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Does Whole Foods Markets Accept Electronic Benefit Cards?

September 3, 2009

Eugene Jacquescoley's picture

Whole Foods was established in Austin, Texas in 1980 (Whole Foods). Today, Whole Foods is the world’s largest organic and natural food market, with 270 stores in the U.S. and England. Whole Foods also prides itself on the company culture, excellent customer service and sustainable relationships with a consortium of stakeholders. As Whole Foods continues to delight and expand their customer base, it appears that Whole Foods does not have a transparent policy for accepting Electronic Benefit Transfer Cards (EBT). So why is this important? If Whole Foods does accept EBT, why isn’t publicized?

The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program formerly, Food Stamp Program (USDA) is important because it assists low-income families make healthy food choices and expands their nutritious food options. Evidence appears to suggest a correlation between obesity and the availability of quality food (Johnson-Down et al, 1997). Hence, issues of dietary fat intake, mortality and risk factors; are associated with lower social economic statuses. Moreover, costs associated with obesity in 2003 were $75billion and catapulted to $125billion in 2006. The demographics of food stamp participants comprise the elderly, disabled, low-income families, children and veterans. Interestingly enough, as the macro-environment of the recession has impacted more middle-class families, increased participation (CBS News) of middle-income families has been significant. Changing demographics due to the recession make this subject matter timely and important.

The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) is the federal program that guides potential food retailers. “Any retailer that would like to accept SNAP benefits (EBT) must be licensed to participate in SNAP. This section provides information for retailers who want to apply for a SNAP permit. Today, the only form of SNAP benefit issuance is the EBT—Electronic Benefits Transfer card. EBT allows you, the retailer, to accept SNAP payment for food using the EBT card--a kind of debit card (USDA).”
One of Whole Foods core values is transparency. “We seek to create transparency from “farm to fork” with respect to production, planning, sourcing, ingredients, product safety and efficacy in order to bring to market the safest highest quality products available. We work with our supplier partners in eliminating all unnecessary production and distribution costs to help ensure the best possible price (Whole Foods).” Within this context Whole Foods does appear to strive for excellence in this capacity. However, there are numerous conflicting reports with regards to Whole Foods acceptance of EBT cards in North America.

Conventionally most supermarkets accept EBT cards. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, Public Law 107-171, Section 411b requires the Secretary of Agriculture to submit a report on the status of the EBT system to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives. Within this report the number of vendors that entered in to contract is reported. As a result, it is still not clear if Whole Foods accepts EBT cards; which may ultimately explain why there are no EBT logos on their storefronts. In addition, there has been much ado about Whole Foods 365 Private Label compared with other supermarket private labels and the affordability factor for EBT cardholders. EBT customers are confined to their respective budget capitations. Consequently, EBT customers and Whole Foods are caught in a dilemma. For EBT customers, the affordability of organic products may detract from the Whole Foods unique shopping experience.

References
United States Department of Agriculture. [Online]. Electronic Benefit System. Retrieved from http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/ebt/ on September 1, 2009.

United States Department of Agriculture. [Online]. Food Stamp Outreach Kit. Retrieved from http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/outreach/pdfs/toolkit/office/USDA_offices_f... on September 1, 2009.

Whole Foods. [Online]. Whole Foods National Offices. Retrieved from http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/company/national.php on September 1, 2009.

CBS News. [Online]. From Six-Figures to Food Stamps. Retrieved from http://www.ask.com/bar?q=middle+class+families+and+food+stamps&page=1&qs... on September 1, 2009.

United States Department of Agriculture. [Online]. Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program. Retrieved from http://www.fns.usda.gov/fsp/retailers/default.htm on September 1, 2009.

Johnson-Down ET AL. (1997). High Prevalence of Obesity in Low Income and Multiethnic Schoolchildren: A Diet and Physical Activity Assessment. The Journal of Nutrition Vol 127 (12); 2310-2315.

