Slate can profile whomever they like, but there was a real lack of quality journalism to the story. Did they contact any of those "small farmers"? Or any vendor at all? The Chile v. New Jersey tomatoes was a highly unlikely example to make the author's point. I'm surprised that someone from the New Yorker would write such a weak piece. That said, we deal with Whole Foods a lot and in some ways they behave much like any other retailer but in several important ways, they behave very differently. They invite vendors to annual gatherings where they explain strategy and policies, help those whose products they support, insist on "clean" products and generally go the extra mile to be a good corporate citizen. Whether it's to boost their profit or image or sense of self-worth is tough to tell. Whole Paycheck is in the spotlight becasue of their astonishing success. Between them and TJ's on the high end and Walmart on teh low end, traditional supermarkets are having to improve to compete or die. On the whole, I agree that WF has had a positive impact on both the industry and in the communities they serve.
