# America's 10 healthiest grocery stores.



## msmofet (Dec 15, 2010)

*America's 10 healthiest grocery stores**  (<click for original article)*

_By Pamela Paul_ 

Let’s face it: Your weekly (or daily!) run to the grocery store is the foundation for your good health. So it’s thrilling news that the supermarket industry is on a health kick—these days you’ll likely find organic produce and “natural” packaged foods at almost any store you go to.
But which chains are outdoing themselves to deliver the freshest and healthiest foods to you? And which ones provide the best tools to help you make smart choices?
We asked six prominent health experts (meet our judges) to help us pick the top 10 healthiest grocery stores out of the nation’s largest chains. Here are the true standouts. Happy, healthy shopping!

<Follow the link to read the list.>
http://shine.yahoo.com/topic/food+shopping/


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## roadfix (Dec 15, 2010)

I'm surprised to see major grocery chains in there.  All the junk food they stock should detract from the healthy goods they sell.  But if they got rid of all the crap, half their shelves would be empty.


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## Andy M. (Dec 15, 2010)

Interesting reading!  Thanks for posting, msmofet.

Only three of the 10 are in my region.  I shop occasionally at Whole Foods, TJ's and Hannaford.  I haven't seen a Super Target around here and none of the others is even close.


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## Andy M. (Dec 15, 2010)

roadfix said:


> I'm surprised to see major grocery chains in there.  All the junk food they stock should detract from the healthy goods they sell.  But if they got rid of all the crap, half their shelves would be empty.




There's no point in reviewing other than chains.  The list would be useless to 99.9% of the population.

Well, they ARE in the business to make money.  I think as long as they offer healthy choices to the junk food, that's all you can really expect.


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## roadfix (Dec 15, 2010)

Andy M. said:


> There's no point in reviewing other than chains.  The list would be useless to 99.9% of the population.



I agree.  But Safeway?  I consider Kroger/Ralphs and other major national chains to be equal to Safeway.  These guys should have been on the list too then.  I was just surprised to see Safeway on the list.  Other chains are going through similar transformations....might as well listed them as well.


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## msmofet (Dec 15, 2010)

Andy M. said:


> Interesting reading! Thanks for posting, msmofet.
> 
> Only three of the 10 are in my region. I shop occasionally at Whole Foods, TJ's and Hannaford. I haven't seen a Super Target around here and none of the others is even close.


You're welcome Andy.
We have Trader Joe (I have fallen in love with their healthy products and no hassle return policy), Pathmark (In danger of closing in my area due to the A & P buy out), Target (We have many of these stores in my area not all are Super Targets but a lot are getting face lifts and converting to "Super") and Whole Foods (A bit pricey but they ordered rosehip tea for me when it wasn't on their shelf and gave me a call when it came in) in my area. I have shopped at Food Lion (thats where I first purchased Ideal sugar sub which is fantastic!!), Publix and Safeway while on vacations.


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## Andy M. (Dec 15, 2010)

roadfix said:


> I agree.  But Safeway?  I consider Kroger/Ralphs and other major national chains to be equal to Safeway.  These guys should have been on the list too then.  I was just surprised to see Safeway on the list.  Other chains are going through similar transformations....might as well listed them as well.



There are other regional chains in the Northeast which weren't listed.  You don't know if they were included in the survey and rejected or just not included.

I guess no list can cover it all.  It's at least good to know there are choices.


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## roadfix (Dec 15, 2010)

Andy M. said:


> The list would be useless to 99.9% of the population.
> 
> Well, they ARE in the business to make money.



On second thought, I think the current list is useless to the majority of the population because chances are you'll not find most of those chains listed in lower income areas.

Yes, they are in the business of making money.  That's probably one reason why you don't see them in the inner cities, for instance.


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## Andy M. (Dec 15, 2010)

I'd bet low budget grocery chains are more common in lower income areas.  I know that's somewhat true around here.


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## snickerdoodle (Dec 15, 2010)

Super Target is the only one on that list that is anywhere near us and I refuse to buy groceries there because it's usually overpriced and their produce is crap.  Although I know they had a recent campaign saying that they've improved their quality.  I personally don't know anyone that does their grocery shopping at Target.  Here in the midwest we have Hy-Vee grocery stores and I'm very happy with them.  They have a health market with lots of organic items and they have ethnic sections of the store that are great too.  Their produce is good, and they have an organic produce section as well.  Now sometimes some of the organic stuff is way expensive and I can get it cheaper at Wal Mart, although they are very limited in the organics they carry.


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## babetoo (Dec 15, 2010)

i shop safeway vons. they offer healthy choices and junk food. it is up to the shopper which they buy. the organic stuff is usually cheaper. healthy choice is good but still to salty. no one can force the shopper to buy stuff that is good for me. you are just whistling dixie if you think so.


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## roadfix (Dec 15, 2010)

babetoo said:


> i shop safeway vons.
> 
> the organic stuff is usually cheaper.



I shop at Vons/Safeway too, as well as Kroger/Ralphs.  Both are about 5 minutes away.  But I never buy produce there, especially organics which are ridiculously overpriced.  
For produce I always shop at the local Asian market.....their prices are generally 1/2 of what super markets charge.


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## babetoo (Dec 16, 2010)

i don't buy a lot of fresh produce. i only shop once a month. so only buy fresh what i can eat in couple days. i buy mostly frozen and have found the organic to usually be cheaper. albertsons and henry's market here have best produce. neither are what i would call cheap.


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## taxlady (Dec 16, 2010)

babetoo said:


> i don't buy a lot of fresh produce. i only shop once a month. so only buy fresh what i can eat in couple days. i buy mostly frozen and have found the organic to usually be cheaper. albertsons and henry's market here have best produce. neither are what i would call cheap.



