What Did Slate's $443.48 Whole Foods Dinner Intend To Show Us?

CHOW.com:

Writing over at Slate, Noreen Malone puts forth the following daring thesis: If you go to Whole Foods intent on spending the maximum possible amount of money on a single meal, you can spend a very, very large amount of money on a single meal. ($443.48, to be precise.)

Her mission, which gets less and less thought-provoking as you wade through the story, is not crystal clear even at the outset.

Read the whole story

Comments

[Chaling]

03:53 PM on 10/08/2010

I read it at Slate too and and went HUH?

why not add in the cost of a house to put that expensive kitchen in?

[c-tom]

04:57 PM on 10/07/2010

What they don't have saffron and caviar at Whole Foods?

[ValdaDeDieu]

06:38 PM on 10/07/2010

They do have saffron and caviar...

[tombollocks]

08:09 AM on 10/08/2010

Buy your saffron from a local Indian grocery. Much cheaper! That is one of the few things I won't buy from WFM on my weekly shopping trip.

[ValdaDeDieu]

01:43 PM on 10/08/2010

No local Indian grocery nearby is South Beach...;-(

[hulagirrrl]

03:23 PM on 10/07/2010

I just take this opportunity to praise Whole Food. We do not buy every thing there, but things that we think should be organic. If you really add it up the difference is not all that great. We get our produce at the local market and I know that is cheaper. Anyway, I have written to them about products and was truly impressed with their response. I am searching for frozen herbs, as when i lived in Europe I could buy all of my herbs chopped up in a little box and maintain it in the freezer, how convenient that I did not always have to toss have a bundle of parsley or cilantro etc. i wrote a letter to Birds Eye, yes, asking them, they wrote back a form letter that they appreciate my interest in their products and sent me a 0.25 coupon off. Whole food researched, how do I know, someone cc me on their emails and I got all the different emails, and voila, they will have a selection of frozen herbs available here in Honolulu after October 11. I call that great customer service and am very impressed. To me frozen herbs are a heaven send, because I make my own salads and I love to be able to just take them out off my freezer. Well, anyway, little bit off topic, but kudos to Whole Food on this one. Aloha

[OrganicGeorge]

10:24 AM on 10/07/2010

Yet another meaningless story reprinted by HufPo desperate for content.

The story makes no sense, yes she bought expensive condiments but she only used a small amount in the dish so you have to prorate the cost to volumes used for the meal. This reporter knows nothing of finance or logic.

Stories like these are now pervasive in the media, I assume once publications fired most of the editors the last roadblock to rejecting bad stories was lost.

Maybe if HufPo paid their writes and editors a living wage readers would not be subjected to these poorly written stories.

Talk about your third world America...Arianna pay your workers better or your no better than the banks and corporations you rail against.

[hulagirrrl]

03:26 PM on 10/07/2010

OrganicGeorge, I am surprised you are not "flagged" yet, anyway, SPOT ON comment, Aloooooha.

[Erika Meschkat]

09:58 AM on 10/07/2010

I wondered the SAME exact thing myself after I read this a couple of days ago....

[VeggieLove]

09:44 AM on 10/07/2010

Trader Joe's is superior to Whole Foods in every way.

[OrganicGeorge]

11:07 AM on 10/07/2010

I used to sell to both Whole Foods and Trader's Joe's.

TJ buys only the lowest dollar cost products. They package the products inappropriately, such as coffee in non-air-tight packaging, to make consumers think they are getting a bargain, They buy seconds and off grade when ever possible. I won't shop at TJ's but I understand that loyal consumers love TJ's.

WF on the other hand will buy quality but they also have bigger store margins.

Not much to say about the politics of either company, both WF's CEO Mackey and the late owner of TJ's are/were a bit fascist.

[hulagirrrl]

03:31 PM on 10/07/2010

The current owners of TJ are from Germany, and yes they do have a different approach to merchandising. To sell seconds is not always bad, i buy seconds at the local market here in Hawaii too, sometimes it is the cosmetics only. I do know that the Albrecht's business is based on volume. One of them said once that they are doing good when people are doing bad. Now they are among the largest food retailers in Europe with their no brand name concept. I would probably shop there if we had one, but I do love Whole Foods because their meat is really great and the customer service outstanding.

[Lisa Shields]

08:39 AM on 10/07/2010

Whioops...that's East RUTHERFORD!

[Lisa Shields]

08:38 AM on 10/07/2010

Sorry...but that sort of money would buy me two nights at Cafe Matisse...a four star Zagat rated restaurant in East Brunswick, where the food is so sublime, I feel like a poser when I cook. AND I wouldn't have to do my own dishes.

[ValdaDeDieu]

06:21 PM on 10/07/2010

Hey, nobody's knocking a great night out...fabulous meal, great company, good vintage...memories made last a lifetime and are worth every penny...

