Fend For Yourself

Whole Foods, not the place to scout out nutrition-minded gentleman. They are all couple-y.

Like my roommate says, "It's the place for single women, couples and gays."
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I live next to a Whole Foods, but I try to avoid going in as much as possible. Don't get me wrong, I love the store, but every time I go there I feel like it's the end of the world. The store is ALWAYS swarming with people fending off other shoppers in the pursuit of the perfect, organic, cruelty-free, fair trade tomato.

I had to go in to grab ingredients for a basic Israeli salad I was making for a party. It was absolutely delicious. Just a bunch of chopped up ingredients (cucumber, tomato, yellow and orange pepper, and red onion) tossed with parsley, lemon juice and salt. (Nosh and Tell) A fantastic recipe for a poor, nutrition-minded college student!

The fad that Whole Foods has become makes me a bit self-conscious whenever I go into Whole Foods. Not the kind of self-conscious where I dread going into the store, but the kind that makes me more aware of the people around me. The beanie wearing guys in their late 20's/early 30's with their scarf-wearing girlfriends and 50 reusable bags in tow. The nutrition Nazi mothers (kind of like the one in the movie Motherhood) looking for interesting things to put in their kids' bento boxes. And those who are lost in it all.

I secretly love these people because they provide me with hours of amusement while doing a menial task such as shopping. I think Stuff White People Like (SWPL) puts our obsession with Whole Foods best:

"Many white people consider shopping at Whole Foods to be a religious experience, allowing them feel good about their consumption. The use of paper bags, biodegradable packaging, and the numerous pamphlets outlining the company’s police on hormones, genetically modified food and energy savings. This is in spite of the fact that Whole Foods is a profit driven-publicly traded corporation that has wisely discovered that making white people feel good about buying stuff is outrageously profitable."

 Ah, such a great blog. Although SWPL is a parody on our lives, it hit upon a few good points. If we care so much about those nutritious buzz words like locally grown, fair trade, and organic, shouldn't we be buying from a local grower? The producers who sell their wares at the Union Square Market on 14th street are my favorite.

Well people will buy what they buy where the want and I guess it's good that people are on a health kick, even if it doesn't last forever.

...Now where am I supposed to find these nutrition-minded gentleman?

x,
Chace