Why is Whole Foods so expensive?

[@Neliel97]

I feel like this thing about having all types of food available all year round is very North-American. I'm from a town near Barcelona and we just buy and eat what's in season. I've been on exchange to Canada this year and it always surprises me to see strawberries sold in December, it's so unsustainable, and they don't even taste good. Just eat seasonal produce people!

[@altahir9515]

In New Zealand some things you can eat all year round, but if it isn't in season it'll be super expensive and not very nice so we tend not to.

[@ceci9570]

I know right It's the same here in Kenya.

[@erwinmoreno23]

Exactly! They dont even taste good. Whats the point?

[@alsternerd]

In Germany we have everything, except asparagus, for the whole year. Most of it coming from southern spanish foil tunnels or north african agriculture

[@matthewcollins4764]

Marthe Tanghe there is just so much wrong with the U.S

[@wendyberrios5957]

You can see how much it’s changes just based on how the interior of the stores look like now. So bright and rigid, when before, there was only strategic lighting to keep electricity consumption low. Whole Foods as a company has turned into something completely different than it once was.

[@danwilson12]

Cause it's not whole foods it's Amazon

[@jenohogan9254]

You're better off purchasing produce from small mom & pop markets and/ or farmers markets that in turn support local (in your area) organic farms. In the end, you're putting money back into your own community and being better to the environment. OR, grow your own. There are a lot of urban cities, like Vancouver, BC that have community gardens all over the place for reasonable rent. :-D

[@binshuo]

Man, I live in metro Vancouver and considering the housing price in this area, growing in the backyard is not quite an option for many people like myself who live in apartment.

[@kristina_lynn]

Great video. I totally agree. I am surprised when so many environmental youtubers eat such huge amounts of tropical, exotic produce. I also think whole foods totally exploits the “ethical” image when most of their food is far from it.

[@Davdingue]

Hey Your work is both awesome and impressive. I can't imagine the quantity of researches and edit behind. Keep going! All my best, David

[@Erythromycin-16]

I work for WFM and have been able to witness the the kind of subtle changes that have been going on for quite some time. When Amazon bought us out lots of people had fears, and rightly so. This is not to crap on Amazon or to say any of the decisions they have made were bad, in fact from a company growth standpoint and worker’s view I think amazon has been very good to us and done a lot of good things. However I will admit it feels like we have lost our soul and what defined us as a company. I don’t feel we are as heavily Involved in local communities, that we are no longer getting our hands dirty and helping people get educated on urban farming and local food production, that we’ve lost touch with our grassroots......well roots. I can see the pain in John Mackeys eyes whenever he has to suck up to Bezos or the more senior people when they talk about how bright they thought our future was. It’s not so much that we’ve done anything wrong in my opinion, as a company. All I’m saying is I think we decided to stop working the humble family farm and go work at a corporate office as an account.

[@LisaAyreSmith]

It's been sad to see some of my favorite products from smaller local vendors disappear after the Amazon takeover.

[@danwilson12]

In the end whole foods despite its ideals is still a business and the approach they were using had flaws that made it unprofitable and the owner tried to salvage what he could by selling rather than simply closing up shop. Logistics of food is complicated and intense. The supermarket game is no joke.

[@edthoreum7625]

All chicken at WFM looks and taste like genetically modified broiler chicken

[@clara6016]

I love your channel. Are you a one-man team? Your videos are beautiful and I appreciate the factuality of your content. Thank you.

[@OurChangingClimate]

I would love to hear your thoughts on Whole Foods and the growing divide in organic farming. Do you think there even is a divide? What do you envision as the best path forward for an organically and environmentally conscious food system? What role should Whole Foods play in that system? Feel free to share and discuss!

[@steve5123456789]

Can you do a video On Raw Milk?

[@rajeevramani9396]

does it really make sense buying products from wholefoods? sure there would be local produce also available with them , how do you as a customer differentiate between real organic and industrial produce when you enter their store?

