You can absolutely use your EBT card at Whole Foods to purchase delicious, high-quality, and healthy produce and meals to take care of you and your family. You can use your EBT card at all grocery stores and supermarkets that are authorized retailers!
There are some restrictions on certain items that you can purchase with your EBT card, but more items qualify than disqualify. Read on below to learn about what you can buy with your EBT card at Whole Foods!
What Is Whole Foods?
Whole Foods Market is a natural food grocery store filled with fresh produce, meat alternatives, natural and organic food. In addition, Whole Foods sells beef, pork, and poultry raised without any hormones or antibiotics.
They also prohibit any animal byproduct in the animals’ feed making sure that they only eat what they are meant to eat.
Whole Foods also bans many ingredients that are not natural or healthy for you to eat, keeping their promise to deliver you only healthy and high-quality foods.
With 500 locations and 91,000 team members in the United States, Whole Foods brings high-quality food to millions of Americans.
Tip: Now that Whole food is an Amazon company, you can save even more at Whole Foods stores with your Amazon Prime membership. Prime members receive an extra 10% off yellow sale signs, special prime-only offers on blue sale sign items, and 365 Everyday Value products delivered to your door.
Answered: Does Whole Foods Take EBT?
Yes, you can use your EBT card as a payment method at Whole Foods because EBT cards receive benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP. Because SNAP is a nationwide and federal program, all major grocery stores must accept EBT payments at their stores. EBT cards are often called food stamps; they’re the same thing!
Does Whole Foods Take SNAP?
Whole Foods does take SNAP benefits. EBT and SNAP are the same programs.
Most eligible stores will either have EBT/SNAP advertised as a payment option on their websites, store doors, or at the checkout register.
What Payment Methods Does Whole Foods Accept?
What payment options does Whole Foods accept? Below is a list of the forms of payment, including four types of major credit cards and three contactless payment options that you can use at your local Whole Foods store.
Payment Methods Accepted at Whole Foods
The following payment methods are accepted at Whole Foods stores:
- Apple Pay, Google Pay/Android Pay, and Samsung Pay (Contactless Payment Methods)
- Apple Card
- Visa credit cards
- Master card credit cards
- Discover credit cards
- American Express (Amex) credit cards
- Debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, ATM cards)
- EBT Cards (also known as ‘Electronic Benefits Transfer,’ ‘SNAP benefits,’ ‘link cards,’ or ‘electronic food stamps’)
- Prepaid cards
- Whole Foods Market Gift Cards
- Cash
As confirmed by Whole Foods, personal checks are not accepted at any of their stores:
What Items Can I Buy With EBT at Whole Foods?
You can purchase many great food items at Whole Foods with your EBT card, like fresh fruits, meat, snacks, and bread!
Here are the most frequently purchased items with EBT cards:
- Baby Food
- Baby Formula
- Freshly baked bread
- Sandwich bread
- All types of cereals
- Coffee
- Dairy products of all types
- Energy drinks with nutrition facts labels
- Frozen dinners
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Meats
- Seafood
- Poultry
What Items Are Ineligible at Whole Foods?
Even though you can purchase a great majority of the foods available at your Whole Foods Market with your EBT cards, there are some restrictions on what you can buy, like alcohol or tobacco products.
Here are items that are not able to be purchased with your EBT card:
- Vitamins and medicines
- Supplements
- Prepared hot foods (cafeteria type foods)
- Pet food
- Household supplies
- Cosmetics
- Hygiene items
You can visit the USDA website for a complete list of what you can and cannot purchase.
How To Use My EBT Card At Whole Foods?
Your EBT card works just like a credit or debit card would at the cash register. When you are ready to pay for your items, just slide your card into the credit card machine and enter your PIN number. That’s it!
Low Balance On My EBT Card?
If you don’t have enough money on your EBT card to pay for all of your items, you can pay for the rest with a different form of payment. Typically, your retailer will deduct the remaining EBT card balance, and then you will be able to pay the difference with a credit card, debit card, or cash.
