Whole Foods Stops Selling Real Kombucha

Citing concerns over its alcohol content, Whole Foods has pulled leading brands of kombucha off the shelves in its stores. Kombucha is generally thought to have less than 0.5% alcohol-by-volume, but since it is a live, raw food that continues to ferment even once it's bottled, I can imagine its alcohol content varying from bottle to bottle. That said, I have never heard of anyone getting drunk from kombucha, and I have known teetotalers and recovering alcoholics who have consumed it without any problems. In my experience, kombucha's acidity is sufficient to prevent anyone from binging on it. For reference, weak American beer starts at 4.0%, so even assuming that kombucha can creep up to 0.75% ABV, say, you'd need to drink more than 5 bottles of it to get the amount of alcohol you get from one bottle of weak beer.

I visited my local Whole Foods to see for myself. There were a couple of brands of "kombucha" still in the cooler, but when I looked more closely, they turned out to be flavored teas with some kombucha added to them, and it was unclear whether or not they were raw. I asked an employee why my favorite brand was no longer on the shelves, and he said something about "labeling problems" that they were working on resolving. I told him that I was going to go to the food co-op around the corner to buy my kombucha.

A few months ago, in a similar move, Whole Foods pulled all raw milk from all its stores, citing safety concerns (see here). They called this move "temporary", but the raw milk never came back.

It's clear to me that Whole Foods no longer have the stomach (as it were) to be on the leading edge of the food movement. They are becoming more and more focused on liability, and less and less on real food.

(But to keep it in perspective, there are still much, much worse companies in the world. Monsanto? BP? ConAgra? Altria?)

For more information about the Whole Foods kombucha situation, see this posting on kombuchafuel.

Raw Milk In Massachusetts, April 14, 2010

Here's what's new in raw milk in Massachusetts, as of today:

Buying Clubs In Peril

The State of Massachusetts is considering a regulation change that would make raw milk buying clubs illegal. Depending how the regulation is interpreted, it might even become illegal for me to go to the farm, buy raw milk for myself, and bring some back for my friend. For more information, see here. Please consider contacting your senators and representatives at the statehouse if you have feelings about this issue.

Whole Foods

Whole Foods has permanently discontinued the sale of raw milk nationwide, even in states where raw milk can be sold in stores. It is ironic, because the milk they will continue to sell, pasteurized milk, is not a "whole food". It has typically been centrifuged, separated, re-blended, pasteurized, homogenized, and fortified…at least!

This action by Whole Foods doesn't affect Massachusetts per se, because raw milk can't be sold in stores in Mass. And it's a federal crime to transport raw milk across state lines, so I know that none of you would ever do that, right? For instance, you would never visit Maine or Connecticut for the weekend, stop in a store on the way home, and buy some raw milk. (But if you did, I might recommend Golden Harvest Market, in Kittery, Maine, just off I-95 right over the New Hampshire border.)

Whole Foods said they say they were having trouble with their insurers, and that this affected their decision. There may be other, more political reasons for their change as well. For more commentary, check out what Cheese Slave had to say here.

Eastleigh Farm

And now for the good news: As of quite recently, raw milk is available at Eastleigh Farm in Framingham, Massachusetts. This is the closest raw milk farm to Boston.

For more information about how to get raw milk in Massachusetts, visit my blog post here or NOFA's Raw Milk Network.

For all of my previous posts on the subject of raw milk, click here.

Raw Milk Dropped By Whole Foods (Temporarily? Permanently?)

Up until yesterday, Whole Foods sold raw milk in many states where they could.

As of today, Whole Foods no longer sells raw milk in CA, CT, PA, and WA (and maybe others). The above sign, seen outside a Whole Foods Market in Washington, makes it sound like they may start selling raw milk again at some future time. We shall see.

Mark McAfee suggests that this decision came from difficulties Whole Foods was having with insurers. McAfee observes that the store continues to carry spinach and peanuts, despite the fact that they have killed far more people than raw milk has in recent years.

While this may be a temporary blow to raw milk, it is a boon to independent stores and smaller chains that carry raw milk. And it will generate more bad PR for Whole Foods, who have been alienating key constituencies with some frequency over the past year. (See here and here.) Raw milk drinkers tend to think quite a lot about food, health, and wellness; other people are likely to seek their advice around food questions.

David Gumpert posts his thoughts on the subject, insightful as usual, over at his blog, The Complete Patient.

Boycott Whole Foods? I Think Not.

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, Inc., wrote an editorial for the Wall Street Journal that has caused a great kerfuffle. In this editorial, he presented his thoughts about how to improve health care in the United States. I would encourage anyone who's interested to read his editorial.

I agreed with most of what he said in the editorial, I disagreed with some, was neutral on some, and I will not be boycotting Whole Foods.

Why not?

1. Anyone who pays attention already knew that John Mackey was a libertarian, a proponent of a limited role for government. Heck, I don't even really pay attention, and I still knew this. So the opinions he expressed should not have shocked anyone.
   
   
2. You want to boycott Whole Foods. Where else do you shop? Do you know the political views of the CEOs of all the corporations you give your money to? Are they more to your taste than Mackey's? Mackey is not the only shareholder of Whole Foods; do you know the political views of all the other shareholders? Have you done a thorough survey? If you're in a boycotting mood, it's possible that there are other companies or products more deserving of boycotts, for one reason or another. (I personally boycott Coors, Wal-Mart, Starbucks, fast food, and diamonds. Probably some other things, too.)
   
   
3. I believe that Whole Foods, on the whole, has had a net positive effect on our food system. Sure, it's not all good. But it's also not all bad. I think they have raised more people's awareness of food in general, and "organic" food in particular, than any other single organization in the US. Whole Foods is a first step towards "real food" for many people.
   
   
4. I already buy all the produce I can from farmers' markets; all the meat I can from traceable sources (viz. Meat Of Known Origin); and as much dairy as I can from small farmers, as much of it raw as possible. Righteous, yes? But what if some of my farmers have political views that I disagree with? Oh my goodness! Have I asked all my farmers about their political views? Of course not. Shall I ask them about their religious beliefs, too?
   
   
5. During the summer, I hardly shop at supermarkets. There are better places to buy food. I plan to continue avoiding supermarkets into the winter. I am on the board of The Boston Public Market Association. Our goal is to create an indoor, year-round food market serving greater Boston. If you want real food, spend your time and energy (and money) helping us, rather than boycotting supermarkets! Give us money—your gift is tax deductible. Find us on Facebook and on twitter.
   

That's all.