I don't know how many years this has been going on, but I just discovered that Whole Foods is presenting its annual "Meatopia," a self-described "Woodstock of Edible Animals," in New York in September. The one-day event is an all-you-can-eat meat festival, complete with a Best Butcher Contest in which Whole Foods' own butchers from their stores compete. In the same press release that announces the butchery contest, the chain touts their 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating(TM) program that began two years ago. The store also rates seafood according to sustainability.
No one thinks that Whole Foods is vegan or vegetarian. You can't shop there without knowing that they sell meat. But sponsoring a festival of meat - a celebration of butchery and slaughter - is a disgusting and irresponsible display that shows their true colors. In case anyone still believed that Whole Foods cares about animals, the environment, or sustainability, this should be proof that the purpose of their ratings is to boost their own profits by convincing their customers that they can buy animal products ethically. Even though there's no such thing as humane meat and no way to sustainably raise livestock for the masses.
I don't shop at Whole Foods often because it's far away and it's expensive. They do offer many more vegan and vegetarian options than other supermarkets. But whenever someone who is trying to sell you something tells you how ethical their product is, take it with a grain of salt and investigate it yourself.
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The Whole Foods Market in Boulder, Colorado, just held a butcher contest last weekend. As a dedicated Whole Foods customer since the late 1990s, when the market opened in Boulder, I couldn’t understand what the purpose of this was and I was, and still am, very unhappy about it. I think it will be a while before I shop at Whole Foods again. Luckily, Boulder has a number of other outstanding natural and organic markets that will be getting my business.
Obviously there may be exceptions to this rule…but simply taking anything a corporation says or does as being untruthful and/or destructive is a stance that will usually prove out to be correct.
Think of it this way…a corporation is a group of people devoted to extracting the maximum profit from their activities. What might one expect from their behavior?
Actually when considered…corporations have inflicted much greater damage on planet earth and life thereon than any out and out criminal organization ever has. And…you measure the truth of someone not by what they say…but by what they do.
What is the purpose of all this?? What a waste!! I don’t care to shop there anymore.
From the Meatopia Site: “Carcass Hill, The Deckle District, Offalwood, and the Meatopia County Game Reserve. ……………….musical acts, including Woods and The Living Kills, and world-famous mural artist Laurel True creating an interactive meat mural with the crowd.”
I had a strong aversion to Whole Foods, even though I sometimes shop there for bulk grains. Thank you for bringing this atrocity to light; I will drive further to shop at a coop instead of giving Whole Foods my business.
IF Whole Foods were to continue to increase their sales of VEGAN products….would this NOT mean something??? Would it not mean that more and more of us are taking up this humane lifestyle and purchasing VEGAN food items and entering their stores to see this choice??
Whie I DEPLORE their Meatopia and Butcher contest….I am speaking with my pocket book…by entering their stores and purchasing VEGAN food items and cruelty free non-food items…
I am only…ONE…Vegan voice…but like the ‘starfish’ story…I am ONE…
Thank you for the enlightenment of another WF inhumane move. I also recently saw, a ‘contest’ to win a year of bacon – truly horrifying – and they’re promoting the contest with a facebook page. I wrote to them urging them to stop promoting slaughter. It seems they are starting to glorify meats more and more – seems it may be time to start a petition to get them to stop glorifying slaughter and trivilializing the exploitation of animals.
Wow. Didn’t know this. I don’t shop there very often either due to distance but I will avoid WF and give my business to Trader Joes and other small business natural food stores.
I went Vegan 3 years ago after reading “The Kind Diet” by Alicia Silverstone. I stopped eating veal when I was a little girl after one bite and then I read an article of what veal really is and I threw up. It is so horrible what is done to these farm animals. I live in Princeton, Idaho and pass by cattle that are peacefully grazing in the grass under the blue sky. By I cringe when I drive past a slaughter house in Moscow, Idaho and sometimes see a cow dangling from a medal rod being readied to cut it apart. It is so barbaric. It is so sad that these once live animals are slaughtered and cut apart for human consumption. May they all get heart disease and cancer from consuming red meats. I am 60 and have perfect health since I eat fruits, vegetables and love Morning Star Vegan meals.
