This is my last blog for Whole Foods Market Johns Creek.  Thank you for reading along, leaving comments, asking questions, and becoming a part of the community of our store.  I appreciate you!

Whole Foods Market Johns Creek will celebrate its 5^th anniversary this week.  Sometimes it feels like we just swept up the crumbs from the bread-breaking ceremony, and sometimes it feels like we’ve been perched on the side of State Bridge Road since wagons lurched down its dirt path. Along the way, I’ve gained a lot of knowledge. Some of it is about things I didn’t even know existed before I first strapped on an apron. So indulge me a bit here, and let me tell you some of the things I’ve learned:

• I now know that there are over 200 seeds on the outside of a medium-sized strawberry. That’s one of the many, many food factoids I dug up during my research, and it remains one of those factoids that always make me smile.
• I finally learned how to differentiate between “fillet” (2 L’s means it swims) and “filet” (one L means it moos.)
• However, I will, never, EVER be able to spell hors d’ oeuvres without looking at my spelling cheat sheet.
• You folks love you some Hatch Chiles.  The “Chiles from the Land of Enchantment” blog ( http://wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/duluth/2010/08/25/chiles-from-the-land-of-enchantment/) still generates passionate posts and urgent questions about this smokily delicious pepper, whose season and shelf life is woefully short.  I hope that one Labor Day weekend I can be in Hatch, New Mexico when the chile roasters are turning and the air is fragrant with their essence.
• You also love to shop to ‘80’s music-it’s our most-requested soundtrack. I’m curious–what is it about Bryan Adams that makes you want to buy organic kale?
• I’ve learned that people love to talk about their Thanksgiving turkey—for over an hour—before they actually purchase it. And that’s cool with us, because we can gobble about turkeys all day long.
• I’ve learned that men who are buying two double-dozen bouquets of roses on Valentine’s Day are either on the verge of proposing or in seriously hot water.
• I’ve learned how hard it is to buy groceries when you are gluten-intolerant, and I appreciate the diligence of the folks who constantly ask about the ingredients in our food.
• I’ve learned that I will never know everything there is to know about wine. Thankfully I will continue research and testing.
• Thanks to our Health Starts Here program, I’ve learned how to sauté without extraneous oils and fats.
• I know what dragonfruit tastes like. (Sort of banana-y, with a pear and citrus undertone.)
• I’ve learned that you absolutely must wear gloves when de-seeding a jalapeño pepper.
• I’ve learned how delicious unsweetened almond milk tastes.
• I’ve learned that a neti pot will clean out your nasal pipes real good when they’re clogged, but don’t do it in front of a mirror. You’ll scare yourself silly.
• I’ve learned that sampling our stuffed brie with figs and almonds can set off a stampede.
• The most important thing I’ve learned comes from our customers-to always be curious, and never settle. Cheers to you all for being such great teachers.

I wish I could tell you what got me to thinking about fish tacos.  You’d think that with fall weather just around the corner (I know, I know, it’s in the high 80’s today but bear with me) I’d be daydreaming about bison chili, or digging around for butternut squash recipes. But for some reason I’m jonesing for the crunch and spice of a fish taco all loaded down with fresh slaw, so I started stumbling around on the internet looking for fish taco tidbits. Luckily, I didn’t have to stumble too far.

Fish tacos, like many food trends, had a humble beginning. The skinny stretch of the Baja, Mexico peninsula evidently groans under the weight of fish taco stands on the edge of the sea, where lucky locals and tourists alike get a warm corn tortilla wrapped around a fish fillet that’s been fried to a satisfying crunch and squirted with a creamy chile-lime dressing of the cook’s creation. (Note: I have never been to the Baja peninsula, but just the vision of these taco stands on the beach has me checking flights.) The fish taco made its way out of scruffy surfer’s hands and across the border to California, where it was promptly plopped onto many a white tablecloth restaurant’s menu before it nudged its way into casual and fast food eateries.  I remember when they first started showing up on menus here in the Atlanta area, a welcome and fresh change to the usual beef and chicken taco options in many restaurants.  I liked them so much I started making my own, and that’s when I discovered that fish tacos are a natural fit for tight food budgets and weekday meals that don’t leave a lot of time for preparation and cooking.