[tombollocks]

08:19 AM on 10/07/2010

I flagged people for using the term "Whole Paycheck". It has gotten just as tiresome to hear as "Don't Worry, Be Happy", "Where's The Beef", or any song by Creed. Just letting y'all know.

BTW, I buy about 95% of my edibles from WF. Things like wine, toiletries, and DEFINITELY olive oil are bought elsewhere.

[Morena]

02:43 PM on 10/07/2010

GROW UP!!!

[SusanElizabeth1949]

06:09 PM on 10/07/2010

Then you are abusing the 'flag as abuse' button, that is for actual breech of HuffPo's terms of service. It does not mean 'I don't like what you said". Shame on you.

[rikster]

05:27 PM on 10/06/2010

if you have it....its real easy to spend money at Whole foods....! there are many other places where you can bu the same items for a lot less....

[ValdaDeDieu]

04:35 PM on 10/06/2010

I, too, don"t get the point. For one thing, Epicure is a whole lot more expensive than Whole Foods, and they don't claim--nor do they base their reputation on--the guarantee of being Organic, all-natural, or Fair Trade (which is good ecologically, world-wide).

Secondly, at Whole Foods, you save as much as you want to. You choose from a value scale of very good, to excellent, to superb, and, dollar for dollar, you spend the same money that you would at Publix; only you come away with food that's actually good for you--and if you can cook, a whole lot of great eats in your refrigerator.

Thirdly, we need to revise our ideas about food. Cheap food costs more in the long run, only most people never live long enough to see it, and they spend their lives in such discomfort from ills and aches and pains dulled by prescription medicines, from their "diseases", that they don't notice.

Change your thinking.

[ckinsobe]

10:11 PM on 10/06/2010

Do you live on Miami Beach?
Only Epicure I know of is right here. They are idiotically expensive, way higher than Whole Foods with a couple of exceptions, some baked goods such as theoir cakes and their Mojo rotisserie chickens are actually good deals. Epicure is always half empty these days. before the economy tanked they were way more busy.

[ValdaDeDieu]

05:28 PM on 10/07/2010

Yes I do. What I find idiotic is the fact that some of their foods have the same crap, i.e., high fructose corn syrup, additives, fillers, but are priced sky-high under the label "gourmet." It's not the case with everything there, but enough.

Alternatively, they do stock great imported delicacies you can't find anywhere else. And they're close to the movie theater. Instead of eating the junk at the movies, you can buy something decent to snack on.

I'll pay premium for quality in my food: Purity, source, wholesomeness...But I won't pay for packaging or perception. Give me top-tier ingredients and I can whip up gourmet. I don't need to "buy" their imitation.

But they are a friendly store, for the most part. And, if their version of "gourmet" meant top quality in every aspect, I'd have no arguments with them.

[Deborah Beck]

03:06 PM on 10/06/2010

Whole Foods, my tush, more like Whole Paycheck! I want to see Whole Foods exchanged out for Trader Joes! The nearest Trader Joes is hundreds of miles!

[Knowbetter]

02:56 PM on 10/06/2010

This lady shops a lot like my first ex-wife did.

[marianproletarian]

02:10 PM on 10/06/2010

Did anyone really need this stunt to realize Whole Foods is expensive?

[DCDave]

01:27 PM on 10/06/2010

Her point is that Organic food like Whole foods is too expensive for ordinary Americans to buy.

[Ainsaade]

02:25 PM on 10/06/2010

If that was the point then she failed. Most people don't eat salad dressing made from olive oil costing $24 a jar and $50 worth of balsamic vinegar, but that doesn't mean they can't eat healthy and organic. This article failed on many levels.

[dubbleplusgood]

04:23 PM on 10/06/2010

the approach wasn't the greatest but the point was clear. food is too damn expensive and your comment about organic is ridiculous. it's way too expensive for most people. there's a reason you can buy a $1 hamburger (bread, meat, vegetables) at mcdonalds but not at a grocery store and certainly not at Whole Paycheck.

[chelledc]

05:41 PM on 10/06/2010

I agree. I'm as cheap as they come but you can certainly shop with the deals at Whole Foods and come away with a nice amount of food for a good price. A bit of research would help. If it's you rlocal store I would stick to buying foods that are considered more toxic and more likely to be filled with chemicals or pesticides at Whole Food. Other than that Giant, Safeway, and other mainstream grocers are doing big things when it comes to makign organic more affordable. They have in store brands for lots of Organic and Natural foods, which is making it a lot easier and cheaper to add healthy food to my diet.

[tomteboda]

06:46 PM on 10/06/2010

Honestly, I think you're reading too much into this. It was more a light-hearted piece that asked just how much self-indulgence at one time a person could wrack up at a supermarket with a number of exotic options. As she wrote, "This is, of course, not even a vaguely realistic price tag: I purposely padded the bill, at the cost of enjoyment. "