Wow. You vegans and your holier-than-thou attitudes. If you want to be a vegan, that’s fine. Shrivel up and die and leave more meat for the rest of us. Humans have pointed teeth for a reason, and it’s not for eating lettuce. It’s for tearing off a bite of fresh carcass.
I’m just saying, quit trying to push your crap on the rest of us, or maybe a bunch of angry meat eaters will one day capture a bunch of vegans, and force feed them baby seal meat. I might even be part of that group of angry meat eaters.
Anyway, just crawl back to your hole, eat your mud and tofu, and leave us normal people alone. If I hear one more person tell me that I shouldn’t eat meat, well I probably shouldn’t say what I want to do because it could probably be construed as a terroristic threat.
Anyway, great job Whole Foods, I never shopped there myself, didn’t feel like dealing with a bunch of dirty vegan hippies, but after hearing about this, I’m definitely going to start buying my meat there from now on.
Anyone who wants to bite off some carcass ought to read Gail Eisnitz’s book “Slaughterhouse”. Or Google and watch “Farm to Fridge”. Try moving down the line with the cattle and pigs toward the hooks and scalders and skinners and see how you feel about taking a good ole chunk o’ red stuff.
@ Cristo- Our “pointed” teeth are not designed to tear into a wild animal like a lion…but that would be interesting to see that attempted…not. You have a right to an opinion but not to make threats….although it would be interesting to see a lion take a bite out of your ass.
Being a butcher is a skill and an occupation. These people rely on this trade as their livelihood. The same as a farmer has a skill to grow produce which is then SOLD to consumers in order to provide for their families. There are contests for best heirloom tomatoes but no one is complaining. I understand that people don’t eat animal and that’s fine but to complain about a store and a particular group of people is ridiculous. Also, for the record I believe most organic food is grown with Blood Meal and Bone Meal added to the soil for nutrients. Unless my facts are completely wrong, these come from Animals. VEGANS BEWARE!! Your produce has been grown in animal by-products!! Just sayin..
As disgusting as muslims celebrating animals sacrificing as a “holly” ritual. You do not have to be vegetarian to have some grace, you freaking butchers! And you know what it is time to tell the world that I was subject to ultimate racist discriminations while I was working as a graphic artist for WFM and I got fired after bringing it up. So it doesn’t surprise me that this company brought Nazism into this whole new level. Congratulations!
Stop whining you lil sissys. What all ya’ll need is a lil meat in you mouth!!!! We are humans and built to eat meat. Survival of the fittest. Its just meat!!
The person who wished cancer and heart disease is just as ridiculous as the people bashing vegans for their life choice. I choose not to eat meat because of my own personal choice. Exactly what it is. I go to WF because they do offer non GMO produce and a wider selection of Vegan items. I don’t look down on non vegans. I’m too busy trying to better myself to look down on others for their diet. Radicals on both sides are disgusting. The Meatopia is horrible, but business is business. Live with it or go off the grid I guess.
Never mind! You do have to be VEGAN to have some grace.
Even our past president William Jefferson Clinton has gone vegan, not
being able to speak for his reason for doing so, but reading bits on the internet, he did certainly stop eating meat when he was found to have some type of heart trouble, so, all this meat eating is certainly not a boon
to good health, and seeing pigs sequestered in a small barred cage for
their whole life when watching TV yesterday, was shocking and depressing to say the least, we really don’t need it do we??????
Cattle, pigs lambs, chickens, even horses, it is a true travesty, lets try to
eat as healthy as we can, and we can, truly enjoy lots of fresh stuff veggies, grain products, nuts, gee a pecan pancake would be great this morning!!!!!!
T