Regardless of one’s opinion about WFM, this distressing story does offer a good teachable glimpse into rough waters ahead.
The somber reality is that many family farmers – for many decades – have found farm stability and safe harbor by selling to Whole Foods. And similarly, many earnest eaters have sought out good food for their families by shopping at WFM.
Our advice for families: develop a relationship with an honest, local Certified Organic farmer and join a buying club or bricks & mortar retail Co-op for needs local farmers can’t provide. Jim, Caleb & Megan
“Whole Foods, which had been AtlantaFresh’s main customer for over a decade, turned out to be both generous patron and cruel master—an industry power broker that helped vault AtlantaFresh from regional specialty to national brand, and ultimately helped ensure its demise. But the dairy’s ruin probably wasn’t about Marks’s product, its pricing, or our appetite for grass-fed milk. It was a matter of bad timing: Whole Foods is undergoing a major shift in its corporate culture, as it moves its sourcing away from regional suppliers and starts focusing more on a centralized purchasing model.”
https://newfoodeconomy.org/atlantafresh-whole-foods-contract/
