthFreak!

will keep an eye out for those items you've mentioned - just have to hit WF for some very specific things once or twice a month (their sparkling water - flavored, but not sweetened, pet food, bulk items, soap, bouillion cubes, etc) love the salad bar, too, and ours usually still has a great (allowable) soup or two...

i love WF, and generally find them more trustworthy than indy little shops

More than likely, the HSH prepared items were not selling very well. Whole Foods has a large clientele of 'foodies' who like rich foods made from higher quality, fresh ingredients. Perceived flavor trumps health and until those priorities change (too late for many), most folks continue to opt for the high fat foods made from animal products they are accustomed to (addicted to?).

Whole Foods has to satisfy the demands of their customer base otherwise they simply go out of business. Change will be slow and John Mackey is pushing it about as fast as he can given the constraints imposed by the consumption patterns of his existing customer base.

Very true and an important issue.

The program is still going forward and with great success in many areas and will be expanding even more in 2012 and 2013 with more support so that more stores can be successful at it.

In Health
Jeff

Ick, dairy and meat in the Health Starts Here items? I'd rather see them stock less HSH items and keep their integrity than sneak ingredients in them.

I shop at Whole Foods all the time, and I never noticed them. But, I did read a posted request for them at one of the WF near me. I'll have to go food shopping today or tomorrow, so I'll see if I can locate them then.

There are many misunderstandings in regard to the program and what is allowed and what is actually in the food. There is also some variance on how it has been implemented in individual stores. However, that is all changing this year with much greater education and support for these stores.

The program supports an animal free, oil free diet and most all of the food is to represent that and labeled as such. Some stores, who are doing it right, have many many options to choose from that are not only free of any animal products, but also of any oil and added salt and/or sugars. We will see much more of this as the year passes.

In Health
Jeff

I work at a Dutch version of Whole Foods... in The Netherlands, we don't have nearly as much vegan/low fat/ no oil products as you in the States have...

Jeff Novick: Couldn't you come to the Netherlands and show us how it's done? We need you!!!! (No, really!)

This is the exact thing that I’m worried about. Probably 99% of the customers in the store have no idea how healthy the Health Starts Here offerings are. I’m ecstatic that I can actually buy some prepared foods that are as healthy as what I cook for myself. Most people don’t even realize or care how great it is to find food with no added oil. I’m afraid that economics will drive out the healthy options. I will faithfully drive 60 miles round trip once per month to buy Health Starts Here products. I hope more people do as well.

I learned first hand about the economic reality of finding plant based healthy foods from a local restaurant. I started a group of local people who want to approach restaurants about adding vegan/healthy menu choices. The first owner I talked to was very sympathetic to our cause and she has been a vegan in the past. She explained that she has been building her business up for ten years. It is now one of the best restaurants in Tacoma. She said that since 99% of her customers are not interested in vegan menu options, she can’t afford to invest the time and money to create plant based menu items. She has a few entrees that can be changed a little bit to make them vegan but that’s as much as she can do.

I'm glad to report that the Whole Foods on 64th and Roosevelt in Seattle is knocking it out of the park right now. Also, the prepared deli items taste great!

This is not exactly true in this case.

Part of the problem is the support of the local regions and stores in some areas. Those regions and stores that are fully supporting the venture, are doing well as noted above. Those that aren't will be coming more on board this year as the real hurdle here has been the proper education and support of the company at the regional and store levels and not consumer acceptance.

WFM is also a very decentralized company, which has made some of this harder.

It will happen.

Stay tuned.

In Health
Jeff

Thanks Jeff, this is encouraging news.

I'm glad to hear that the absence of HSH items at certain WF's is more a problem of execution than of concept.

"The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been." — Henry Kissinger