Wholefood is food that is unprocessed or minimally processed — whole, natural, and free from artificial additives, as close to its harvested state as practical. The wholefood movement, born in the mid-twentieth century, championed brown rice over white, wholemeal over refined flour, and unrefined sugars and oils, on the principle that processing strips nutrition and adds unwanted chemicals. Wholefood shops became the forerunners of today’s natural and organic retail. The core idea is sound — minimally processed foods are generally more nutritious — though the movement’s fringes have sometimes rejected safe technologies along with harmful ones. As a shopping principle, favouring wholefoods remains one of the simplest healthy-eating rules.