{"id":2524,"date":"2009-08-06T22:56:00","date_gmt":"2009-08-06T22:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/2009\/08\/whole-foods-we-sell-a-bunch-of-junk.html"},"modified":"2016-09-21T10:12:02","modified_gmt":"2016-09-21T14:12:02","slug":"whole-foods-we-sell-a-bunch-of-junk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2524","title":{"rendered":"Whole Foods: We sell a bunch of junk"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This is a quote from the WF big boss, John Mackey. The struggling US store says it would attempt to educate in the ways of healthy eating<\/p>\n

\n
\n

When Whole Foods arrived in the UK two years ago it was hailed as a mecca for those determined to follow a healthy diet. But today the struggling US store’s chief executive will probably want to eat his words after admitting that, alongside the organic carrots and bags of granola, the shops “sell a bunch of junk”. <\/p>\n

The comments came in an interview in which John Mackey was attempting to outline plans for the store to put more emphasis on healthy eating ? amid suggestions that it has recently indulged consumer cravings for more indulgent offerings.<\/p>\n

He went on to say that Whole Foods was going to launch a healthy eating education initiative to encourage customers and employees to reduce obesity.<\/p>\n

But Mackey told the Wall Street Journal: “Basically, we used to think it was enough just to sell healthy food, but we know it is not enough. We sell all kinds of candy. We sell a bunch of junk.”<\/p>\n

He said the store would now attempt to educate in the ways of healthy eating: “There will be someone in a kiosk to answer questions, they’ll have cookbooks and health books, there will be some cooking classes. It will be about how to select food, because people don’t know.”<\/p>\n

His comments come as Whole Foods reels from bad news. Jeff Turnas, who was parachuted in to take charge of the group’s faltering UK operation last month, said Mackey’s words “had been lost in translation”, saying that what his boss meant was that eating too many crisps or cakes even if they are organic is not the best way to keep healthy.<\/p>\n

The main Whole Foods store is in Kensington, west London, and it runs a handful of convenience stores, formerly trading as Fresh &amp; Wild in parts of London.<\/p>\n

But its British foray has been an unhappy one. The group made an operating loss for the year to 30 September 2008 of ?36m, widening from a ?9.9m shortfall for the previous 12 months. Its parent company, Whole Foods Market Inc, has been forced to write off almost ?50m as part of the effort to establish a foothold in the UK.<\/p>\n

Mackey said Whole Foods would attempt to rid its stores of unhealthy food, starting with a campaign to get its employees healthier, and would be going back to its roots in selling healthy food.<\/p>\n

“Right now, if you work for the company you get a 20% discount card,” Mackey said. “We’re going to create incentives for our team members to get healthier.”<\/p>\n

Mackey said Whole Foods is going back to its roots of selling healthy food.<\/p>\n

“Healthy eating went on at Whole Foods from at least about 1980 to 1995. Now we’ve had a 15 year run for the foodie philosophy. We are launching a reversal now. We will be moving into food as health.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a quote from the WF big boss, John Mackey. The struggling US store says it would attempt to educate in the ways of healthy eating When Whole Foods … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[494],"tags":[456],"class_list":["post-2524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-whole-foods"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Qv5g-EI","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2269,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2269","url_meta":{"origin":2524,"position":0},"title":"‘Twinkie Diet’: A Physician’s Take on What Really Happens","author":"Will Clower","date":"November 14, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The Twinkie Diet is much like the Twinkie itself ... great marketing, but there is not a great deal of substance inside. I interviewed Dr Haub regarding his \"Twinkie Diet\" on my radio program, and he is a very likable guy who is doing something novel to make a point:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2099,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2099","url_meta":{"origin":2524,"position":1},"title":"Who’s responsible for nutrition? Nearly half say food makers","author":"Will Clower","date":"May 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Nearly half of people hold food manufacturers and processors responsible, according to a new survey.Really? You mean the people who make Twinkies are responsible for making sure they are nutritious? You mean the people who pour out 600 calories of sugar in a Venti, Bucket-o-Caramel Macchiato are responsible for making\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-0CFb8Nog8K4\/Td4xlhT45LI\/AAAAAAAADGk\/RQ_lnDs8iTE\/s320\/FakeFood.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2634,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2634","url_meta":{"origin":2524,"position":2},"title":"Legislating Food Compliance","author":"Will Clower","date":"January 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's the question:Should we look at legislating junk food advertisments aimed at kids?I understand regulation of cigarette ads to children, because nicotene is addictive and tobacco is lethal ... a terrible combination that mystifies anyone who asks, \"and WHY is a lethal addictive carcinogen on the market at all?\"But having\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2232,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2232","url_meta":{"origin":2524,"position":3},"title":"Radio Show Notes: Building Better Brains","author":"Will Clower","date":"December 4, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Here are my show notes for the program RIGHT NOW (12\/04\/10, noon EST), we're giving you 9 ways to boost your brain power -- or at least make your slide into forgetfulness take longer!!AUDIO location: http:\/\/www.wmnyradio.com\/business_of_health.aspx\u00a0VIDEO location: http:\/\/www.ustream.tv\/channel\/the-will-clower-showHealthy food and memoryHealthy eating lowers your risk of diabetes, hypertension, and heart\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "RadioWill"","block_context":{"text":"RadioWill","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=323"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bookmark and Share","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/s7.addthis.com\/static\/btn\/v2\/lg-share-en.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11046,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=11046","url_meta":{"origin":2524,"position":4},"title":"What Would You Give To Add 13 Healthy Years to Your Life?","author":"Will Clower","date":"March 7, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Or a more appropriate question might be ... what would you give up?\u00a0Because a couple of very simple changes to your diet could leave you with up to 13 healthy years of your life. These are extra years you could enjoy with your family, friends, kids and grandkids.\u00a0\u00a0 To reach\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/nuts-and-legumes-almonds-carbs-pubdomain-Maddi-Bazzocco-1024x615-JzaR5j.jpeg?fit=1024%2C615&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/nuts-and-legumes-almonds-carbs-pubdomain-Maddi-Bazzocco-1024x615-JzaR5j.jpeg?fit=1024%2C615&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/nuts-and-legumes-almonds-carbs-pubdomain-Maddi-Bazzocco-1024x615-JzaR5j.jpeg?fit=1024%2C615&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/nuts-and-legumes-almonds-carbs-pubdomain-Maddi-Bazzocco-1024x615-JzaR5j.jpeg?fit=1024%2C615&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2524"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3519,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2524\/revisions\/3519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}