Whole Foods Is Highway Robbery!

[penguin]

I went to my local asian market during lunch, and boy was I a fish out of water! Here I am, this chubby, pale, blonde American trying to figure out what everything is. I must have looked like an idiot, and of course I went during lunch when everyone eating could gawk at me

But I digress...

Where does whole foods get off charging like, $5 for rice flour? I got two cornstarch sized boxes of sweet rice flour for .99 each! I also got same size boxes of tapioca starch flour for .99, and potato starch flour for 1.25!

And a big bag of organic long grain brown rice was $3.69, and the coconut milk was .79 each!

Whole Foods is ripping me off

Now if only I could find cheap xanthan gum...

[DingoGirl]

This is good news.....I can't stand Whole Foods but do go there once a month to get my Prairie Bread at $8.50 a loaf and the Moche rice thing I can't live without....

What do you use xantham gum for?

Also - there is an Asian bakery here that makes these "steamed buns" - SOOOOO fantastic - they're made with rice flour and I don't know what else but my wheat-free friend turned me onto them - it's like a white dream fluff that I put in the toaster oven to heat and top with fake butter (that part's sad)...yum!

HEAVEN!

[francelajoie]

Asian market huh...I'll have to find out if there are any around here.

[penguin]

What do you use xantham gum for?

Gluten is the sticky protein that keeps breads, cakes, etc together and prevents them from being very crumbly.

gluten-free flours have a very low protein level, so you add xanthan gum to give the dough some stretchiness. Most gluten-free baking recipes call for it. You may notice that gluten-free recipes call for a lot of eggs, that's also to replace some stretchy protein.

[DingoGirl]

That is good to know....I am very scared to attempt any baking. I just look at my new flours and just close the cupboard and walk away. Kind of a waste of money, I had better look into this....

[penguin]

That is good to know....I am very scared to attempt any baking. I just look at my new flours and just close the cupboard and walk away. Kind of a waste of money, I had better look into this....

I haven't really baked either, I've made gluten-free cornbread, and gluten-free brownies. Both were good, both were contaminated. I'm having brand problems. Bob's Red Mill and store brand cornmeal, 'nuff said.

I'm really hoping that my extraordinary talent for baking will translate to gluten-free. I'm also cheap, so I'm just now buying the flours.

[VydorScope]

what is "Asian market" ? Is it a chain store?

[penguin]

what is "Asian market" ? Is it a chain store?

Noooooooo...it's an ethnic store, where people of the asian persuasion go to buy ethnic foods

Definitely a place where you need to read the fine print, thank goodness for the FDA and their labeling requirements!

[Guest nini]

Hispanic markets also have some great prices on rice flour and corn flour, corn meal, corn starch... and a lot of the sauces are safe, just be really careful reading labels... look for the ones that are JUST tomatoes and veggies and spices...

[ShortnSkinny]

I see alot of asian bakeries in my area but am afraid to eat any of them because Im not sure if they are using wheat flour or just plain white flour or if they can tell the difference.

What asian pastries or foods from the bakery are you guys eating?

LMK

Thanks.

[gf4life]

We went to a bunch of Asian markets, and most left a lot to be desired. The Filippino stores had white rice and rice noodles, those were the ONLY gluten-free items in the store. Filippino's are big on wheat... Another one we went to was mostly chinese stuff and they had maybe a half dozen gluten-free items that I found. I tried 6 stores in Fresno and NONE of them had tapioca starch!

It depends on where you live and what type of "asian" the market is.

I see alot of asian bakeries in my area but am afraid to eat any of them because Im not sure if they are using wheat flour or just plain white flour or if they can tell the difference.

This can be an issue. My Filippino in-laws swore up and down that it was all just rice flour. I had to show them the labels of the foods they have eaten all their lives to prove it was wheat flour! Most people (of all races) have no idea what is actually in their food. And sometimes they don't think "flour" is wheat. Sometimes it's not, but in most cases if it just says flour it is smart to be suspicious. If you go to an asian bakery and they say it is all rice flour, please check!

[pixiegirl]

If you live near a metro area you should be able to find an asian area, Boston has "chinatown" and its filled with Asian markets and restaurants (and a few sex shops, herbal places, etc). If your area has even a small asian population there is almost always a market somewhere that serves that population.

I've not had great luck at the markets however, yes I can get a few things like rice flour there cheaper (well sort of, I have to drive to Boston from Cape Cod first) but a lot of things did contain wheat and most of the store owners did not speak english. So I felt lost.

I love Whole Foods... yes its expensive but I drive to one place and am able to get almost everything I need, that really appeals to me. I know the meats there are good, all the beef sold in any Whole foods is grain fed, no drugs, hormones or antibiotics, same with the chicken, pork. They can track every single piece of beef by bar codes to a single cow (however because they are only grain fed there is little chance of something like mad cow). personally I'm willing to pay more for this sort of good stuff and for organic fruits and veggies. I feel blessed that right now I'm in a situation where I'm able to pay more.

Best, Susan

[jenvan]

I love Whole Foods... yes its expensive but I drive to one place and am able to get almost everything I need, that really appeals to me. I know the meats there are good, all the beef sold in any Whole foods is grain fed, no drugs, hormones or antibiotics, same with the chicken, pork. They can track every single piece of beef by bar codes to a single cow (however because they are only grain fed there is little chance of something like mad cow). personally I'm willing to pay more for this sort of good stuff and for organic fruits and veggies. I feel blessed that right now I'm in a situation where I'm able to pay more.