[@mariusdufour9186]

I feel like we can't supply the entire population with hand-picked local organic produce, if only because the price is prohibitive for many, and because many densely populated areas just don't have the agricultural land to grow enough food to sustain the population. It would be naive to assume that that is possible, hence the new industrialised organic food industry. I'd argue that there is more to gain from regionalising and improving industrial agriculture than there is from telling everyone to buy local if it is within their means. A way needs to be found to provide affordable organic produce to the masses, and it's not going to be the local labour-intensive small scale operations that upper-middle-class green types are so fond of paying through the nose for. Of course, shipping organic watermelons and avocados across the world is pointless, but shipping in seasonal produce from a couple hundred kms away is inevitable for maintaining enough food supply in many places. That's what whole foods should be doing, figuring out ways to sell regionally grown seasonal organic produce for lower prices. That will involve some degree of scale and industrialisation, but it will give those with relatively tight food budgets a viable alternative to regular global industrial agriculture.

[@brokkoliomg6103]

I think Vertical Farming can be a very interesting approach, especially in urban areas to support local communities and restaurants... Can or will you make a video about it? :)

[@avacurtis2729]

Farmers markets. But i do see a major problem with thst system in that i live in Utah and can get most all my produce locally in summer but for 8 months out of the year nothing local is ready to harvest. So for 8 months i have to buy imported produce

[@blyttgh]

Support local markets!!

[@charlesbrus290]

Man these are great keep'em coming!

[@penwoopydo]

I'd like to see more veganic industries, but I don't know how that can improve the predicament Whole Foods is in.

[@Butterfly-t6d]

I no longer shop at Whole Foods just because of the reasons mentioned in this video. I also don’t shop Amazon.

[@pedromendez434]

F...ing amazing video I´ll share it to my friends so they will stop wasting money in something that is not that organic. Very good information.

[@ruts17]

I keep getting Beef ads. What's for dinner? Definitely not beef

[@phantom4167]

Especially if you shop at Whole Wallet

[@fargoflagrant7796]

great vid as always!

[@andydutton455]

This is great info.

[@LisaAyreSmith]

I like your videos. You have such a great speaking voice and great vocabulary too! Too bad you can't read me bedtime stories... They'd probably be about the sad state of environmental affairs, and environmental catastrophes are less soporific than nightmare-inducing! lolz 😆

[@TheConquesttintin]

Love your videos, but you are using the circle animation to frequently. When animations are not used to underscore a point, (serves a specific function) it ends up distracting from the text and video message. Keep up the good work! :) Good: 4:43 (rectangle) Bad: 4:18 (circle)

[@WillexploreSweden]

4:18 Definitely feels a little short attention span-y, like we would lose interest because a black and white image has been showing for a second without anything happening.

[@parthmistry9033]

I'm afraid I have to agree. It's like I'm being constantly hypnotised and my eyes seem to go around the entire screen following these circles. The beautiful visuals go unnoticed while my eyes are busy following a circular path around the screen

[@mon6745]

I'm embarrassed about my whole foods obsession.... and now that Amazon has bought them...😞 I go to small local Canadian businesses now ... but I've wondered a lot about thier practices, especially since in Canada, not everything is organic, and so many products except for milk have been brought in from the us instead of using local canadian farmers... that's not green to me. And I've also heard that their employee practices have gone from bad to worse... Also... I'm a huge proponent of food accessibility... it's very hard for me to be pro organic when I can't see viable ways to make it accessible to everyone...so it's now a no for me dawg.

[@Giruno56]

Do one on fairphone

[@brokkoliomg6103]

Or shiftphone

[@loaizar95]

You forgot to mention that in the US, products dont have to be 100% non-organic pesticides free in order to be marketed as organic which is worse than using organically produced pesticides

[@loaizar95]

@@aldralee He dedicates an entire segment of the video to say that organic products use organically approved fertilizers and pesticides. Not that they also use regular fertilizers and pesticides, which they do.

