The Whole Foods boycott -- much frothing on the Web

Poor old Whole Foods Market. As if that "Whole Paycheck" joke wasn't mean enough, now there are lots of shoppers who say they won't go there to buy things anymore.

To recap: On Aug. 11,  the Wall Street Journal ran an opinion piece by the company's chief executive, John Mackey, in which he spoke against deeper government involvement in the nation's healthcare.

Americans, he said, should be responsible for their own health. Like, for example, by eating healthy food (of the kind Whole Foods sells). 

"While we clearly need health-care reform, the last thing our country needs is a massive new health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health-care system. Instead, we should be trying to achieve reforms by moving in the opposite direction—toward less government control and more individual empowerment," Mackey wrote.

That editorial led to a call for a Whole Foods boycott by a group called (aptly enough) Boycott Whole Foods. It says its membership now stands at more than 20,000.

There's a Boycott Whole Foods Flikr group. A Boycott Whole Foods Facebook page. (It can only be a matter of time before there are Boycott Whole Foods resistance songs.)

There are images: "Flickr member bluheron sends us this proof of her money being spent elsewhere," the Boycott Whole Foods site proclaims. It's a photo of a receipt from a different store.

"Keep the photos coming!...Send us images of … defaced WF bags, and images of picketing or pamphleteering. Show them you mean business!"

On the Boycott Whole Foods Facebook wall, tips are traded, losses shared: Where now, to buy Rice Dream ice cream? How to manage without the cheese?

"Wait -- is it a boycott if I just can't afford to shop there?" writes Richard.

Mark E Rosenthal, who started the boycott, posted as membership passed 15,000— and then posted an e-mail he received: "I see you've hit 15,000 members! What a glorious day! Unfortunately, I just looked up the "Care Bears" group. They've got 65,239 members."

An article at the Washington Postnotes that other company executives have spoken out against healthcare reform — such as Safeway Chief Executive Steve Burd -- "with nary a ripple." No surprise, it says, because Whole Foods customers are of a different stripe — more liberal and politically involved.

At The Big Money, writer Mark Gimein -- in a post titled "Has Whole Foods' CEO Gone Completely Bananas?" – says that Mackey is dreaming if he thinks people are going to radically change their behaviors:

"The solution to our health care woes, Mackey seems to believe, is for all of us to become like him—hyper-rational in evaluating our options, hyper-responsible in following through on them, and devoted to healthy living (that plant-based diet!).That, in a nutshell, usefully sums up just what we can't do. As a friend at the Wall Street Journal put it to me with a raised eyebrow, 'It's pretty strange to think that the easiest way to change health care is to change human beings.' "

At the Atlantic, Megan McArdle writes, "The CEO of Whole Foods is not allowed to have a different opinion from you on a national domestic policy issue?  Rilly?....Here's why boycotts don't work: the vast majority of customers don't care. And yes, that includes the vast majority of Whole Foods customers, a surprising number of whom drive SUVs and even -- I swear! -- occasionally vote Republican."

Check out the NPR story here, and read all kinds of commentaries at the Huffington Post.

-- Rosie Mestel

   

Comments

[Andy]

Whole Foods' stuff is too expensive for me so I don't go there anymore. I bought groceries from there occasionally for four months but the problem for me is that I buy too much when I go there because it's pretty good. Safeway is good enough for me.

[Andy]

Russ, I have been to the DMV lately and I got what I needed in a very timely manner.

[Elucidated]

Pull up a chair...

This has little or nothing to do with Whole Foods or boycotts. This is about doing the right thing. The world is full of 'smart people'; Unfortunately, it is sadly and seriously short of 'wise people'. The difference is that smart people know what to do, yet, don't do it; Whereas, wise people apply their knowledge. Intelligence does little to help (in the form of useless trivia); Whereas, wisdom is what is essential.