Here at Whole Foods Market Johns Creek, we like to make it easy for you to create the most delicious fish tacos ever with quality ingredients that won’t break your budget. Our “Whole Deal” newsletter, now available in our stores and online at http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/products/wholedeal/budget-recipes.php, features a fish taco recipe that feeds a family of four for approximately $3.56 per serving. It features some ingredients that are unique to our store, too, at great values. For example, the “Farmed Responsibly” tilapia in the dish was raised with strict standards towards sustainability and the environment. It’s also one of our sure deals at a price of $2.99 a package. The crunchy taco shells in the ingredients list are none other than our exclusive label 365 Everyday Value® organic Taco Shells, with no mystery ingredients and a bang-up value price of only $2.99 for a box of 12 (yellow or blue corn, you choose.)

So do yourself a favor and hop online and check out our “Whole Deal” newsletter and that great recipe for fish tacos. It’ll save you money and buy you back some time. Best of all, it’ll make your family’s tummy full and happy with the Baja’s tastiest import!

You don’t have to spend more than 24 hours in the South to realize that there are as many types of barbeque in our region as there are people who love to eat barbeque. It all started when the European colonists observed the Native Americans cooking meat slowly over an open fire. They added their own ingredients and techniques, and that’s how we got the wonderful array of sauces—or lack thereof—that’s started many a pit war. The Germanic folk’s mustard-based sauce in South Carolina, the peppery vinegar of the British along the Atlantic Seaboard, the juicy brisket from beef ranchers in Texas-all these culinary roots go deep in our South.

It can be confusing to someone who’s new to the region, someone who perhaps grew up using the word “barbeque” as a verb.  And now that it’s (finally!) the perfect season for tailgating and picnicking, this person might want to stretch their culinary skills toward barbeque. Let’s say that person is you. With so many different accents, meat cuts, sauces and smoking techniques, how would you start your ‘cue journey?

Naturally, I’m going to lead you to the meat counter here at Whole Foods Market Johns Creek. Our butchers are skilled, experienced folks who are happy to answer all your questions, from the dizzying science of which cut is best for your needs and preparation tips for your barbeque odyssey. We know that true barbeque is not grilling, and we can help you figure out a way to use indirect heat and slow- cooking techniques to get your pork shoulder to its maximum level of juiciness and doneness.  We’ve got all kinds of pre-made barbeque sauces, or we can suggest some recipes for you.

So, barbeque newbie, relax.  Come in and peruse the meat counter, check out the sauces and spices and rubs, and talk to our experts. After all, we speak the language.

Labor Day! It’s the holiday that is the channel marker for an endless summer.  This is where beach days end and football season begins.

The great debate over wearing white after Labor Day may rage but for many, it’s a time when many of us take advantage of end-of-season clothing sales or eyeball that new sweater. And luckily for many folks, it’s the day when labor takes a back seat to having fun. And if fun means sharing a meal with family or friends, we here at Whole Foods Market Johns Creek have some great deals on food that’s made for fun.

For example-can you think of anything that’s more foodie-fun than a rack of ribs for a hungry crowd to tear into? We’ve got a deal that makes it possible for your family to enjoy a rack of our succulent St. Louis ribs-a little over 2 pounds’ worth-plus 2 pounds of creamy potato salad and a 6” apple pie for only $20.  How perfect is that for a cookout at Lake Lanier? All you have to add is the picnic basket and something to drink.  And the great part about all the items in our bundle is that they all meet our exacting standards. No artificial hormones or ingredients, no chemical nothing that’s hard to pronounce. The only issue you might have is deciding how to cook those ribs. Wet or dry, you decide. How about a little of each?

