Whole Foods' Stock Price Has Me Dancing in the Aisles

Updated from June 20.

Editor's note: Not drowning in debt? Have $1,000 to put to work? TheStreet.com senior correspondent and You're So Money author Farnoosh Torabi follows up "How to Play $1K: Sweet CDs" and "How to Play $1K: Powerful P2P Loans" with a look at Whole Foods.

While it's not advised to mix business with pleasure when it comes to stocks, I can't help but think that my love for Whole Foods (WFMI Quote) is a sign that the stock is a solid long-term investment -- even as it's down more than 50% from its 52-week high.

Oh, how I love pushing my cart down Whole Foods' spacious aisles filled with Kashi and Amy's Kitchen natural products. How I love to greet its all-smile staff and the store's devotion to "green." And while I don't necessarily enjoy the long lines during after-work rush hour, that to me is one sign that the company has devoted organic foodies that will stay by its side during and after this difficult economic period.

Of course, my perspective as a shopper is a bit jaded. I live in New York City, where we don't have to drive around to buy our food. Escalating gas prices are not really stopping us from buying organic lentils, as they are the rest of the country perhaps. Plus, from what I understand, Whole Foods is investing yet again in the Big Apple, opening a new store in my neighborhood on Manhattan's Upper West Side. So business can't be that bad. As the saying goes, if you can make it New York, you can make it anywhere.

In all, Whole Foods has 90 new stores across the country in the pipeline. And let's face it, green will remain the new black (must-own) for not only consumers, but investors, and Whole Foods is a green poster child. "We think over the long run the [Whole Foods] concept is not only viable, it speaks to a lot of trends in terms of where the consumer is heading," says Mitchell Corwin, equity analyst for Morningstar (MORN Quote) in Chicago. "The company has a lot of room for potential growth."

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But not everyone agrees with Corwin. Hence, the following closer look at Whole Foods and why, ultimately, I want to place it in my "How to Play $1K" portfolio. (Note to readers: I am not allowed to invest in individual stocks due to my job at TheStreet.com. Though, in real life, I may buy shares of the Winslow Green Growth Fund (WGGFX Quote), a mutual fund of green and eco-friendly stocks, such as Whole Foods, First Solar (FSLR Quote) and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR Quote).)