Whole Foods Is Here to Teach You How to Adult

The grocery store chain Whole Foods Market announced the launch of a new online course on August 10. “Home Ec 365” is designed to help learners onboard into adulthood. Taught by Instagram lifestyle gurus with thousands of followers, the classes are free for the general public. Teachable, the online classroom marketplace platform, hosts the course.

With each course teacher boasting established Instagram followings, Whole Foods instructors tend to both talk the talk and walk the walk.

Whole Foods Taps the Instagram Wellness Intelligentsia for Tips on Adulting

The chef-turned-wellness-advocate Sophia Roe brings a woke message to her actionable kitchen how-tos. Speaking to W Magazine in July, Roe took issue with some social media personalities who capitalize on the trends of the moment without offering any substance.

Roe’s Instagram Live series “Pillow Talk,” is “not about that,” she told W. “It’s about accountability. It’s about really learning the history. Don’t just think about what you were taught, think about what you weren’t taught.”

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Since I know there are probably a good few of you who always seem to have veggies in their refrigerator that are “about-to-go-bad”, I figured it was as good a time as any to talk about pesto! Now trust me, there are pesto snobs out there who will tell you that it isn’t pesto if it doesn’t have basil, some variety of hard cheese, and of course olive oil. However, I never have been a snob, and certainly not about pesto. — — Pesto truly only has four guidelines. 1) there must be a green element 2) there must be a fat element 3) there should be some kind of aromatic (note* for those who can’t have garlic or onion, I have had pesto with lemongrass and ginger that’s also DELICIOUS) 4) they should be evenly balanced aka ALWAYS SEASONED — — The pesto I make in this video was thrown together with what I happened to have in my refrigerator. You’ll notice that I blanch the spinach (that’s not necessary, I just like to do it when freezing my pesto) — — I have had delicious pesto with everything from jalapeño to fennel to even Brazil nuts. So TRUST YOUR TASTE BUDS, and get to experimenting! Near the end of this video, I talk about what it means to create "depth" when developing recipes at home, and when it really comes down to it, the only way..is to TASTE and EXPLORE! One of my favorite things is to see you all take a technique that I have taught you, and come up with YOUR OWN RECIPES! You’re all becoming chefs right before my eyes, and honestly..I could cry! #pesto #party #presto ps—thank you so much for tuning into these “kitchen IG lives”—-most of you know by now that I end up posting them to my IGTV afterwards, but it still feels great that so many of you tune in live—it’s fun knowing that you’re all there with me❤️

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Roe’s Whole Foods course is titled, “Use ‘Em Up! How to Transform Food Scraps & Leftovers.” The course delivers some tips and tricks on how to make fuller use out of food that normally gets discarded.

Joy the Baker (Joy Wilson) has takeaways on how to improvise in the oven when you find yourself short on certain baking supplies. Her course is “Swap-Savvy Baking: Getting Creative with Recipes & Replacements.” It also helps learners adapt recipes to deliver a vegan or gluten-free result.

“Clean Queen” Jessica Tull teaches “So Fresh & So Clean: How to Effectively Clean Your Appliances.” Bobby Parish delivers frugal advice with “Smarter Shopping: Save, Stock & Invest.”

A New Way to Reach Customers

Whole Foods’ “Home Ec 365” marks another example of how companies are using online learning as a way to conduct brand outreach while providing value to their customers. The 2,500 learners who enroll will have access to Whole Foods coupons.

“Consumers are looking for new and creative ways to live their best and most delicious lives at home. With the help of high-quality products from 365 by Whole Foods Market and instruction from a team of expert influencers, these classes help build some serious skills in adulting,” said Molly Siegler, senior program manager for Culinary Development at Whole Foods Market, in a statement. “Home Ec 365 combines necessary life skills and approachable advice with products that meet the strict Quality Standards Whole Foods Market has been committed to for 40 years.”

Media courtesy of Whole Foods.