How do you folks live without a Whole Foods Market in the state? (Montpelier: renting, co-op)

[NYLIER]

Originally Posted by Riley.

Make sure you ask for pricing at farmer's markets. One time, I got jammed paying $5 for one cucumber. I was too embarassed to say I didn't want to pay it, so I did.
A friend of mine said she paid $12 for some purple fingerllngs and same scenario. She didn't want to say, WTH?? so she bought them.

Thanks for the heads up, Riley. I haven't been to a farmers market for over seven years. When my husband was alive we liked to go but since he's gone, I don't cook as much. I always thought they were very expensive.

[kyle19125]

Newsflash...Whole Foods is not expensive when considering how their food is produced.

The uneducated who have no idea of how food is produced or where it comes from are quick to scream about costs without knowing how that packaged item made it to the store shelves and into their grubby little hands.

Grassfed, pasture-raised and organic items require more effort than factory-farmed products, yet produce a much lower yield. The economics if one has the ability to wrap their head around it is much tighter with a minimal profit or loss when priced competitively with conventional products. Businesses do not and cannot survive in that environment, and certainly not getting rich under the current formula unlike factory food producers.

Furthermore coops and farmers markets are not as likely to have product standards like Whole Foods. Read up..

https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/qua...meat-standards
https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/qua...food-standards
https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/qua...ient-standards

[AtkinsonDan]

Originally Posted by Champ le monstre du lac

What I wish we did have in Vermont is a Market Basket. That's what we really need up here. They've expanded to Maine and Rhode Island in recent years, so there's always hope for that I suppose.

I don't think Market Basket has ventured west of the Connecticut River at all yet, even in its original state of Massachusetts.

[Champ le monstre du lac]

Originally Posted by AtkinsonDan

I don't think Market Basket has ventured west of the Connecticut River at all yet, even in its original state of Massachusetts.

Nope, the closest Market Basket has expanded to the river or VT is Claremont, NH and they also have a store off I-89 in Warner, NH. It'd be nice if they perhaps opened one in Lebanon and worked their way into Vermont from there. But that's probably a pipe dream I know. Western Mass has the Big Y chain, which is actually pretty good, I'd gladly welcome them or MB into Vermont. Market Basket has really upped their game in the last ten years. They usually open two or three new stores a year, most recently they've opened one in North Conway, NH.

Vermont's primary mainline grocery stores are Shaw's, Hannaford, and Price Chopper. The quality at Shaw's has really taken a nosedive ever since they've been acquired by Albertsons. Hannaford is the best of the three, and Price Chopper is just okay.

[OutdoorLover]

"How do you folks live without a Whole Foods Market?" LOL - definitely a bourgeois problem. I live in the outer Boston suburbs and although there are more than a dozen Whole Paycheck shops around Boston, there are none near my house and I have not really felt tempted to go out of my way for them. Somehow, I have survived, so far. I do like Trader Joe's for select yummy items - it's noticeably more expensive than the regular grocer, but it's still a good value and the prices aren't egregious.

[Riley.]

"whole paycheck" LOL......

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

"How do you folks live without a Whole Foods Market?" LOL - definitely a bourgeois problem. I live in the outer Boston suburbs and although there are more than a dozen Whole Paycheck shops around Boston, there are none near my house and I have not really felt tempted to go out of my way for them. Somehow, I have survived, so far. I do like Trader Joe's for select yummy items - it's noticeably more expensive than the regular grocer, but it's still a good value and the prices aren't egregious.

Originally Posted by Riley.

"whole paycheck" LOL......

Kind of lame humor (and wildly inaccurate) unless you're working at $5 an hour.

[Champ le monstre du lac]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Furthermore coops and farmers markets are not as likely to have product standards like Whole Foods. Read up..

https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/qua...meat-standards
https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/qua...food-standards
https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/qua...ient-standards

Whole Foods is not the only food store with product standards. Read up...
https://healthylivingmarket.com/what-we-stand-for/

And better yet, when one cares about locally sourced -
https://healthylivingmarket.com/commitment-to-local/

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Kind of lame humor (and wildly inaccurate) unless you're working at $5 an hour.

Triggered much? We got quality and high food standards covered. We don't need Whole Foods. We have better options.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by Champ le monstre du lac

Whole Foods is not the only food store with product standards. Read up...
https://healthylivingmarket.com/what-we-stand-for/

And better yet, when one cares about locally sourced -
https://healthylivingmarket.com/commitment-to-local/



Triggered much? We got quality and high food standards covered. We don't need Whole Foods. We have better options.

Speaking of triggered....yippy-skippy for your quaint little local food option. When they expand to a nationwide operation with over 500 stores that also purchase local when possible, let me know.
It's also called competition and there's no reason to belittle unless insecure about how one stacks up to the other.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Newsflash...Whole Foods is not expensive when considering how their food is produced.

The uneducated who have no idea of how food is produced or where it comes from are quick to scream about costs without knowing how that packaged item made it to the store shelves and into their grubby little hands.

Grassfed, pasture-raised and organic items require more effort than factory-farmed products, yet produce a much lower yield. The economics if one has the ability to wrap their head around it is much tighter with a minimal profit or loss when priced competitively with conventional products. Businesses do not and cannot survive in that environment, and certainly not getting rich under the current formula unlike factory food producers.

Furthermore coops and farmers markets are not as likely to have product standards like Whole Foods. Read up..

https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/qua...meat-standards
https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/qua...food-standards
https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/qua...ient-standards

Perhaps, but is there really any advantage to "grassfed, pasture raised and organic?" Whole Foods is very expensive and I say that by comparing identical products sold at Whole Foods with Raley's and Safeway. I have friends and relatives who are diehard Whole Food customers and I respect their choice, but as hard as I try I just can't by the hype