Whole Foods is in a public relations crisis. After its CEO John Mackey posted a widely-read opinion piece that insisted Americans have no intrinsic right to health care, it was slammed with angry liberal customers who picketed stores and organized a national Whole Foods boycott at a Facebook page now numbering over 26,000 members (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?g...).

Whole Foods customers are angry at the upscale retailer over the position of its CEO on health care reform, but I can think of a much better reason to avoid shopping at Whole Foods: The store sells a whole lot of junk products.

Those aren't my words; they're the words of CEO John Mackey, who admitted this during a discussion about how Whole Foods might improve its product offerings ((http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/...)).

The last time I was in the U.S., I shopped at Whole Foods because it was the best option for convenient health food. But even then, I noticed a whole lot of "junk" being sold by the store: Foods made with yeast extract (a hidden form of MSG), loads of processed pastries, fried snack chips and all sorts of other products I wouldn't dare let touch my lips. Let's face it: If you walk around Whole Foods and read the ingredients, you'll be more than a little shocked to find out how much unhealthy stuff the store actually offers.

But even this isn't the No. 1 reason to stop shopping at Whole Foods. The real reason is because Whole Foods takes most of the profit on the products it sells, leaving vendors frustrated and often just barely scraping by. I know this because I have personal behind-the-scenes conversations with the owners of many companies who sell products through Whole Foods, and most of them quietly tell me behind closed doors that they are extremely frustrated with Whole Foods purchasing and payment policies. The markups are often quite ridiculous, requiring a health product manufacturer to cheapen their ingredients and water down their formulas just to be able to get their products into Whole Foods at a retail price (after the W.F. markup) that consumers can tolerate.

                 Four years ago Dave had a vision/mission to offer our community a health food store.  His focus was to extend to his customers a business that went beyond a vitamin shop.  The vision of the store was to be based upon customer relations and quality natural supplements that were both preventative and restorative.  The quest continues as we learn, expand, and continue to search and provide the highest quality supplements which outstanding results.  I entered into the Health Nut Nutrition story on August 18, 2008, becoming a part of the store’s staff.  But my journey toward health actually began four and a half years earlier on March 26, 2004.  It was at that time I began a journey of a radical change in my own lifestyle with a goal of transforming my health.  I began taking quality supplements, made dietary changes, began to exercise,  and sought to reduce toxic chemicals effecting my body.  I made numerous product changes related to everything from what I cleaned with to what I used for personal grooming. The changes have been both exciting and challenging, but worth it.  My health was restored. As I continue to learn and grow, I am making changes necessary to continue to build my personal health.  I also have a passion to share my knowledge with you. One of the most difficult challenges for me was finding a cosmetic line that was neither toxic or carcinogenic. 

You see, as a female who enjoys make-up, I not only wanted a safe product, I wanted a product comparable in quality to the toxic make-up I was using at the time.  Through trial of numerous samples and quite a bit of research, I am thankful to offer to my females a new line that meets the quality standards of Health Nut Nutrition. And the best part is -- it works!  Added to the wide assortment of safe cosmetics we currently offer, we now offer the skin care system Honey Girl Organics (HGO).  Don’t you love the word girl in the name of the product?  HGO consists of unheated honey, bees wax, and essential oils.  The ingredients are harvested from a forested non-agricultural area in Hawaii.  The honey and bees are both free of pesticides and other harmful chemicals.  We offer cleanser, toner, face and eye cream, and body cream.  Unbelievable!  When I began using the system, my husband noticed an immediate improvement in my skin. What a blessing!

I am also pleased to announce the arrival of Earth’s Beauty Cosmetics.  It is a cosmetic line that is a proud signer of www.safecosmetics.  It also contains no nano particles (substances that penetrate into the skin as a toxin or a carcinogen).  Health Nut Nutrition also offers a wide assortment of color choices in the Earth’s Beauty products to match your skin tones.  The line includes concealer, foundation, blush, eye shadow, eye liner, mascara, and lip color.  I apply it in the morning, and in the evening after a full day of activity, it still looks good.  Come, experiment, try some samples, and have fun. One last thought. I love salt and pepper on my food, but not in my hair.  Although I have made all of the right choices, my once dark hair is no longer naturally dark.  My family was not ready for me to give up my brown hair and I was not willing to use a chemically based hair color.  We offer two brands of permanent color and we carry a temporary color as well.  All three products offer fantastic results. After all, we are supposed to feel pretty while we continue to walk in great health.  Right? 

 

 

I would love to start finding more companies stepping out from competition by getting rid of the popular artificial sweetener, sucrolose (splenda) in their products and replacing it with a real natural sweetener such as stevia. As a store buyer I find that I am limited on the amount of products I can stock such as nutritional bars and protein mixes in my store and I will not compromise my ideals for the sake of whats popular.

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