Whole Foods, the Kmart of Natural Foods

http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/eastbay/stories/2008/06/09/daily42.html

This article redoubles my feeling that buying good food from local farmers in local contexts is vitally important. It reinforces my choice to shop more at local health food stores like Staff of Life and the Herb Room and the 4 farmers markets a week that I now have access to (Tues=UCSC farm, Wed=downtown market, Fri=UCSC farm, Sat=westside market).

Bottom line--I trust my local hippies to keep my food and household products safer than I trust large conglomerates. I do still go to TJs and the Grocery Outlet to save money on some staples, so I'm not implying that I win the local natural food eater award; I'm just doing better than I have in the past.

Industrializing food and other products on a national (and international) scope seems to have a detrimental affect on the quality of product and it manages to dehumanize both consumer and producer. The health food and natural cleaning products are not always what they seem, at least according to this lawsuit which says that Whole Foods 365 brand among others failed to label the toxic levels of certain chemicals that are in their products. I can imagine that people who feel safe shopping at Whole Foods would balk at the toxic warning stickers/signs.

Admittedly, I've never liked the rhetoric around Whole Foods, which markets the green movement as an trendy and expensive accoutrement for the elite. It seems designed around selling a sense of ecochic superiority to the bourgeoisie. However, despite its status as an industrial behemoth, Whole Foods does make efforts toward environmentalism and is better than Safeway (and, despite my title, is much much better than SuperKmart or Walmart). I don't want to imply that people should sacrifice *better* just because they aren't/can't do the *best* option.

Beach reading?

I am taking a vacation, a whole 5 days that are going to be just about me eating nice food, drinking nice drinks, and plopping myself on the beach to read and occasionally cool off in the ocean.

It is the first time in my life that I've planned a vacation just for myself, not visiting family, not going somewhere with a partner whose needs/whims I will have to consider (my Bosnian may join me for a couple days, but he knows that this is MY vacation--luckily we seem to be pretty compatible in terms of activities).

I'm really excited to have time to relax and recharge. The only thing missing right now is a delicious reading list.

So tell me, flist, what should I read?

I usually favor science fiction (especially Orson Scott Card, Isaac Asimov, and Octavia Butler), historical fiction, women's fiction, and biography/memoirs, but feel free to suggest something out of left field if you think I'd enjoy it.

Rumi serves up humble pie

Thanks, sasha_khan for posting this on dailyrumi. I needed some reassurance that it is completely and blessedly human to not have mastered ANYTHING. (and wow, doesn't the editing phase of writing just STING!)

If you wish your misery to end,
seek also to lose your wisdom-
the wisdom born of human illusion,
that which lacks the light
of God's overflowing grace.
The wisdom of this world increases doubt;
the wisdom of Faith releases you into the sky.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


-- Mathnawi, II: 3200-3203
Rumi: Daylight