Results tagged “wholefoods”

The third Austin metro-area branch of Sprouts Farmers Market, at 2805 Bee Caves Road in Rollingwood/Westlake, opens this Friday. Like Austin-based Whole Foods and Central Market, the Arizona-based chain of stores differentiates itself by offering natural and organic foods. Its two other existing Austin metro-area locations, in Sunset Valley and Round Rock, opened earlier this year to strong buzz, and another store in the Great Hills area is slated to open next January.

Drinking tall boys and eating chicken cones is a fun part of fall, but when ACL Fest ends, Austin foodie season begins to kick into high gear. After allowing for a few days to recover, The Wine and Food Foundation's annual Tour De Vin on the Whole Foods Rooftop arrives on Thursday, October 8th to help introduce you to some favorite new boutique wines and local dishes. While the event is normally priced at $75, the WFFT's fall member drive is offering a limited number of tickets for only $25 with a membership purchase - call 512.327.7555 to see if they're still available.

• Our Facebook news feed today included a picture of a second-grader with a full Mohawk and a backpack. That’s how we found out it was the first day of school for many students in Central Texas. Drive carefully in those school zones!
• This editorial from weighs in on the trial of Texas appellate court judge Sharon Keller. Hint: Keller might not be emailing this to friends.
• The BBC reports on the Whole Foods boycott. (Sadly, the BBC’s coverage is still lacking in the great eggplant vs. aubergine debate.)

The Wall Street Journal has a nice profile today of Boggy Creek Farm, the organic market farm in East Austin where much of the produce served in Austin's best restaurants come from. The piece also briefly goes into the curious history of the old farmhouse that still stands on the property, including the mysterious giant brick-lined pit that sits nearby:

Once, back in New York, my cancer-surviving-and-deep-in-medical-debt friend and I were sitting around, watching a Japanese movie. I don't remember which movie it was, but I do remember that, as the opening credits rolled, the word 'EMOTION' popped onto the screen and some happy little music played.

• Man shot in Austin by TABC officers, after a pursuit where a TABC agent was nearly run over.
• Police in Southlake, Texas are looking for a late model Bentley in conjunction with a road-rage incident that started in the drive-thru lane of a Chick-Fil-A. (In 2008, Forbes reported that Southlake was the most affluent suburb in the country.)
• Police officers and the city manager in Taft, Texas are in trouble for facilitating this rap video about “Swangn.” We admit the video is boring, but should a city worker be in trouble for allowing it to happen?

Years ago I appeared in Mademoiselle magazine as one of those Before/After Fat/Skinny chicks that are constantly featured in women’s magazines. You know what I’m talking about—articles supposedly published to be all motivational for the fatties who dream of achieving that anorexic look we chicks have shoved down our gullets from the moment we wriggle our way out of the bloated, ruined, stretch-marked bellies of our mamas. Probably those articles are more about feeding what is, so often, an ongoing impossible dream. Because while achieving the look turns out not to be impossible for some of us, even those of us who manage to work our way back into our pre-adolescent jeans’ size have a hard time keeping it off. This is, of course, why diet books and pills, personal trainers, pre-packaged meals, gadgets like the Thigh Master, and programs like Weight Watchers do so well. It’s a perpetual thing, the yo-yo lifestyle. I’ve probably lost close to 200 pounds in my life. Now, I did not ever lose a grand total of 200 pounds. But I have, more than once, lost somewhere around fifty pounds at a time. If you want to know what lugging around an extra fifty pounds feels like, pick up a bag of soil next time you’re at Home Depot. Fifty pounds, particularly on the frame of someone who is 5’5” (as I am), is roughly a fuck ton of excess.

Taking a cue from successful local business models like Soup Peddler and Dishalicious, Whole Foods Market's flagship store at 6th and Lamar is launching a new lunch and dinner delivery by bicycle.

• Man tries to hide his baggie where the sun don't shine during strip search at Travis County Jail, police make him take a laxative.
• Taylor man arrested for housing 277 pot plants (as well as illegal firearms) on his property.
• Manor High School student tries to sell pot in class.

As planned, Austin Flash Mob's latest caper took place this past Saturday at Whole Foods Market downtown, with some 200 agents simultaneously 'freezing' near the prepared foods section.

Round Rock woman leaves 4 kids (all under 3 years old) from her in-home daycare alone at her house while she goes shopping, and later gets in a car accident. Man driving his scooter downtown on Saturday morning was hit and killed by a driver who ran a red light. ACLU doesn't like the new state drivers license rules. A former employee of a Steiner Ranch steakhouse shot and killed a current employee there yesterday; police are still searching for him. Area of Southeast Austin currently under a boil water notice. Whole Foods is suing the FTC. Texas' dental health ain't great.

Whole Foods Downtown will open "Skating on the Plaza," its annual rooftop ice-skating rink, this Friday. The outdoor rink will operate between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. most days, with eleven daily 50-minute skating sessions starting on the hour. Tickets, which are $10 for all ages and includes skate rental, can be purchased from the Guest Services desk up to an hour before each session. The rink will be open through January 11, and closed on Christmas Day. More information is available via their hotline at (512) 542-2260.

This morning, we actually saw some fall weather outside - at least for an hour or two. Celebrate this development and the beginning of red wine season with the Wine and Food Foundation's Tour De Vin, an annual tradition on the Whole Foods Downtown rooftop deck. The event celebrates wine from around the globe, and this year's lineup offers quite a bit to choose from. Our top picks include the lovely new world reds of Montes, the amazing Oregon Pinot Noirs of Archery Summit, Washington rising stars Amavi and Pepper Bridge, bargain priced gems from Santa Ema, and the lush California reds of Turnbull. There are dozens more to try, but these are the wines we'd taste first - a visit to any of these tables should leave you reeling.