If you need to check your EBT card balance, you can call the number listed on the back of the card or go to your state’s website.
Whole Foods Grocery Delivery With EBT?
While only a few states participate in an EBT pilot program that allows Whole Foods in those states to deliver groceries to your door, there’s a way around this! Keep reading to learn this neat trick that lets you have groceries delivered to your door with a 15% discount only available to EBT cardholders!
Recently, Amazon purchased Whole Foods and created a special portal that you can use to buy groceries online for delivery with your EBT benefits. If you don’t have an Amazon account, you can easily create one on their website and add your EBT card to get started.
As an extra incentive, Amazon gives EBT cardholders an additional 15% on grocery select products! This benefit is exclusive to EBT beneficiaries. That’s right, Amazon lets you pay for your grocery delivery with your EBT card!
Keep in mind that although Whole Foods allows for grocery delivery through Amazon with an EBT snap card, not all retailers have the same option. It’s just another reason to shop at Whole Foods and Amazon!
Can I Tip With My Food Stamps Card?
Not many people are aware of this, but if you have the EBT cash option, also known as TANF, available through your benefits, you can tip your delivery driver!
Through AmazonFresh, an affiliate through Whole Foods, you can tip your driver before or after you get your groceries. Check out our tip calculator to see how much you should tip your Amazon Fresh delivery driver.
TANF Cash Options
As mentioned above, if you have the TANF cash benefit on your EBT card, not only can tip your delivery driver, but you can also withdraw cash from your card.
If needed, you can use the cash from your card to purchase other items that are ineligible with the regular EBT card, such as prepared hot food, clothing, transportation, and more!
Does Whole Foods Accept WIC (Women, Infants, and Children)?
If you are eligible for the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, you may be wondering, does Whole Foods take WIC? The answer is yes; most locations do take it! While many Whole Foods stores accept WIC, it is best to call them ahead of time to make sure they do and how to checkout with WIC at the cash register.
Each state is different in how they issue payments for WIC, some provide checks or vouchers, and others provide reloadable cards like EBT.
If you happen to have a WIC card, you will follow the same procedure as an EBT card.
Eligible Items With WIC
- Cereals
- Eggs
- Fruits and vegetables (frozen, fresh, dried, or canned)
- Milk
- Oatmeal
- Peanut butter
- Yogurt
- Whole wheat bread
- Whole wheat pasta
- Infant food and formula
Ineligible Items With WIC
- Sodas
- Beverages that are not 100% juice
- Imported cheese
- Cheese spreads
- Yogurts with candy
- Soups
- fruit-nut mixtures
It is important to review what you can and cannot purchase with your WIC or food stamp benefits. For example, you can buy dairy foods, but there are certain restrictions on what type of products you can buy.
For example, you can purchase some yogurts, but you can’t buy ones with artificial sweetener, candy, granola, or nuts or single-serve containers. It’s a little complicated, so read your state’s guide to WIC benefits before checking out.
Recipes With Ingredients From Whole Foods
It is easy to get overwhelmed with the wide variety of products and baked goods that Whole Foods offers, so they created a page on their website dedicated to delicious recipes that you can make at home. Their recipes are both kid and picky-eater-friendly! There’s something for everyone.
A few examples of the recipes that you can make are:
- Classic french toast
- Overnight oatmeal
- Egg muffin sandwiches
- Peruvian roasted chicken
- Plant-based bowls
If you are looking for specific recipes that cater to vegetarian, vegan, or paleo diets, you will also find them on their site.
You can also choose which meal you are looking for; for example, if you are looking for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack ideas, there are sections for each of them!
Final Thoughts
Whole Foods is a great grocery store that not only provides healthy food alternatives and fresh produce they also help out the community by sourcing their foods from local farms.
To ensure that all the foods in their stores are natural and held to the highest standard, Whole Foods goes the extra mile to ensure that only high quality, responsibly raised meats, and other natural food products make it to their shelves.
If you want to shop at a grocery store with healthy, natural foods that accept your EBT card, SNAP, or takes WIC, look no further than your local Whole Foods store!