There’s been a bunch of stories crossing the wires this past week about the growing number of consumers food shopping for home consumption. No big surprise, right? The economy’s wallowing, gas prices are sky high and job security is tenuous. It’s not exactly a great time to be splurging at restaurants.

We noted a few entries back that sales of Spam luncheon meat grew 10%, as are sales of frozen and canned foods. The Food Marketing Institute noted in a recent report that 83% of consumers are eating home-cooked meals at least three times a week. And this includes wealthier households, which the survey found more likely than less-affluent households to buy food for home consumption.

In a specific example of retailer activity, Publix has cranked up its already-successful Aprons Simple Meals program by posting more than 500 recipes to its website. The promotion notes many of the dishes can be made in as little as 15 minutes — a direct appeal to time-starved households looking to get dinner on the table quickly after a long day at work because it’s too expensive to go out and eat.

Then there’s news that consumers are surfing the web more often to get coupon savings. According to Hitwise, an online measurement firm quoted in The Wall Street Journal, online coupon hunting as increased 56% for the week endng June 6, compared with the same week in 2007. Coupons.com, CouponMountain.com and Eversave.com were some of the most popular coupon destinations, according to the article.

So, what’s it all mean? It’s a promising time to be in the supermarket business. But it’s also more than that. It’s an ideal opportunity to reconnect with shoppers by offering true solutions — not just in terms of food budget solutions, but overall lifestyle. Remember, people are still trying to stay healthy so they avoid those high insurance premiums and co-pays. Stay the course on wellness merchandising. If you need to, tweak the sets and selection, play with pricing — but make sure you keep whole health a focus. Your preoccupied, worried customers will thank you when this weird period of our history is over.

If you haven’t already, make sure to check out Sam Fromartz’s interview with Whole Foods CEO John Mackey on Fromartz’s Chews Wise blog. It’s divided into two parts — the first focusing on financials and the current economy, the second on ethics, standards and some of the top trends that are influencing the business.

As always, Mackey is as brazen as he is insightful. Right off the bat, he said that if he could go back in time he wouldn’t do the Wild Oats deal because of the regulatory sparring it caused with the Federal Trade Commission. The ordeal has cost Whole Foods millions of dollars in legal fees, not to mention the unearthing of Mackey’s embarrassing online alter ego, “rahodeb”. Given where things stand, though, Mackey wants to see the former Oats stores and its employees through a full transition.

Mackey’s regret may have made for a quote of the day, but it was his discussion about humane certification that proved most interesting from a trade perspective. This summer, he said, Whole Foods will start to employ a third-party rating system for its meat products. Based on a one-through-five scale (one being the lowest, five being the highest), the program looks to award high marks to manufacturers that practice the ethical ideal for their market. That means, as Mackey implies, that the “free-range” chicken that actually roam on pasture will be rated noticeably higher than the “free-range” chicken that is confined to a barn and just have access to pasture.

This is yet another step for the in-store rating system movement (Hannaford’s Guiding Stars, Topco’s ONQI), which seeks to hold manufacturers to higher standards and, in Whole Foods case, cut down on the wriggle room within such label claims as free range and organic. Mackey also said he and Whole Foods officials want to expand their sustainable seafood initiatives, though how exactly they’ll go about this seems to be something they struggle with.

It’s nice to see Mackey talking — and blogging — again. He’s one of the most interesting minds in the business, and though he may have a tendency to spout off and get himself into trouble, he can also be refreshingly honest and on target.