Whole Foods is cheaper

I invested an extra hour in my weekend grocery shopping today to do some research.  Armed with a pretty typical grocery list for our family, I went first to Safeway, figuring I'd get the Safeway brand organic products and save us a little money.  Big organic is big organic, seems like.  So I went, and I got what looked reasonable, and I wrote down the prices on my grocery list.  Next I went to PCC, which is a natural foods co-op around here, thinking I would get everything else on my list.  I couldn't do it.  The prices on some of the shelved goods almost made me choke.  And I didn't know what the labeling on the meat meant about its origins.  I asked someone and they weren't very informative.  So I couldn't buy everything there, but I bought some things and wrote down the prices.  Higher than Safeway, predictably.

But I still had shopping to do so I went to Whole Foods.  They had everything on my list.  When I asked the butcher about the difference between the "grass-fed" and "range-fed" labels I got a clear response -- and a passionate speech about how the labeling is being corrupted by Wal-Mart, that I am right to ask, and that I should know that Whole Foods and Oregon Tilth were the ones that created "organics" as a concept and that USDA labeling is not as trustworthy as their independent standards.  Whew!  This is all what I expected, and was even willing to pay extra for. 

But you know what?  I DIDN'T.  Whole Foods was not only cheaper for equivalent products than PCC, it was cheaper than Safeway.  I was dumbfounded.  But I had the numbers.  I talked to the cashier about it when I checked out, and she said, "Well, Safeway specializes in different products."  Right.  I think they specialize in high-fructose corn syrup.  For what I want to buy, which is whole foods, organic and local when I can, I should shop at Whole Foods.

(Clearly a person could spend an enormous amount of money at Whole Foods, on those gorgeous prepared foods.  Those are basically restaurant prices, which I think is quite fair for what they are.  Also on beautiful French cheeses or gourmet salsa or what have you.  But because I'm willing to make a lot from scratch, I avoid many of those things.)

I'm also spending a fixed amount every week at the farmer's market.  It's expensive, but it's something I want to support, and it's educational, also.  It makes me realize how alarmingly non-seasonal my grocery list is.