Whole Foods Madness

[Guest]

Taken from a reader at

http://www.randi.org

(Snippeth)

NO HOPE FOR WHOLE FOODS

Reader Ryan Speck tells us:

After seeing this week's SWIFT and noticing more commentary on Whole Foods (whose stance on homeopathy has lead me recently into several heated debates with friends in my new home of Seattle who prefer their organic foods and line of crap to that of a more reasonable seller), I felt it was pertinent to mention something that I don't remember seeing referenced previously on the JREF site: Whole Foods has no interest in changing their stance on homeopathy and to try to convince them otherwise is foolish, because homeopathy (and "complementary" and "alternative" medicine in general) is their new cash cow, which they have no plans to stop milking.

If you look at Whole Foods' website, they give you a gamut of information on a variety of crap principles regarding all your typical fraud suspects, as well as offering a variety of in-store seminars on such subjects and avoiding the flu through homeopathy. (Try washing your hands and not letting people cough in your face, I say.) But on top of all these references, Whole Foods' normal site links back to their "medical" "information" database at www.wholehealthmd.com, a horrifying bludgeon to the name of science and reason – though thankfully it looks like the site hasn't really been updated in nearly 3 years. It's become fairly obvious that Whole Foods is not in the business of just selling goods and services to the public, but in promoting a New Age lifestyle, consisting of whatever pseudoscience and outright lies come down their monetary pike.

Of particular irony to me is the section entitled "Expert Opinions," where a rogue's gallery of quacks with "M.D." placed after their names, dole out advice to foolish readers on homeopathy and herbal remedies.

I think the most frightening of all is a question from a concerned parent asking for a homeopathic "cure" for a 3-year-old's recurring ear infections. Sadly, the link to their answer is broken, but I'm glad that I'm not forced to read whatever irresponsible advice they have for a parent that should be seeking better care for their child than 1,000,000X-diluted mercury and rose petal potions.

As they say in their "Healing Center":

Rather than prescribing powerful antibiotics or surgery to treat chronic conditions, we prefer to combine the best of conventional medicine with alternative therapies to help the body strengthen and then heal itself.

Which is to say, why use tested, proven, and doctor-prescribed medication that only benefits corporatism, my hippie friend, when you can instead use our expensive vials of worthless placebo to make you feel better?


(Thus doth endeth der Scnhipazoid)