If you’re planning on grilling this weekend, you’re definitely going to want to be in the store early Friday morning, September 2nd.  Our grassfed beef is going to be on sale for $4.99 a pound, so that’s definitely a stock-up moment for your freezer.  Our Meat Department has been hard at work getting this ground goodness ready for the sale. It’s a regional or locally-sourced beef that’s raised to the strict standards of the Global Animal Partnership’s 5-Step Animal Welfare Program. In other words, it’s the same high-quality grassfed beef you usually pay another $2 per pound for! Since we’re anticipating a stampede of hungry (yet discerning) carnivores, there’s a 10-pound limit and we can’t issue any rainchecks.

There’s a lot more in store, so come on in and pick up a sales flyer or check it out online at http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/storespecials/DUL_specials.pdf . If you’ve got family or friends coming in for a visit over the long weekend, bring them with you and have a meal together at our Grille, Trattoria or the Café. We’d love to spend our holidays with you!

I just watched a video clip from the first season of Jamie Oliver’s “Food Revolution” television show, which aired for the first time in 2010. The English chef and dedicated food crusader was in an elementary school classroom in West Virginia. He held a potato in front of a child.

“What is this?” Jamie asked.

“I don’t know,” the child replied.

It got worse.

Another child identified a cluster of tomatoes on the vine as potatoes. One child couldn’t identify cauliflower. And a third child said an eggplant was a pear.

In light of the blog I wrote a couple of weeks ago about a member of a store tour group that said she’d never tasted a cherry (see http://wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/duluth/2011/08/10/touring-and-tasting-at-whole-foods-market-johns-creek/) this video clip was especially meaningful. It’s not just young children that can’t identify where their food comes from. There are folks of all ages who have never had an opportunity to put seed to ground and watch it grow into something beautiful and delicious.  That’s why our latest partnership with the Whole Kids Foundation and FoodCorps is so important. The fundraising and grant program will bring gardens to 1,000 schools.

In other words, it’ll help children get dirt under their fingernails.

From now through the end of the year, schools can apply for a $2,000 grant to assist them in building or expanding a garden on the grounds of their school. Students will get the opportunity to get in on the ground (pun intended) floor of a garden project, from planting to maintenance to harvesting. They’ll work as a team. They’ll get to practice their math, science and health skills. They’ll get outside, have fun, and yes, get dirt under their fingernails.

We here at Whole Foods Market Johns Creek like to see our children grow, right alongside their vegetables. And trust me, it would thrill us silly to have one of the schools in our geographic area receive one of these $2,000 grants.  Here’s how you make this happen: first, go to http://wholekidsfoundation.org/gardengrants.php and learn all the details of the grant program.  There’s a place you can donate to the grant program on this page (which helps funds the grants) or better yet, you can come into our store and donate at the cash registers. We’d like that-it’d be nice to thank you in person! Second, scroll down on the page and click on the “apply for a school garden grant” link.  You’ll get all the details on the application requirements and process.

If you have any questions, our Marketing Team Leader, Kubeshini Moodley, would be happy to answer them. You can contact her at Kubeshini.moodley@wholefoods.com. She’ll help walk you through the application process. And she’s got some nifty tips on how to get dirt out from under a kid’s fingernails.

It’s time for another edition of stuff! These are products available here at Whole Foods Market Johns Creek that I’ve just discovered, or I’ve been enjoying all summer.  There’s quite a variety here, so let’s get going:

First stop—the seafood department. The wild-caught Georgia shrimp are in, and they’re looking plump and meaty.  On the weekends, we grill them alongside thick dry-aged steaks for a luxurious surf-and-turf Saturday night dinner for company. And at $7.99 a pound, they’re not so much of a splurge as a tasty value!  Note: you can sample other great products from our state at our “Grown in the Georgia Sunshine” local day this Saturday, beginning at 11am.

We had a lot of great wines on our seasonal “Top 10” wine list this summer, but I think I’ve enjoyed this crisp white wine from Greece the most. Elios Mediterranean wine refreshed me through many a high-90’s afternoon in July, and I’m still enjoying its citrus scent and tangy-sweet flavors through the hang-dog days of August. Best of all, the $9.99 price means I can stock up big time before summer ends at our 20% off case wine sale this weekend.