[@Rainalot]

@4:42 Why did the windmill change direction? Do I have cancer now?

[@blitzkrieg7826]

this is a cool vid.

[@MsFated]

I brought I small packet of diced butternut squash at whole food and it was 4.90 I was actually shocked.

[@Ivan_Macan]

Change within the existing capitalist system is not possible, it will just swallow or crush any effort or idea for a better world. We need a high level of international cooperation on global issues, and a strong sustainable local network in all fields. With that in mind, think of what is to be done.

[@whengaming9999]

I just go to Whole Foods because they sell some vegetables and grains that aren’t found at the local Walmart or food lion.

[@sp1nks248]

Watching because I work at Wholefoods. Formerly Freshmarket.

[@StoryxSprout]

Love it!

[@benk9817]

I don't care if Whole Foods sells local produce - I'm no longer supporting any entity associated with Amazon.

[@zbynekcodykolacek]

After WF Market is in Amazon hands, they offer less food for me. I enjoyed buying there grains, seeds etc... in bulk. Not anymore...

[@TRAVIS28943]

Whole Food Market is a good store used to work there for nine years they blacklisted me for discrimination lawsuit now I do not go to the store but it is a good start to work for at your shop

[@5th_decile]

A voice of dissent here: In principle I don't see why eco-socialism should reject long-range food transport. I understand that the current global market system leads to starvation as it is more profitable to produce and export for the whims of the 10% richest at the expense of the other 90%. But there are geographies (like Ethiopia) where, certainly with climate change kicking in, rainfall has become erratic (the annual averages are still very good, but there's much less reliability now): it is simply common socialist sense to have a system and infrastructure of solidarity in place to help those people out in difficult years. Organic farming cannot dodge the bullet of hyper-erratic precipitation.

[@davidperry4013]

When I get my own house, I want grow an organic polyculture garden.

[@angelawildman122]

Wholefoods is more like "Whole Paycheck". Most of its food is not only industrial organic, but isn't even whole! It's mostly refined carbs.

[@christyhoffmann6179]

WholeFoods is not more expensive than the supermarket near me (NewYorkCity). It’s not a gourmet store so don’t except that kind of quality/price. It’s much better than shopping in that overpriced supermarket which has common supermarket mdse. Since Amazon took over, some stuff have gone down in quality. Idk about prices. I don’t remember how they were.

[@joaopcoutinho]

In my view, Whole Foods can be a giant step in the right direction, specially in the making organic grown food more accessible to everyone, but at the same time, it creates this “industry” to the organic food production, what can be faced as good thing in the productivity front, but generates some (but not all) of the problems that comes with the usual food chain. Organic production alone, with the techniques used nowadays, would never feed the world, so when talking about this issue, I think you should frame a bit more of the good side as well.

[@sydneynicole837]

SO WHERE AM I SUPPOSED TO BUY FOOD

[@KarmaCifer]

Local markets xD

[@danwilson12]

Wherever you want that is most cost effective for what kind of lifestyle you want to live or promote.

[@sandervanstee]

Is local food production really the answer? Seasonal food production and vulnerability to catastrophes are significant problems to local faring. I’m also not convinced that local transportation with more and smaller vehicles is truly more environmentally friendly then large scale global transportation.

[@hedgehog3180]

Global food production isn't immune to catastrophes though, it's really only reliable in the west where the countries are rich enough to repair damage from catastrophes, but look at Haiti, one storm hit that island and the food supply completely collapsed and has yet to recover.

[@sandervanstee]

hedgehog3180 That is an interesting point which I won’t disagree with but a wealthy country reliant on local food production will be harder hit then one with a global food supply. Also, I’m not only referring to bad weather. Global food supplies also deters political disagreements from escalating.