Locally-based Whole Foods is firing 49 of its corporate staffers as part of cost-cutting measures. This week hasn't been the greatest for the business, as news of the FTC holding an administrative hearing on the Wild Oats deal and a recall of ground beef sold in the stores also came out in recent days.

Man (and a couple of cars) crushed by falling pecan tree limb at parking lot near Zilker Hillside Theatre. Austin school board to choose new name for Johnston High today. The Florence fire flared up -- yet again -- on Sunday evening, causing more evacuations. After the deadly bus accident on Friday, Sen. Hutchison is calling for tougher charter bus regulation. FTC re-opening hearings on Whole Foods.

In a world where people, planet and profits must run paramount for any business to thrive today, this triple bottom line approach has been at the core of the Whole Foods culture for nearly 30 years. And now, CEO John Mackey is sharing his insights and his commitment to the business principles he calls "conscious capitalism" at a benefit for the organization FLOW.

First Niece, model and Houston native Lauren Bush is teaming up with Whole Foods for her "FEED 100" reusable bag. Each bag will provide 100 school meals to children in Rwanda through the United Nations World Food Program's School Feeding Program.

Photo by Aaron Gustafson on flickr
• Oregon farmworkers are in town to talk with Whole Foods about unions.
• Higher gas prices mean local merchants use more local food, hopefully.
• 60-year-old man killed Sunday afternoon after his car was hit pulling out of a driveway onto South Congress.

Austin eco-friendly designerRené Geneva will show her hemp and organic wool designs at Fashion Week in Los Angeles with support from Austin's own EcoClean and Kendra Scott jewelery.

Kick off this weekend early on Thursday at Antone’s with music from Black Joe Lewis, Bankrupt and the Borrowers, and The Best Love In Town on the special occasion of The Versatile Syndicate’s “Launch Party.” The entity is now open for business, and their agenda is to aid any artist in pursuing their dreams and professional development via booking/tour management, consulting, live production, and so on. This event is a part of the Austin Music Foundation’s Love Austin Music Month and cover for AMF members is $5. The rest of us mere mortals can get in for $10. The shindig also marks AMF's 6th Birthday; free cake and food (courtesy of Whole Foods Market) and free 2008 She Rocks Calendars while the goodies last.

Adrian Jaimes found safe last night in North Austin; police are still searching for his kidnappers. Whole Foods: "more interested in cheap tomatoes than the well-being of those working to get produce to the store." Parents from NYOS charter school met with school officials this morning to discuss death of student last week; memorial service for Tevin Park-Flowers tomorrow. Convicted rapist escapes South Texas prison by leaving through an unlocked door. Women targeting businessmen at fancy Dallas hotels, slipping them the Mickey Finn to steal their watches.

The coalition is a community of Florida farmworkers from various immigrant backgrounds who strive for fair wages and fair treatment and work to end modern-day slavery. One of the activists from this Coalition, Lucas Benitez, will be delivering the opening address at UT's 28th Annual Student Conference on Latin America tonight.

Two Austin-based companies -- Whole Foods Market and National Instruments -- once again found themselves on Fortune magazine's list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For this year.

Dame Edna had to cancel her entire North American tour due to complications from appendix surgery. Said the Dame in a letter to her loyal Austin fans, "Texas is no country for sick Megastars, so I will see you in November 7-9, 2008 [at the Paramount], possums."

Austin's Whole Foods Market has been named Wine Retailer of The Year by Wine Enthusiast Magazine. Winners were chosen for their contributions to the world of wine and spirits (with special consideration given to winey accomplishments and innovations made in 2007.) Does Whole Foods truly deserve this award? (Because, seriously, Spec's is 100% unapologetically falling-down boozey. Just sayin.)

Austin City Council proposed a resolution to reduce the use of plastic bags back in May, but Whole Foods is taking matters into their own hands and no longer offering plastic bags at check out. They are upping the ante from 5 cents to 10 cents for those who bring reusable bags, or customers can conveniently purchase the new 99 cent "better bag" made of 80% post-consumer waste.

The run-up to the 2058 mayoral election will see Austin’s first competition between two ‘green’ candidates. No, I mean literally. Competition for the mantle of ‘most green’ will compel contenders to start taking a chlorophyll-based diet supplement that gives their skin a greenish pigmentation. On the downside, both candidates will be notoriously unproductive after sunset.

Pre-teen girl wearing lots of makeup talking to her friend on the phone:I can't believe you broke up. I totally thought you guys had a connection. Older man who looks dressed for yoga staring intensely at a younger woman at Whole Foods: My first lover was Irish. She was a dancer... and I used to get so jealous of her dancing with all of these men. But most of them were gay. A man...

Image from www.ajataharimarsh.com In addition to being a photographer and designer, Chef Aja Tahari Marsh (pronounced "Asia") is a trained chef with a focus on sustainable and organic foods. She studied at the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts in New York City and has brought her skills home to Texas where she now works as a personal chef and cooking instructor. Tonight, she'll be teaching a knife skills class, and upcoming classes...

But what if attitudes and religious memeplexes aren’t changing because adapting to social pressure is necessary? What if the new millenarianism, instead of crashing computers, will be a fight to the death with a Frankenstein version of Mother Nature? What if environmentalism is becoming the new faith? What if responsible consumerism is the new moral ethic? What if recycling, dear Green God, is the new ritual of absolution?