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Comments

WFM does accept EBT

September 4, 2009 by Anonymous, 11 weeks 3 days ago
Comment id: 44572

I work for Whole Foods and we do accept EBT cards

Whole Foods takes EBT

September 23, 2009 by Anonymous, 8 weeks 5 days ago
Comment id: 44962

I shop there all the time using EBT and cash, EBT almost widely accepted everywhere now days. And why not for that matter. This was not a very good article. I'm positive that no matter where Whole Food's Market started, (Go Austin!), they accept EBT wherever the 270+ stores are now.

Does Whole Foods Market Accept Electronic Benefit Cards?

September 4, 2009 by Anonymous, 11 weeks 3 days ago
Comment id: 44564

Well, do they?

I'm sorry, but I believe I may have missed the point of this article - does Whole Foods accept EBT's or do they not? The question is only posed and never answered. And there is certainly no response from Whole Foods.

Maybe I have mistakenly stumbled on to a blog that I mistook for an article.

But the quesion does seem to have been answered by your first reponder, who reports having used an EBT successfully numerous times.

By the way, if you ever need a proof reader for punctuation, I would be glad to help out.

Response to "Well do they"

September 4, 2009 by Eugene Jacquescoley, 11 weeks 3 days ago
Comment id: 44573

Hello

Wow!

As you can imagine, this is a complicated issue. However, if you consider the parent's response from Austin, TX -"The cashiers were a little surprised to see me use it, but I never had problems with it being accepted." This statement warrents further scrutiny. This parent indicated that the Whole Foods cashiers seemed surprised upon her presentation of an EBT card for payment. The goal of the blog was to shed light on the business practice of Whole Foods as it relates to a cohort of consumers (EBT customers). According to my research, it is not clear if Whole Foods has a transparent policy with regards to the acceptance of EBT cards in North America and this anonymous parent validated my assumption.

So, yes you are right. It is still not clear if Whole Foods accepts EBT cards.

Regards,

Eugene

Response to "Well do they"

September 4, 2009 by Anonymous, 11 weeks 3 days ago
Comment id: 44571

Hello.

In response, I indicated that I was not certain if Whole Foods accepted EBT cards. However, as you pointed out in your commentary from the parent in Austin, who indicated-"The cashiers were a little surprised to see me use it, but I never had problems with it being accepted."

If you look closely at this statement, it appears that the assumption of Whole Foods not visibly publicizing EBT logos on their storefront has some validity. The parent indicated that the cashiers were surprised by her presenting the EBT card for payment. As as result, this remark suggests that Whole Foods business practice in this respect, may not be transparent.

Considering that your posting is Anonymous, I won't dignify your other comments.

Regards,

Eugene

Hi Eugene - My comment was

September 8, 2009 by Anonymous, 10 weeks 6 days ago
Comment id: 44645

Hi Eugene -

My comment was inadvertantly posted anonymously.

And my other comments regarding your punctuation were not meant to belittle. I was simply offering a helping hand.

Please keep us updated on what you find out from Whole Foods !

Whole Foods Does Accept Electronic Benefits Cards

September 4, 2009 by Anonymous, 11 weeks 3 days ago
Comment id: 44563

I completed my graduate work in Austin a few years ago. I had two children and very little income at the time and qualified for food stamp benefits in Texas. I shopped and ate at the Whole Foods mothership regularly--in fact wrote much of my dissertation there--because they accepted my electronic benefits card. The cashiers were a little surprised to see me use it, but I never had problems with it being accepted.

So, YES, Whole Foods does accept electronic benefit cards.

Response to the parent in Austin

September 4, 2009 by Eugene Jacquescoley, 11 weeks 3 days ago
Comment id: 44567

Thank you. I have a number of clients in the Northeast who have had problems utilizing their EBT cards. Perhaps, their business practices vary from state to state.

Thanks again.

Eugene

Does Whole Foods Accept Electronic Benefits Transfer Cards?

