Whole Foods and Bull

[KRonn]

I don't shop at Whole Foods but I do buy at least some organic foods at the market I go to. I also try to use as little processed food as possible anyway, to avoid the crap and additives as much as possible. I don't get into the other stuff like the biotics. Some may work ok but you really have to know what you're doing, be well informed, else waste time and money for little or no results, IMO. So I mainly watch what I buy overall, the ingredients in the foods I use.

[Valmy]

Americans get riled up about creationists and climate change deniers, but lap up the quasi-religious snake oil at Whole Foods. It’s all pseudoscience—so why are some kinds of pseudoscience more equal than others?

Depends on who you talk to.  Leftwing pseudo-scientific nonsense is pretty dangerous as well.  On one hand I have nutters wanting me to fund teaching creationism in public schools and on the other I have nutters wanting us to support pseudo-scientific and dangerous alternative medicine nonsense with insurance.  If people want to believe stupid things that is fine with me I just wish they wouldn't force the rest of us to support them.

[Valmy]

People in Austin, of course, love Whole Foods even if I ever got hit on the head and wanted to spend all my money there it is always crowded as heck.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Only place I can find clotted cream.

[Admiral Yi]

never. there's no material difference, nutritionally, between the two. GMO foods are a savior to humanity, rejected by the liberal version of creationists. i expect legbiter and CC to start posting soon 

There might be a placedo effect.

[Razgovory]

Good article, it's something I've wondered as well.  I suspect that a lot of people who get riled up over global warming skeptic and creationists are simply interested in looking and feeling smarter then their fellows rather then genuine concerns over science.

[Sheilbh]

There might be a placedo effect.

I really don't think nutrition matters though.

I don't buy organic, when I do, because it's better for me but because I think it tastes better - or because it's a few pence more. It's particularly true with meat. Though also some veg, which is generally poor in London.

[Ed Anger]

Whole Foods is run by a Republican, which gives me the giggles.

[Caliga]

I don't go often due to their prices, but they have a huge selection of cheese, which is cool.  A few other things that would be difficult to get elsewhere.

I would never 'shop' there, like for regular stuff, but they do have some nice specialty items.

[Caliga]

Good article, it's something I've wondered as well.  I suspect that a lot of people who get riled up over global warming skeptic and creationists are simply interested in looking and feeling smarter then their fellows rather then genuine concerns over science.

I believe you are correct.  I think conspiracy theorists have a similar motivation, but just tend to have different political views.

[garbon]

But I think, especially given the growing anti-vaccine crowd, that the books and magazines sold are more actively pernicious.

I wonder to what extent this is self-selecting. After all, I'm not anti-western medicine, so I wouldn't be interested in seeking out such publications. I'm not sure if there are many people on the fence who are harmed because they stumbled upon a book in Whole Foods.

Actually, I'm not even sure where whole foods even has its books/magazines (other than the mainstream magazines along the checkout aisles) - so I'd think Couric giving air time to anti-vacciners is more pernicious.

[LaCroix]

I really don't think nutrition matters though.

I don't buy organic, when I do, because it's better for me but because I think it tastes better - or because it's a few pence more. It's particularly true with meat. Though also some veg, which is generally poor in London.

but food is nothing more than calories and nutrition. taste is overrated

[garbon]

Taste is overrated?

[Ed Anger]

I think he might be a robot.

[LaCroix]

Taste is overrated?

for the most part, yeah. i realize i'm a minority here