Yesterday I stopped in at my local Whole Foods (Peterson & Cicero) to find their chalkboard touting local produce advertising 21 different items.  After a cursory browse through the section, I was able to find more than half pretty quickly.

I managed to walk out with peaches, blueberries, and green beans, all grown within Illinois or a neighboring state.

It was probably the best spread of local produce I've seen at WF in a long time.  I'm still a bit skeptical of their “21 item” claim, but the number was up and I was pleased.  (One item was produced in Missouri, which is starting to get a little far from here to be called “local”, but I'm not complaining).

Does anyone have any reports from other WF in this regard?

I was driving along North Avenue in the city yesterday so I had to stop in to see the local at the oldest Whole Foods in the city.  The original Whole Foods near the North-Clyborn hell hole does not feature a sign declaring its local count (perhaps because this Whole Foods does not lead with produce).  Still, the local haul was not bad, not bad at all.

Local included kale, golden beets, blueberries, Illinois peaches (it broke my heart that a lady was picking up these baseball hard nectarines and by-passing the peaches; too many people associate size with quality in stone fruit); zukes and cukes, and the impossible to spoil burdock root.  In the cheese department, this Whole Foods dedicated a case to local cheese including several varieties of Zingerman Creamery cheese, a few from Roth Kase (confirming the bargains I obtained last week in Monroe, WI) and some from Capriole. 

As bastions of local go, Whole Foods is far from ideal.  I wish the management their would peek into my Caputo's in Elmwood Park and see all the lovely versions of local peppers, let alone the locally grown eggplants for under $1/lb.  I cannot be so impressed with a store, Whole Foods, that even at this time of year trucks in tomatoes from Mexico and Texas and has fruit from Chile.  Still, I am glad to see any growth in local, no matter how incremental.

I've been generally impressed with my local WF (peterson & cicero) this summer.  They're pushing the local produce with large displays right up front.  It's almost impossible to walk into the store and not be greeted with a huge bin of local peaches.

Plenty of peaches, apples, squash, berries, and green beans to be had.

Best,

Michael

even Fox & Obel has WI heirlooms for $2.99/ lb.  The Whole Foods Price is outrageous.  On the other hand, local corn at WF was 3/$1.00, significantly cheaper than what it's been this summer at the Green City market.  WF local peaches were also cheaper than those I've seen at local markets. 

On a semi-related note, my complaint has never been that local food is too expensive, just that the pricing and marketing sometimes seem senseless and all over the map.  New potatoes from Wisconsin should not cost 4X more than identical-looking potatoes from Wisconsin, sitting on the very same shelf at Fox & Obel.  There's no good reason for local cherry tomatoes at the Logan Square farmers market to be twice as expensive as local cherry tomatoes at Whole Foods.   There's a whole lot more like this.

That's great to know.  McIntosh aren't my favorite either, but they're make a good applesauce when paired with a sturdier variety.

Thanks for posting!