Is Whole Foods ‘Whole Paycheck?’
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Whole Foods CEO and strict vegan John MacKey said that he believed an American could eat better and spend only $200 a month on food even if they shopped at Whole Foods.
He rejects the media’s attempt the label Whole Foods with the nickname “Whole Paycheck” noting that his store is really not more expensive and could actually be cheaper for smart shoppers. MacKey told the journal “to eat a really healthy diet is really the most inexpensive way you can eat.” Adding that a truly healthy diet means plant products like fruits, vegetables, and grains.
MacKey mentions that the most expensive products at Whole Foods are things that he would rather customers did not buy like processed foods and meat. If people were buying more whole foods from Whole Foods, they’d actually be saving money on food costs and would be improving their health.
The problem, MacKey notes, is that “Americans, for the most part, don’t know how to cook.” For that, Whole Foods has launched a program in some of their stores that will help teach customers to cook high quality meals made from a few inexpensive ingredients.
Several bloggers have already debunked the ‘Whole Paycheck’ myth. Noshtopia released a report a few years ago detailing the actual costs of typical grocery purchases at Whole Foods vs. Safeway:
In addition to Nostopia’s findings, The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford also debunked the Whole Foods price myth when comparing common shopping carts with identical items. In both of these cases, Whole Foods groceries actually cost LESS than their mainstream competitors.
The Boston Globe’s investigation just last month found that although Whole Foods was not the least expensive, it did fall in the middle range for cost when compared to 4 other stores and only by a few dollars.
Even if the myth were true, the benefit of getting all your groceries pesticide free and organic should make the couple dollars difference worth it. I have to side with Whole Foods CEO John MacKey on this one, if we all bought fresh produce and grains and stayed away from packaged, processed foods, and meat entirely, we’d probably only spend $200 a month on healthy organic food from Whole Foods.
Think of it this way; if you only spend $200 a month on groceries then you’ll have more money to splurge on vegan junk food. Right?