I really liked Henry's when I visited family in Orange County, Calif.


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## taxlady (Dec 16, 2010)

I buy most of my organic stuff at my local health food store (a 10 minute walk). I can get organic at a Canadian chain called Loblaws, but they do their own organic certification and I can't find their standards. Sounds kinda iffy to me. Yup, it's cheaper, but when I'm paying extra for organic, I want to know what that means.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Dec 17, 2010)

Only two of the ten stores is available here, Safeway and Albertson's, I don't shop at either place.  In the Pacific northwest we have Rosauers, where I do the majority of my shopping and they have a "Natural Foods" section and The Good Food Store which stocks the same items as Whole Foods and a lot of local foods.  The prices are similar at both stores and their produce is the best looking in town.


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## taxlady (Dec 17, 2010)

I buy a lot of my not-organic produce at a small chain called Mourelatos. I have been told by staff in other stores that Mourelatos buys 2nd quality produce. It turns out that 2nd quality refers to appearance. It has nothing to do with the taste, freshness, or nutrients. Haha, I get tasty produce cheaper 'cause it isn't as uniformly pretty.

Loblaws (major chain supermarket) is right next door. I get creeped out by their 1st quality produce. Vegetables and fruit just shouldn't be that uniform.


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## Bolas De Fraile (Dec 17, 2010)

When we are in Miami we shop at Wild Oats/Wholefoods for meat, charcuterie and cheese, Publix for bread and supermarket products. I could not understand why people bought fruit and veg at our local Publix at the bottom of Kendal Drive, if you drove for 10 mins more Krone ave was full of farm shops selling fantastic fruit and veg a lot cheaper. There was also a couple of pick your own farms that were cheaper still


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## roadfix (Dec 17, 2010)

Would I become healthier and will my hair grow thicker if I switch to organics?


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## Andy M. (Dec 17, 2010)

roadfix said:


> Would I become healthier and will my hair grow thicker if I switch to organics?




It's pretty to believe that.


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## ChefJune (Dec 17, 2010)

taxlady said:


> ILoblaws (major chain supermarket) is right next door. I get creeped out by their 1st quality produce. Vegetables and fruit just shouldn't be that uniform.


 
but sadly, that uniformity is what many folks think of as "top quality." I agree, the two have little in common.


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## mollyanne (Dec 17, 2010)

Thank you for posting that interesting info MsMofet...but Food Lion??? I've always thought that was the low-man-on-the-totem-pole.

Stocks in Whole Foods are doing quite well by the way....$50 a share now I think.


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## snickerdoodle (Dec 17, 2010)

taxlady said:


> Loblaws (major chain supermarket) is right next door. I get creeped out by their 1st quality produce. Vegetables and fruit just shouldn't be that uniform.


 
I used to work at a local fruit/veggie farm (a GREAT experience) and we had to sort the produce into 1st, 2nd and 3rds.  The 1st's were the nice looking uniform ones, 2nd's were one step down and 3rd's were sold at a pretty steep discount.   Some of the local grocery stores ordered produce from the farm and we were only to sell the 1st's to them.  In the small shop at the farm where the produce was sold, all varieties sold very well.  The 1st's weren't grown any differently, they grew on the same plants as the 2nd's and 3rd's.  We pay more for perfection.  I don't mind when my produce is perfectly imperfect (just like me!)


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## bakechef (Dec 17, 2010)

mollyanne said:


> Thank you for posting that interesting info MsMofet...but Food Lion??? I've always thought that was the low-man-on-the-totem-pole.
> 
> Stocks in Whole Foods are doing quite well by the way....$50 a share now I think.



It really depends on the Food Lion.  Some in my area are very very basic, others are nicer, depending on the neighborhood.  The one I go to most has an entire aisle of organic including a freezer and cooler.  The deli has organic breads and gourmet imported cheeses.  In other parts of town, especially where there is more of an ethnic clientele instead of all of the organics/gourmet and such, there will be lots of Hispanic groceries.  The rural stores are different yet again.  They seem to be stocked according to clientele. 

I think that having Bloom as an offshoot helped get them on this list, they are more of an upscale type of store, but still part of Food Lion.


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## Bolas De Fraile (Dec 18, 2010)

The best supermarket in the UK is Waitrose own by the John Lewis group, every employee is a share holder so they have a vested interest in the success of the stores.


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## LAJ (Mar 4, 2011)

I read the article and found two of my favorites were included: Trader Joe's, a store I frequent quite often. Organic items at the best prices. And, Publix stores in Florida. When I visit, I make a trip to Publix- first thing. I do miss shopping at Publix now that I moved north. My area is not famous for great grocery stores. I shop Trader Joes, independent seafood stores, and buy local grass fed beef from local farms. We used to have Farmer Jack stores. Kroger stores are around here but pretty low quality goods. I dont shop there very often. I look at the windows and the floors of a grovery store. If they are dirty, that is a good indication I dont want to shop there. Same goes for restaurants.


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## Nicholas Mosher (Mar 4, 2011)

During the spring/summer/fall, we shop at farm stands and farmers markets first.

Next we hit a locally owned grocery store that stocks lots of local goods and will get pretty much anything you want with a couple days notice (they send box trucks to the North Shore and Boston every other day for out-of-season produce and fresh seafood).  They have a close relationship with a few boats, so if I want something particular like Monkfish heads, they'll get it super fresh.  We also get 95% of our beer and wine there.

Then we hit Whole Foods for anything we can't easily get at our local market (such as specific imported chocolates, fresh roasted/ground PB, etc).

Finally we hit BJ's (a Wholesale Club) for non-perishable goods such as Toilet Paper, Tin Foil, Printer Ink, etc.

I visit a local package store every couple months to replace any "hard" alcohol that we might use up (such as Baileys, Patron, or Absolut).


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