Because of the heat, I’ve been hitting the salad bar hard—but it’s hard to keep things light with dressing that’s high in oils and fats. Luckily our Health Starts Here line of products includes this utterly delicious Tomato Basil dressing. It’s sweet with tomatoes, is nice and chunky and adds lots of flavor to my greens without adding a bunch of calories. Because it’s so thick I can use less, which makes the $2.99 price tag even more of a deal. Healthy score!

I love our soups-but when it’s 98 degrees outside, it’s hard to handle the heat. That’s why I’m so happy that gazpacho has made it to our Prepared Foods bar. This Spanish staple has taken “chillin’” to a whole new level. It started out as a farmer’s feast, but is now a gourmet’s favorite. I love to eat it with a salad for lunch, but gazpacho is also a perfect pairing to the grilled Georgia shrimp I’ve mentioned above.

And of course when we’re talking about stuff I love, we’re going to talk about chocolate. Our latest confection created by our Bakery Department is a cake pop-a bite of yellow cake dipped into chocolate, swirled with frosting, and plopped onto a stick. They’re evilly decadent, but totally worth the indulgence at the end of a great meal-or one of those days when everything’s gone sideways. At under $2 bucks a pop, that’s quite a savings on therapy or a new sports car.

What about you? Have you got a product you’ve fallen in love with this summer? Share it with us!

Something happened in our store yesterday that made me stop and ponder a bit about why we do what we do here at Whole Foods Market Johns Creek.  Our Marketing Team Leader lead a tour through the store in the afternoon. They were a fun and inquisitive group of young ladies in their early teens. We like to feed our customers (full+happy=regulars!) so we offered them some samples. In our Produce department, there was a fresh batch of plump cherries on hand. One young lady hesitated. “I don’t think I’ve ever tasted a real cherry before,” she said. One of the adult guests added “It’ll taste like the juice, only solid.”

She tried it, and she liked it, but-whoa. Never eaten the actual fruit of a cherry? It’s baffling-but at the same time, I understand how that happens. Life whirls by so quickly that many times we don’t have access to farmers, markets and other agricultural venues that we once took for granted. Sadly, it’s easier and more time-effective to process food from its most natural state into something that just tastes like the original product.  And sometimes in that process, the taste gets lost in the translation.

This is why we care so much about quality.  Years ago we invited third-party auditors into our stores to verify that we purchase, handle and sell organic food that’s of the highest quality possible. We want our tomatoes to smell like tomatoes.  And we began disclosure on the Country of Origin (also known as COO) before it became a regulation in 2008. It’s especially important in our Meat and Seafood departments. Many times we can source our meats and fish straight back to the rancher, or in the case of wild-caught fish, back to the trawler that hauled it in from the icy waters.

That’s why you can walk into any of our stores (of course, we hope you come here the most) and ask for a sample of our products. We’ll happily peel you a banana, slice up a dragonfruit or let you bite into an apple, just so you can be assured that you’re getting the best-tasting, highest-quality produce possible. You can arrange a store tour through our Marketing office, where you can learn all about our quality standards and find out all kinds of interesting facts about where our wonderful food comes from.  Our online store request form can be found here  http://wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/duluth/files/2010/04/storetour.pdf or you can ask at Customer Service and they’ll be happy to help you out.  We do require some advance notice, so we can get all the tasty samples ready and get together a special “something” for you to take home. Best of all, tours fit everyone’s budget-they’re free!

You don’t need me to tell you the temperature. It’s that open-your-pores-up steambath kind of hot. It radiates off the asphalt and through your shoes so quickly that everyone should have some pep in their step-except it’s too hot to move that fast. We’re all dragging, and who wants to wade through the day like that? Well, let Whole Foods Market Johns Creek lighten your load. Here are some ideas to help you beat the heat.

First off, hydration. You all know to drink plenty of fluids to stave off the heat, but certain foods may be just as effective as water. Leafy greens, watermelon and tomatoes are all good choices, and doesn’t that sound like a nice refreshing salad as well? Another good food choice is the cucumber. Did you know that the interior of your basic ‘cuke is up to 20 degrees cooler than the exterior air? That’s what I call a “green” air conditioning system. Slice some cucumbers and put them in a pitcher of ice water—it’s mighty refreshing. And if you’ve been participating in sports or working outside and need to replace some electrolytes, reach for a container of coconut water.  Its primary minerals and electrolytes are similar to the ones found in fluids in the human body, so it does a neat job of replacing the things you need the most. You could call it an all-natural sports drink, without the artificial junk that jags your system into hydration and leaves you deflated later.

