The Whole Foods Experience

It's almost 11 pm and I am waiting for my phone to ring with the imminent news of my new nephew's birth. He should be here anytime. He will be nephew #6 for me (I also have one niece); and the first child of my sister and her husband. While my sister labored away in Florida, I went about my usual Saturday routine, except I carried my cell phone everywhere waiting for baby updates.

I shopped today for the first time at Whole Foods Market. Whole Foods is a supermarket chain dedicated to organic, free range, environmentally conscious (and high priced) products. I was initially mesmerized by the beautiful displays of produce, the cases of fresh fish and meat, the freshly baked bread and the pizza chef, ready to bake your custom pizza while you wait. The store was packed with shoppers.

The cheese case deserves mention because it alone took up a large amount of space and there was a person stationed at the cheese case to answer all your questions. I have never seen so many different varieties of cheese. They even carried Stinking Bishop cheese, which I had only heard of recently in the Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit movie. Which, by the way, is a great movie, even if you are a grownup.

I noticed it took me longer to shop there than usual because Whole Foods does not generally sell the familiar national brands. I searched for a full three minutes for a can of cream of chicken soup and found myself confounded by all the colors of the soup labels, instead of the traditional white and red Campbell's labels.

The meat counter had actual butchers who selected and wrapped the meat in brown paper instead of the usual plastic wrap and styrofoam trays. The fish counter had fishmongers. No, really, fishmongers. And you could buy octopus. No kidding.

All in all, I felt good purchasing organic, environmentally friendly products and food for my family. However, there is a huge consideration: it's quite expensive to shop there. I can't say that I'll be shopping there very often, because I don't feel good about spending $2.00 for a can of cream of chicken soup or $7 for a gallon of organic milk. Not that I don't want to feed my kids healthy food or be earth-friendly -- I do, but frankly, sometimes economics wins out over health.

Well, now it is 11:15 and still no word on the baby. It is now 12:15 in Florida, so I guess his birthday will be 9/10 -- if he makes his debut soon. I'll post pictures of the little guy as soon as I get some. (Hint, hint, Dad!)