Susan-

I love what you said here--part of what I think you are talking about is consumer responsibility--that some folks want to know where their food came from and the ramifications of the production of the food. Just heard an excellent interview on Walmart and Whole Foods. Unfortunately, in our culture consumer responsibility is a luxury and costs more--but is it something I definitely have begun to appreciate after being diagnosed with Celiac. I am really really lucky b/c a new store called Sunflower Market went in blocks from my house. It is all natural/organic foods and the prices are cheaper than Whole Foods, Wild Oats, even my regular mainstream grocery! I am actually spending less there at week than I did at other stores. It makes buying natural and organic foods much more accessible. I wish everyone else had one!

On the asian stores—they are a really good idea. My dh and I drove all over the city in the beginning looking for the ethnic markets but we didn’t have much luck. I felt really uncomfortable buying things since most of the products had little to no engish on the packaging and no one in the store spoke English. I did get some egg roll wrappers though

[Guest BERNESES]

I have a Thai market near me and have found some pretty good stuff there- huge bags of jasmine rice, rice eggroll wrappers but all their stuff is directly from Tthailand so honestly, I don't always trust the labeling laws. But they also have incredible fish, seafood and cool veggies that you can't get anywhere else to make Thai food.

I know Whole Foods is expensive, but I figure once a month to get the stuff I really trust is worth it. Although, my local grocery store, Hannaford, just put in a HUGE health food section and now carry Tinkyada pasta, Pamela's products, Kinninick (woo hoo!) and all sorts of other organic goodies. I was soooo psyched! I think it's going to get easier to find the products we need/want.

[amandasMom]

Where in Portsmouth is this awesome Thia market? I live in Southern NH and I am always looking for new places to shop.

Tracey

[Guest BERNESES]

It's called Lo's Oriental Seafood Market and it's on Woodbury (the strip that runs by Fox Run Mall) across from Staples, next to Dunkin Donuts. Great for Thai supplies, but like I said, I'm not sure how much I trust all the labels. I mostly buy rice, veggies, coconut milk etc fom them.

Also try Philbrick's Fresh Market on Lafayette Road in (Route 1) Portsmouth. It's like a mini Whole Foods! Good stuff.

[jenvan]

PS--I do totally understand how most natural food markets are more expensive the typical run of the mill grocery or a place like walmart. And my dh and I have had a hard time with that too--we go out far less b/c of it. I do hope those places don't get a bad name--or the association that they are more expensive because they are more concerned with profits. I say a place like walmart w/its low prices is more concerned w/profits, and it shows in the lack of responsibility and accountability in many of their products and their company procedures. No one store is perfect however...I shop at several different ones. But I do want to stick up for the natural markets etc, just in case Oh, and local ethnic markets are also great b/c it allows you to support a small businesses

[Moongirl]

If you really thing about it though Whole Foods is charging for what they are providing. I dont know of another big food chain store that cares enough to take people on a Gluten-Free tour of their store.

My first time going gluten-free shopping I went to whole Foods, and a nice lady came up to me and asked me what I was looking for (because i looked lost and didnt know where to start) I told her that I was looking for Gluten free stuff. She was like ok let me take you on our tour.....wow ok. It was the best thing, all the options, someone cared enough to show me every single place in the store that I could get stuff. And I have to be honest, besides the bread/bagel stuff....everything else was pretty much within price range of a lot of other things.....Actually some things were cheaper, and i found out why, because whole foods specializes in specialty food, take for example some of the Thai Kitchen stuff, they are able to buy it at lower prices, where as a stop and shop sells it for twice the price because that is not where they are making their profit.

So IMO, it is well worth the money for my mind and tummy to be at ease that there are people out there that care that much.

[jerseyangel]

After reading the last few posts, I want to tell about the experience I had the last time we went to Whole Foods. My husband and I wanted to celebrate something very nice that happened regarding his career. Since we don't go out to eat because of my situation, at the moment anyway, we deceided to get some filet mignons and asked if they had any that were bacon wrapped. The butcher said he could make some up, but after I asked about gluten, he started to find out if the bacon he had was safe. Another man came out from behind the butcher counter, and led us to the refer. case nearby. He showed us the Willshire Brand and that it is marked on the package if the product is gluten-free. He was very nice, and took a lot of time with us--and he seemed to know about how to help someone shop with dietary restrictions.

[jenvan]

Patti--

It so great meet people who really care and take an interest in others--especially in retail!

[Felidae]

I agree organic stores are great for meats and some fruits and veggies. However, for products like rice flour, tapioca flour, rice, rice noodles, etc. the asian markets are the way to go. Or even the asian aisles in grocery stores are great for lower prices.

[jerseyangel]

Patti--

It so great meet people who really care and take an interest in others--especially in retail!

I know Jen, I was very inpressed!

[glen4cindy]

As far as zanthan gum and lots of other flour's, starches, baking stuff etc. is available for what I think are pretty good prices from Bob's Red Mill.

I have ordered from them several times with much better prices than from Whole Foods and Green Earth Grocery.