September 4, 2009 by Anonymous, 11 weeks 4 days ago
Comment id: 44556

Why do you care? Your post ccontains some innuendo that Whole Foods is secretly doing something wrong--like the minister reading Playboy magazine after Sunday services. First, Whole Foods is outrageously expensive. SNAP is an income maintenance program. It's hard to maintain your income paying $6.00 for a head of arrugula. A smarter move would be to shop for produce at farmers markets or other local grocers, where prices are more reasonable and the quality just as good. Second, last I looked, Whole Foods was a private enterprise. It's entitled to develop its own business plans, target customers, and execute against them. If SNAP shoppers are not part of its targeted customer base, what's it to you? I'm far from Whole Foods targeted demographic of urban, educated 20 to 30-somethiings. You don't hear me bitching that I've been left out of the marketing plan. Third, it seems to me this is just a ham-handed way to continue the attacks of innuendo against Whole Foods. This comes after the attacks on the company over its health plan practices, and corporate email smears. Without being overly dramatic, I'd call these McCarthy-like tactics. Full disclosure: I have no connection with Whole Foods-don't own any stock, don't work there, don't shop there. I did shop there one time and found it way too expensive. As a taxpayer who funds the SNAP I don't want my money going to pay for some Yuppie shopping dream that I can't affortd o shop at. And SNAP recipients are too smart to shop there, anyway. But as an American, I say lay off them. It's a free country. They don't take any government handouts, so they're free to participate in any government plan they want to.

Response to "Why do you care."

September 4, 2009 by Eugene Jacquescoley, 11 weeks 3 days ago
Comment id: 44568

Hello.

Thanks for your commentary. I care for a number of reasons:

Regardless of Whole Foods Markets being a privately-held company, it does receives subsidies from the USDA. With that being said, Whole Foods not only has an obligation that their business practices are fair, it is implied within the legislation. Secondly, this blog post has nothing to do with macroeconomics of health care and the subsequent health care reform package being sponsered by Barack Obama. Third, Supplemental Nutritional Program (SNAP) focuses on assisting low-income families with making nutritional choices. Without this program, millions would go hungry in the U.S.

Regards,

Eugene

Grocery stores and Communism

September 3, 2009 by Anonymous, 11 weeks 4 days ago
Comment id: 44552

There might be a fitting question for ScienceBlog somewhere on the topic of grocery stores signing up to facilitate the socialism of government handouts, but the article above is little more than weak assumptions, innuendo, and soft propaganda.

The word "important" is used three times in the article, twice as its own justification, seemingly. Or twice, being reflective of the author's personal concerns. Neither or any of which has anything to do with science.

The author, the poster, and many others may indeed regard the universal acceptance of government largesse (the monies so represented acquired with force or threat of force from the earnest citizenry) to be of extreme importance, but a great many others regard, with good justification, the encroaching government behemoth as the destroyer of what is truly important: Freedom, personal responsibility, honesty, self-reliance (or self-government, the ultimate maturity, if you will), and even success.

As far as I know, there is no scientific proof that stealing money from the most productive citizens of a country and giving it to some of the least productive members is good for anyone, least productive members included.

Response to "Grocery stores and Communism"

September 4, 2009 by Eugene Jacquescoley, 11 weeks 3 days ago
Comment id: 44569

Hello.

Your response is very interesting. The goal of this blog was to shed some light on a company that apparently accepts subsidies from the USDA and their participation/or the lack thereof in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program sponsored by the USDA.

What is striking about this particular post, is the lack of compassion for those who are under-served, indigent and low-income. Yes, I am a concerned health care provider, that is concerned about the lack of options provided for those with EBT cards.

Your statement; "As far as I know, there is no scientific proof that stealing money from the most productive citizens of a country and giving it to some of the least productive members is good for anyone, least productive members included." This is a very disturbing statement. Who are you to attempt to quanitify what productive means? Are you familiar with Keynesian economics and the implications of an economy dominated by the private sector?
A salient economy must have balance. Which means respective governments must have a vital role in macro-economic policy.

Yes this post is science Sir.

Regards,

Eugene



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