Even though you’re eating light, you’ll still need some proteins. Stick to the ones you can find on a shelf—I’m talking beans and tuna fish. Beans contain water, lots of protein, and in either dried or canned forms are simple to prepare. A can of tuna fish (stick with the ones packed in water) can be added to any salad without weighing you down. And did you know our 365 Everyday Value™ Chunk Light Tongol Tuna packed in spring water won “Best Overall” in a taste test conducted by the good folks at Epicurious.com?  Yep. You, too, can add an award-winning tuna to your dinner.

Keeping cool can extend to your pets, too. Add ice to your pet’s water in the morning, so as it melts they’ll have plenty of refreshment all day long. Chill a carrot in the refrigerator-make sure it’s size-appropriate for your dog—and offer it up as an all-natural, chilly chew toy. And if you have one of those hard-rubber toys with a hole in the middle for a treat, stick some ice in one end and seal it with some peanut butter. It’s messy, so let them enjoy this outside—but not for too long, you don’t want your critter to overheat.

Speaking of overheating, your skin may feel like a hot mess in August. Switch to mineral-based foundation powders, which are lighter on the face, and find a moisturizer that combines with an SPF of 15 or higher to provide one clean layer of moisture and protection on your face. Keep your sunscreen in the refrigerator or if you’re at the park or beach, in your cooler—it’ll be a nice swipe of cold on a hot day, plus it might remind you to use it more often-that is, if you’re like me, and you’re always. In. the. Refrigerator.

Hope these tips help you beat the heat lamp of August.  Remember, our store is a nice place to chill. If you’ve got some tried-and-true methods on beating the heat, please share them with us!

As my second trip comes to a close, I’m grateful for the opportunity to have volunteered twice with the Whole Planet Foundation. This time, in Peru, proved to be more of a physically demanding project vs. the Guatemala project in 2008, which I would consider to be more emotionally challenging. Since this was my first time going to South America, I had no expectations at all and I was totally open and surrendered myself to the experience. I was amazed at how diverse the area of Peru was that we were volunteering in. In Arequipa, where we lived, was a beautiful and somewhat ancient city with gorgeous architecture and amazing history. Then just around the corner, near the volcanoes, were villages just as poor as any you could imagine. For me personally, this is the reason why I love volunteering…….I always want people to have an opportunity at something better, and it was so gratifying to be able to contribute to this dream for such a deserving community. It seems small, but the 12 of us were part of something that will change 132 families lives forever……by simply giving them an area to collect water, a modern convenience we all have benefited from all our lives as Americans.

During our first week of being immersed into the Peruvian culture, we met with Pro Mujer clients in Mollendo [editor's note: Pro Mujer is an organization that provides micro-credit loans to the poor in Latin America] and were invited to sit in on their weekly meetings. What I found interesting was the amount of men that were receiving loans. Many of them were farmers, but there were mechanics as well. There were a wide range of businesses being started by the recipients from hair salons to pastry shops to jewelry stores. During our conversations with the recipients, they were just as happy to see us as we were them…..and the appreciation was evident! Pro Mujer also takes interest in the person themselves by offering medical advice and reproductive health services, which made my heart feel good.

A major highlight of the trip was our 3 day visit to Cusco and our visit to Machu Picchu. Every step you take could easily take your breath away, and our guide Carlos was one of the best in the business, explaining and detailing every inch of this majestic wonder of the world. This is something I never thought I would see with my own eyes in this lifetime, and being part of the Team Member Volunteer Program afforded me this opportunity that I would never have had otherwise, we truly work for a remarkable and AWESOME company!

