AUSTIN, Texas (May 30, 2007) Whole Foods Market (Nasdaq: WFMI), the world's leading natural and organic foods supermarket, today debuts an exclusive in-depth interview with Carlo Petrini, founder and driving force behind the Slow Food organization, in a podcast conversation on the Company's web site (www.wholefoodsmarket.com/podcasts). Having Petrini as a guest speaker kicks off a new series of interview-style podcasts for Whole Foods Market focusing on conversations with today's leading thinkers about food and environmental issues facing our world.

Originally started by Petrini as a protest in response to the opening of a major fast-food restaurant in his native Italy, the Slow Food movement seeks to catalyze a shift toward a sustainable food system, preservation of regional food traditions, and a rediscovery of the pleasures of the table and a more harmonious rhythm of life. A passionate spokesperson and writer on how food can connect us to the earth and each other, he was recently included in Time magazine's list of “European Heroes” as one of today's great innovators.

“We are thrilled to kick off our new interview-style podcasts with such an inspirational food revolutionary,” said Paige Brady, podcast host and social media director at Whole Foods Market. “Carlo Petrini has changed the way many people — from foodies to farmers — think about eating. The central principles he lays out for us to take back control of our food, which revolve around quality, environmentally sustainable production and social justice, are very much in line with the mission our company was founded on more than 25 years ago.”

Petrini is interviewed about how enjoying good, simple food should be one of life's central pleasures, yet it is under assault by a world obsessed with haste, hurry, and profit. According to him, “Our approach to food must be endowed with meaning.” Petrini addresses these issues in his new book, “Slow Food Nation: Why Our Food Should Be Good, Clean, and Fair.”

During the podcast interview, which he does in Italian with a translator, Petrini describes why it is important to re-localize agriculture and our economy; how to make daily food choices calmly without haste; what it means to take on a “co-producer” role as a consumer and take responsibility for the food we eat; why young people and technology give him great hope and joy for the future and much more.

Whole Foods Market has been doing topical podcasts for nearly a year. They include tips, suggestions, and recipes for the kitchen as well as out-of-kitchen topical and actionable information for listeners. Past episode subjects range from the origins of cacao and how to make chocolate truffles, cast-iron cookware and cooking catfish, steps to reduce your carbon footprint and the traditions of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Consistently ranked in the top podcasts on the iTunes Arts directory, podcasts are available on Whole Foods Market's web site, www.wholefoodsmarket.com/socialmedia, and can also be accessed through iTunes.

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Slow Food (www.slowfood.com) is an international, non-profit, eco-gastronomic organization that was started in Italy in 1986. Today, there are about 80,000 Slow Food members in more than 100 countries. The Slow Food movement is concerned with the impacts of fast food and fast life, the disappearance of traditional local food traditions, and with people's dwindling interest in what they eat and how food choices affect the global environment and economy.