What Are You Doing WHOLE FOODS?

I have to admit… this was the first time I have ever been inside a television student before. And oh man was I mesmerized. Here in Englewood, it was refreshing to see something so positive. The backstage look we had the opportunity to witness introduced us to the behind-the-scenes aspects of

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television that no one sees, including the operation room and the panelist transformed into TV-presentable individuals by professional makeup artists. The viewing of a taping was an experience of lifetime, especially for someone who is not interested in the industry (ie me). However, the largest takeaway from the experience was the debriefing following the taping.

The debriefing allowed many of us to express our sentiment as well as our frustration in addition to learning from one another. We expressed sentiments. We expressed frustrations. The conversation concluded with the discussion of the intrusion of Whole Foods in a community, which is has been categorized as a food desert.

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Whole Foods as you may know is a high-end grocery store committed to providing the communities

they serve fresh, organic, healthy food options. However, the keyword here is “high-end.” Aware of their soaring prices, the grocery chain committed to lower their prices in low socioeconomic communities, as they claim they did in Englewood. In addition, they offer local entrepreneurs the opportunity to sell their products in store.

Let’s look at the prices.

I signed up for a service where Whole Foods will deliver groceries to my residence at the same price as “Everyday store prices.” The zip code I entered is 60601, which serves the wealthier Downtown area of Chicago. The first item I looked at was an organic yellow bell pepper. Online these bell peppers are priced at $1.64/each. While organic yellow bell peppers sold in the Englewood Whole Foods is priced are priced at $1.99/each. This is surprising compared to the price at a local Pilsen grocery store for a yellow bell pepper priced at $1.38/lb.

Milk, a diet staple, was priced well in Englewood. Online the cheapest gallon of milk was $3.99, however, in Englewood milk is priced at $1.99.

While the grocery store is providing fresh food in a community that does not always have access to edible, healthy foods, Whole Foods is still Whole Foods. People in a community where the median household income is around $19,000/yr, $1.99 for a bell pepper isn't always an option. However, they probably will opt for the more costly option due to the status symbol that Whole Foods has established itself to be.

The grocers infiltration into the community can prove to be toxic as low income consumers begin to shop blindly at Whole Foods to conspicuously consume and utilize their groceries as symbolic capital.

It will be interesting to further investigate the Whole Foods impact on the community regarding the way in which they interact with symbolic, cultural, economic, and social capital.