This has everything to do with responsibility. That is what freedom is, a responsibility, not a right. This is another tragically rare quality in North America. Even among those who often act responsibly, there is large-scale social posturing or pandering to the ignorant and irresponsible for the sake of popularity (certainly not wise OR responsible in my perspective), thereby acknowledging tacit approval of - or perpetuating - their disability and fostering their ignorance and irresponsibility. Many, even the seemingly wise, will throw away their moral integrity - morality and ethics - for the sake of popularity. In addition, many people (who claim to be well-educated, despite their penchant for childish entertainment that sets poor examples, sarcasm and general lack of compassion) eat too much, smoke too much, lie too much, set poor examples themselves, do whatever they want...and then they spend the rest of their time trying to justify it, regardless of whether there is justification or not. Sure, they suck up the ignorant entertainment shoveled at them and accept/enjoy it; Meanwhile, they criticize and boycott junk food, etc. Both things are bad for the same reasons. They are unhealthy. One physically, the other mentally.

How about some continuity, some consistency? In a free country, people responsibly exercise their freedoms without encroaching on the freedoms of others. That is not our America. In America, the majority exercise their freedoms without concern for the freedoms of others. Americans don't live in a free country, they live in a chaotic one. Do the research. It would be wise for people to realize that the only real reason for Law Enforcement or Government in the first place is because most people are irresponsible and need a babysitter. That is a tragedy. People can't do the right thing. They cannot be expected, as a whole or in part (an Oligarchy), to manage responsibility. The majority of people do what they want...not what they should, not what they need and not what is good for all...but what is good for themselves.

What is Socialism? Forced responsibility for those who are unable to manage it themselves. That is not at all an offensive idea, except for the fact that so many people are in need of it because they can't manage it themselves. It is only disturbing because it is necessary, not because those in charge are trying to apply it. It is negative because we should be above that; Yet, we are not. Once again, people trying to justify their irresponsibility by giving something so obviously necessary a negative reputation when it is the negative reputations of irresponsible citizens that are truly to blame for the necessity of such a plan. There's something to think about the next time you're trying to get the police and US Government out of your face.

As soon as American society becomes responsible as a whole, I will be more than happy to invest my time listening to their complaints. Until then, kindly stop pointing fingers and work on your own responsibility, set good examples and try to be consistent and not so dependent on the opinions of others, especially when they are setting poor examples. If this doesn't apply to you, however rare a group you are a part of, it is not intended for you. For the rest...and you are in incredibly plentiful (and disturbing) company, it does.

Idealism helped build America, and it will destroy America, because it is no longer the time for Idealism, it is time to get real.

- Concerned Expat Citizen -

[Joseph]

Boycotts are childlike? Huh? I imagine Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. might have a thing or two to say about that. Properly organized, boycotts can be devastating.

I prefer Trader Joe's, anyway. I've been to Whole Foods maybe once in my lifetime, back when I lived in Santa Cruz. I always associated Whole Foods customers with the whole "arugula loving granola eating elite liberal" crowd, anyway, so I find it ironic that the CEO might inflame the majority of his customer base.

[BOYCOTT THE TEENAGE IDIOTS WHO WANT FOOD FROM CHINA, GIVE ME SAFE WHOLE FOODS!!!]

YOU TEENS ARE MORONS!!!!! AFTER YOU BOYCOTT A COMAPANY WHO SELLS CLEAN SAFE FOOD!!!! GO GET THE FOOD FROM CHINA, THAT OBAMA WILL SHIP IN TO YOU!!! THEN TRY AND CURE YOUR CANCER WITH HIS NOCARE-HEATHCARE, YOU MORONS!!!! JUST JUMP ON ANY TREND, YOU SHEEP!!!!

[Abraham]

Hasn't the government been out of healthcare all these years??? Why are working class people always defending the rich corporate thieves??? Under the current system we are paying too much for weak service as it is. Who pays for the people who don't have coverage now??? Those of us who do have coverage. So what will really change if every American citizen has coverage??? Greed is what has us in the situation we're in now. Greed is what's going to land a lot of people in hell too. It's easy for a fat cat CEO to say let them eat cake. I bet he wouldn't be saying that if shoe was on the other foot. Count your blessings and help people less fortunate than yourself. You can't take any of this stuff w/u when you leave this place. Your beloved health coverage ends when you hit that grave.

[Napoleon Blownapart]

Hey, it's still a free country, right?

The CEO of Whole Foods has a right to expresss his opinion, and the boycotters have a right to express their opinion too. Me? I'll avoid shopping at whole foods too.

A health food store that offends liberals is as stupid as a gun store that offends 2nd Amendment supporters; the customer is always right!

