Organic and natural foods are arrayed alluringly on shelves in the Whole Foods Market store at Columbus Circle in New York. There is Pecorino Pepato sheep's milk cheese and chicken fed on a vegetarian diet (“No antibiotics ever!”). In the wine section, Manhattanites listen to Billie Holiday while picking bottles from small vineyards across America.
It all comes at a price. Whole Foods Market, the fastest-growing US food retailer, is known as Whole Paycheck, after what it costs to shop there. That has not held it back. Retail spending is sluggish and Wal-Mart's sales have suffered as low-income families face higher petrol prices. But lawyers, bankers and other professionals still have money to spend.
