What Happened to Whole Foods?

Grocery stores have made a habit out of pricing their merchandise one way and charging a higher amount once you get to the check-out line. I don’t ever think it’s intentional, but it’s certainly rampant. That’s why, whenever I can, I watch the price of the items as they're rung in, looking for errors.

Unfortunately, I’m usually too busy unloading the cart or searching the bottom of my purse for my wallet to pay attention to the prices I'm being charged.

Yesterday, though, I was at Whole Foods (www.wholefoods.com) with Mark. When we shop together, he’s in charge of unloading the cart and payment, and I’m in charge of making sure we’re not being over-charged. Everything was ringing in correctly and then I noticed the two bunches of organic kale we bought—which should have been $1.99/each—rang up at $2.50/each and that the bag of Celtic sea salt we bought—which should have been $6.49—rang up at $10.50.

Usually, the man or woman working the register will fix the price or, more likely, call someone over who will run through the store to verify the price. But something different happened. The salt was clearly marked $6.49 and I thought the really engaging clerk would simply delete the $10.50 and re-ring it for the correct price. But he said, “Because the product is clearly marked, and we over-charged you, it's free.”

Free? I don’t understand that word in relation to Whole Foods. [Friends of mine used to call “Bread & Circus”—one of the store’s earlier incarnations—“Bleed & Suck Us,” referring to the company’s wild mark-ups.]

“Okay,” I said, rather slowly, waiting for the catch.

“Since the kale isn’t priced, please stop at Customer Service on the way out,” he continued. “If we did over-charge you, you’ll get one bunch of kale for free and we’ll refund you the overage amount.”

Free and refund? Okay, seriously, where am I?

I’ve been a fan of Whole Foods since I walked into one many years ago, and I’ve always defended it when others attacked its high prices and aggressive growth. With Whole Food's new “accurate pricing policy,” I have even more to love.

Question of the blog: Do you know if this new policy is available at every Whole Foods or just the Salem, MA store I visited? [I can't find any information on their website and didn't think to ask at the store . . . I was too stunned.]

Who is That White-Bearded Guy?

Take a walk around almost any health food store and you’ll probably pass a photo of a smiling man sporting a white beard on some of the products you see: It’s Dr. Weil.

Who is Dr. Weil? Here’s how his website (http://www.drweil.com/) answers that question: Andrew Weil, M.D., has devoted the past thirty years to developing, practicing, and teaching others about the principles of integrative medicine. Dr. Weil combines a Harvard education and a lifetime of practicing natural and preventive medicine to provide a unique approach to health care which encompasses body, mind, and spirit.

Harvard sounds impressive but, for me, there’s something you can trust in the Doctor’s eyes.

Stay with me for a minute. I was recently in New York City for Go Green Expo (www.gogreenexpo.com) with Debby from Real Green Goods (www.realgreengoods.com) and I was telling Debby about my favorite raw snack bar: Lara Bars (www.larabar.com) and Debby, my green guru, asked me: Is it organic? I admit . . . I hadn’t looked. When I did, here’s what I found: They are six natural ingredients or less and there’s no added sugar or GMO and they’re gluten-free, dairy-free, soy free, kosher, and vegan without fillers, supplements, flavorings, or sweeteners but they are not organic.

Later that weekend, Debby and I were getting breakfast at Whole Foods Market (www.wholefoodsmarket.com) and I saw that Dr. Weil has raw snack bars of his own: Dr. Weil's Pure Fruit & Nut Bar. They are just like Lara Bars, but—this time—they are organic. His banana bar has just three ingredients and has a strong banana flavor (that is real banana, nothing imitation). I bought an entire box.

Question of the blog: If you’re a fan of Dr. Weil, what’s your favorite part of the Weil lifestyle?