[@noahaguilar285]

I love your videos but you use that circle animation too much

[@TheFourthWinchester]

Tf are you talking about? Organic farming was the norm until 1970s in India. Then pesticides came in and ruined entire lands.

[@aleksisratenieks4181]

He is talking about american farming, not indian

[@suleiman1520]

In a word - marketing

[@lillianmochi8318]

My family shops at whole foods. :p

[@yoleeisbored]

wow your family must be rich

[@deistrix3239]

Interesting but you didn't answer the question on why it is expensive.

[@DrSpooglemon]

The problem is capitalism. Once you realise this it all makes sense and you don't need to deny scientific reality to either avoid dealing with the problem or to decide upon the solution. The solution is not necessarily "organic" but it IS necessarily post-capitalist.

[@josieb6880]

I love Whole Foods!

[@Shaiyino.thebraveone]

Unaffordable for those who make minimum wage

[@JW-lo1ts]

The Professional shoplifting at Whole Foods is effecting the bottom Line... ..

[@yufeng1707]

This explained nothing about why it's expensive

[@mksabourinable]

Not to mention the fact that organic farming uses twice as much land and resources like water for the same yield...

[@DingXiaoke]

Kye Talks Exactly. I don’t care if it is organic or GMO, if we have more people to feed we need to make the farming more efficient. I would rather Whole Foods use less plastic packaging, that’s a bigger problem for me.

[@hedgehog3180]

I know you watched that Kurzgesagt video and think you're an expert on Organic now but that video was incredibly misleading. That study was conducted in Sweden and Denmark, two countries with completely different standards for organic which are much stricter and also have completely different environments. Since you don't live here you probably don't know it but water isn't in high demand in Denmark and Sweden. Rain is plentiful all year round, in fact farmers here have bigger problems with crops being drowned by rains than drought. Irrigation is almost never used and even then access to fresh water is still plentiful and easy, we literally just have to pump it up from the ground and the water table is relatively high. Land is also not really in high demand here given that literally the entire country is ripe for farming. It should also be mentioned that Danish agriculture is some of the most efficient in the world and this study was obviously comparing to conventional agriculture in Denmark and Sweden. Denmark is one of the biggest agricultural exporters in the world despite being such a small country, being the leading exporter of pig meat. Also should be mentioned that said study was commissioned by a rather infamous agricultural lobby in Denmark that has been fighting tooth and nail against even the smallest reforms to agriculture in the country and literally everyone hates them. The study also only compared on site use, it did not account for the energy needed to produce the products used by conventional agriculture.

[@hedgehog3180]

@@DingXiaoke We are already producing enough food to feed 11 billion people. America's food waste alone could end world hunger. This is not a problem of underproduction, it's a problem of markets and the fact that speculators would rather let people starve than sell before it's at it's highest price. Not to mention the destruction caused by wars waged by the US in the developing world which have damaged infrastructure making delivering the food more difficult. And it's ignorant to believe that industrial agriculture is efficient, not only does it require a massive amount of resources to transport the products it needs like nitrogen, fertilizers and pesticides, it also just literally isn't sustainable, the world doesn't have an infinite supply of nitrogen that we can mine but industrial agriculture is dependent on this and will make the soil infertile quickly without it. Industrial agriculture requires a massive world spanning infrastructure to supply it which is incredibly fragile, it is also unsustainable in that we literally can only do it for so long. And do you know what happens when you over exploit the soil? It turns into sand which is what happened in Denmark, the place that very study is from, getting that back to being fertile land is incredibly difficult and time consuming, took several hundred years in Denmark.

[@TRAVIS28943]

I used to work for Whole Food for almost 10 years trust me they got some good food but when they did the unthinkable about a discrimination lawsuit that's when I had to leave the store and they blacklisted me for coming back to work

[@moribundmurdoch]

I love Whole Paycheck. My mum works as a higher up there. She cool. She hippie. She punk.

[@boathemian7694]

Ruined by Bezos