Is Whole Foods really that much more expensive than, say, a regular grocery store? Not a bargain market like Shop’n'Save or Aldis. In my area, we have Schnucks and Dierbergs. Dierbergs is definitely more expensive. They have more organic items than Schnucks but their produce is terrible, so it’s not really worth shopping there.
I finally put together a list of common items that I would consider buying organic, rather than “normal” and I wanted to see how much extra I’d be spending. The results were somewhat surprising.
For the produce, I used this list of produce most likely to retain pesticide residue. These are items that I’d prefer to purchase organic. There are some things where the organic price simply isn’t worth it. Bananas, for instance, don’t need to be purchased organic. Apples and grapes, on the other hand, should be organic where possible.
365 is the Whole Food (WF) store brand. Schnucks is abbreviated as Sch. Org = Organic
All purpose flour: 5 lb bag
Pillsbury — $2.99
King Arthur — $4.79 at Sch, $3.99 at WF
365 — $2.99
White sugar
C&H — $2.69 (4 lb) at Sch, $3.99 (5lb) at WF
365 — $5.69 (4lb org), $3.99 (4lb, Vegan/Fair Trade)
Brown sugar
C&H — $1.77 (2lb)
WF — $2.99 (1.5lb)
Black Beans
Bush’s — $1.09
Ranch — $.99
Progresso — $1.00
Sch — $.73
Sch Org — $1.09
Libby’s Org — $1.29
365 — $.99
365 Org — $1.19
Petite Diced Tomatoes
Hunts Natural — $1.33
Sch — $.89
Sch Org — $1.19
365 — $1.19
365 Org — $1.39
Ground Chuck
Sch — $2.99 (on sale, couldn’t find regular price)
Sch Natural — $4.09 ground round (hormone free)
WF — $3.99 (vegetarian fed, hormone free)
Whole Chicken
Sch Natural — $1.49 (hormone free)
WF — $2.29
Apples
Gala
Sch — $1.79
Sch org — $5.99 (3lb bag)
WF — $2.49
Braeburn
Sch — $1.79
Sch org — n/a
WF –$1.69
Grapes: Black Seedless
Sch — $1.99
WF — $3.99
Bell Peppers
Sch — $1.50 each
WF — $4.99/lb
Spinach
Name brand (Dole, maybe?) — $3.69/6 oz bag
Earthgirl org — $5.99/10oz
WF — $1.99/5oz bag, $2.49 bunch
Potatoes: Yukon Gold
Sch — $2.99/5lb bag (on sale, couldn’t find regular price)
WF — $1.49/lb
So there you go. Whole Foods isn’t necessarily Whole Paycheck. You just have to be smart about it!
Where the price is higher, though, especially in produce, you do have to make a decision about whether it’s worth it to you to spend that extra money. Sometimes, you just can’t do it and stay in budget. At those times, you can at least be content that you’re feeding your family fresh fruits and vegetables.
You just do the best you can with what you have.
mom in high heels said,
January 6, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Mmmmmm…I love Whole Foods. Where I used to live, we had Schnucks and Dierbergs too, but I preferred to go to WF. Oh and Trader Joe’s! I love me some Trader Joe’s. In St. Louis, the Trader Joe’s was just across from the WF. They don’t have any of those shops here in Germany, BUT most of the produce here is organic (cause Europeans are into that) or I can go to one of the million and a half farmer’s markets and get fresh produce, cheese and meats. Yummy.
sonyacardiff said,
January 6, 2009 at 3:36 pm
There’s a new WF in St Louis now, in Town and Country. It’s closer than the other one in Brentwood. I do like TJ, but they don’t have much produce, so I just go to WF.
I loved shopping in the UK. I was at the town market almost every week to buy my fresh veg! And yeah, the EU’s GE and pesticide restrictions are much stronger, so it’s less to worry about.