Alternatives to Whole Foods

In the wake of Whole Foods CEO John Mackey's latest idiocy on the subject of Obamacare, I'm giving some thought to an experiment -- a couple of weeks or longer shopping exclusively at alternatives to Whole Foods.

Most immediately it would mean shopping regularly at the Co-op, which I visit only infrequently, and Chevy Chase Supermarket, which I virtually never visit. It would also mean buying more stuff at Broad Branch Market and to look more often at the Brookville Market. And it would mean being more consistent about shopping at farmer's markets, not only Sheridan School but Silver Spring and others.

It would probably mean more planning. It's easy for me to hop in the car at lunchtime, buzz down to WF and grab lunch at the salad bar and pick up whatever I decide on the spur of the moment for dinner that night. If I were to shop in different places for the things I get in one stop at WF -- vegetables, bulk items and health products at the Co-op; meat, dairy and supermarket items at Chevy Chase; meat and prepared foods at BB -- then I would have to make one trip a week to each place do.

That's why it's an experiment. The main drawback would be staying away from the salad bar at WF and the other prepared food counters. Cheese might be a problem, too, since we can hardly chase down to Cowgirl Creamery everytime we want cheese. So it's not a boycott so much as an expression of dissatisfaction with WF -- not only because Mackey is an ignorant bigoted idiot but because any chain that size has a pernicious effect on the type of food culture we need to work towards in this country.

When I lived in Princeton, I rented an apartment from a woman who ran a local health food store. She was hit by the arrival of Wild Oats, one of the health food chains that originally pioneered the idea before WF gobbled them all up. I also shopped at two family-owned supermarkets -- McCaffrey's and Pennington. I bought eggs from the farmer down the road and signed up one season for the local CSA.

So I need to give more support to local independent stores, too. There are others -- Vace's, the Women's Farmer's Market in Bethesda (some cheese there), A&H Gourmet, the Fishery. Wonder if I could go a full month with the experiment to really test it? Will update.