Question: What do these two concepts have in common?
- Whoever can eat the most New York strip steak wins a prize!
- We promote the health of our stakeholders through healthy eating education.
Answer: They both come from Whole Foods.
The first statement is paraphrased from a Seattle Times article about the all-you-can-eat steak event at the South Lake Union Whole Foods. The second is one of Whole Foods stated core values.
Now, last time I checked, encouraging overeating does not fall under the umbrella of healthy eating education. Especially since Whole Foods suggests that we “eat plant-strong” as one of their Four Pillars of Healthy Eating and “go meatless as much as possible” as one of their Simple Changes for Lifelong Health.
It looks like they want to have their cake (made from organic, local, sustainably grown flour) and eat it, too.
While Whole Foods is not my primary grocery source, I do shop there for key items that I have trouble finding elsewhere. But I am well aware of, and immune to, the health halo that surrounds WF and similar grocery stores. Just as an organic, sea-salted potato chip is still a potato chip, over eating dry-aged steaks isn’t a whole lot different than overeating hot dogs.
Yes, I know that Whole Foods is a business and needs to make money, but when a business (or individual) promotes itself based on certain standards while simultaneously promoting itself through actions that fly in the face of those standards, the hypocrisy irritates me. Just saying.