Although it is hard work, time away from family, and exhausting, I would do it all again a million times over. Whole Foods is truly a leader in innovation, and we can be part of that! The Team Members that I have met, during both projects, will now be life-long friends and we are bound by this experience. However big or small, we all can do our part to help eliminate poverty…….whether it be by volunteering in the field or by supporting the Whole Planet Foundation here at home. I encourage anyone who is considering a volunteer trip to GO FOR IT!! You will be fulfilled in more ways than I can explain, as it has done for me……..twice.

To find out more about the Whole Planet Foundation, micro-credit and other ways you can support empowering entrepreneurship throughout the globe, visit http://www.wholeplanetfoundation.org/.

So you’re standing at the meat counter at Whole Foods Market Johns Creek. You’d like to get some steaks for Saturday night, when company’s coming over for dinner and you want to utilize that fancy smoker you talked yourself into over the Fourth of July weekend.  You take a step closer to the case (maybe whip out those reading glasses?) and read the tiny sign on the meat that looks like this:

And you may wonder “what in the world does that little green bar at the bottom mean?” Or “what exactly is ‘Local?’ Is that local to the store or local to the distributor?” Or even “why isn’t this steak on sale?”

Now I can’t help you with question number three (although if you follow us on Twitter @wholefoodsjc or on Facebook at Whole Foods Market Johns Creek, or sign up for our newsletters at www.wholefoodsmarket.com you may get a great scoop on meat sales) but I can offer you some clarity on what the rest of the sign means. This year we’ve made some improvements in the way we communicate to our customers about where we source our meat products.   With more verbiage on our signs you can be assured exactly where your meat comes from and how it was raised.

In the upper left corner, you’ll read the country of origin and if possible, the exact ranch or farm that the animal came from. In this case, the steak came from Will Harris’ farm in Bluffton, Georgia.  Since this beef is from Georgia, we add a “LOCAL” logo to the upper right section of the signage.  And as our store is located in the Peach State, “local” means any product from the state of Georgia (and a narrowly designated stretch of land extending into a couple of neighboring states.) Obviously, the middle of the sign designates the product and the price, and sometimes we include a bit of information about the product—in this case, that the beef was grass-fed.

Now about that colored strip across the bottom. In the lower left corner, you’ll see a logo for Global Animal Partnership. This is a non-profit organization that brings together ranchers, farmers, scientists and animal advocates that want to improve the welfare of animals in agriculture. They’ve come up with a way to do that through their 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating Standards, which recognizes and rewards producers for the way they treat their animals, maintain and improve their facilities, and keep consumers informed about the production systems they support. The Global Animal Partnership sends trained third-party auditors (in other words, experts that are not paid by Global Animal Partnership) to the farms and ranches in all four seasons and assesses the way the animals are raised, fed and processed. By working with these independent certifiers, farmers, consumers and retailers (like us) can be assured that the Step ratings you see on the right-hand side of this sign are fair, accurate and free of conflict of interest.

And just what do these Step Ratings mean? We have a great brochure that’s available on our Meat Counter (or ask one of our Team Members) but here’s a quick rundown:

• Step 1 (orange strip)—No crowds, cages or crates. Animals get to move around and stretch their legs.
• Step 2 (orange strip)—Enriched environment. Animals are provided with enrichments that encourage behavior that’s natural to them — like a bale of straw for chickens to peck at, a bowling ball for pigs to shove around, or a sturdy object for cattle to rub against.
• Step 3 (yellow strip)—Enhanced outdoor access. Pigs and chickens might live in buildings, but each and every one of them have access to the outdoors.
• Step 4 (green strip)—Pasture-centered. Pigs get to wallow, chickens get to forage, cows get to roam.
• Step 5 & 5 Plus (green strip)—Animal centered; no physical alterations prohibited. Animals keep all their body parts just where they like them. 5 Plus means the animal was born and spent its entire life on one farm.

Why do we care so much about where our meat comes from? We want to bring you the best product possible. We believe that the healthier the animal, the better the meat will taste. For a way more comprehensive education about our meat program that we have room to do here, check out http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/meat/index.php.  You’ll feel better about your meat choices—which will make that New York Strip even more delicious this Saturday night.