My visit to the Whole Foods Market was very informative. When I entered the market it appeared that it was designed for and catered to the wealthy community. It was close to downtown and it wasn’t easy for people who live in east Austin to locate. I have never been to Whole Foods Market so I didn’t really know what to expect, but I never thought a grocery store would have some of the things I saw. There were escalators, salad bars, and juice bars. I’ve never seen anything like it! Unfortunately I didn’t see one minority in the store shopping, there were one or two minorities working and that was it. Made me feel out of place, and I really wanted to leave.
As I walked around the store I noticed that the prices were slightly higher than they are in a regular grocery store, but I figured because of the area it was in and the quality of the items in the store that the prices would be higher. I finally talked to a man who worked in the meat section and he used ethos to tell me why this store was different from HEB. He told me that the reason that things in the store were a lot higher were because everything was natural and organic. None of the food in the store had been processed, contained artificial ingredients, or pesticides. The medicine that they carried was even natural. I’m sick right now so while I was there I was going to pick up some Theraflu and Nyquil but they told me they didn’t carry it because it wasn’t natural. At this point my whole opinion of the store has changed.
I was going to argue that this store was built for the wealthy in near downtown Austin, which would keep most minorities out of the store. I’m not familiar with this store so I’m not sure where they are located, but I know I haven’t seen one in east Austin. After I told to the meat man I realized that the store is for the “healthy community” and because of the pricey healthy and natural items that store holds it makes it harder for some people to shop there.