[John Patrick]

Here is one is out of" right" field for a change.I concur-you are what you eat .Though expensive ,the bang for buck seal the deal for me.

[Buzz Daly]

It is truly incredible to see so many folks so eager to continue to enable the very industry (Insurance) that's been screwing them for decades.

I shop at Whole Foods for certain items, and, will continue to do so. No need to penalize the employees for having an airhead for a boss, who has no idea what he's talking about.

If you fools can't see WHO the problem is in this farce we are saddled with, amusingly called, "healthcare", you never will "get it".

You are all dupes of the highest order, and, the Insurance Co boardrooms are full of folks laughing at your gullibility.

If you really want to see these Pirates quake, mention these two ideas. "Cover pre-existing conditions", and, "competition".

If I remember right, isn't it you folks on the right who are always worshipping at the temple of "competition" and "free trade"?

Whatsa' matter, afraid of a little competition, and, actual "healthcare"?

Our current situation is a sick joke, and, it is truly sad to see so many eager to continue encouraging these clowns in the "healthcare NOT", industry.

What exactly does an Insurance Co. "exec" DO, to earn any bonus, let alone one worth millions. If they need a bonus, how about a Fruitcake at Christmas like normal people?

Hmmmmm.......oh, yeah, deny as much coverage as possible, and continue to raise premiums for no reason......Bingo....Bonus Time.

Dupes.

That is YOUR money that should be used for healthcare.

What an idea, eh?

[Phil]

I just read the op-ed by Mr. Mackey. I see no reason to boycott Whole Foods and will continue to shop there. I don't agree with him on most of his points but some of them are valid. Nothing outrageous was said. I believe insurance companies should be able to compete across state lines and I absolutely believe in tort reform. My sister is a doctor you would not believe how much she has to pay in medical malpractice insurance and she has never had a complaint filed against her in all her years of practice.
John Mackey failed to address the power, influence and questionably ethical actions of the medical insurance companies. Pulling the plug on Grandma has nothing on pulling the plug on a patient receiving chemotherapy because he failed to report being diagnosed with acne at age 15. This man died and the insurance company is still in business. No one went to jail.
Medicare payouts may be lower than private insurance reimbursements but companies like United Health are slowly reducing medical care reimbursements while increasing executive salaries. What value the executives are providing to patient doctor relationships or direct patient care is beyond me.

[Jerry]

I heard about the boycott and went shopping - twice in the last week.

[Caroline]

John Makey is correct in saying that a good percentage of people on prescription drugs and in doctors' offices and hospital waiting-rooms are using medical resources because they have chosen to ingest cigarettes, alcohol and other drugs, and poor "foods".

However, even with doing everything "right", many people need help with medical services. I have been on Medicare for 10 years and could not survive financially without it.

Nevertheless, the 2nd Amendment guarantees him the right to his expressed opinion. Even though I don't agree with him, I will continue to shop sometimes at Whole Foods. It has many healthy things I cannot get anywhere else.

[Caroline]

Sorry--I meant 1st Amendment in my comment!

[kgurl]

Why do people always trot out the DMV to prove that government is incompetent? Hilarious. As for medicare, yes it can be improved, but why do people on medicare report higher rates of satisfaction than people with private insurance? What is so great about private insurance. My coverage is great. But I know people who have had horrendous experiences dealing with bogus pre-existing conditions, high copays, and months long battles getting bills paid. These are folks who've worked their butts off their entire lives and contributed greatly to their communities. If you think that somehow the government can be any more incompetent thatn private insurers, let me introduce you to some of these people.

There is little to no competition with private health care. Most employees have one option, if you're lucky maybe there'll be two. Many businesses provide no insurance. I know for some of you folks socialized medicine is an evil designed by Satan, but if you would actual talk to people in Europe or Canada, you'd be surprised how much better their health care systems are. And, I mean talk to people yourselves, not via bogus interviews on Fox News. I've never met anyone outside of the U.S. who has gone broke or lost their health care due to misfortune. I know that the U.S. will never go for a system like those that nearly every country in the world has, but for heaven's sake, anyone who thinks that refusing to cover millions of people in the country is somehow good is deluding themselves.

[John L.]

The "Healthcare Debate" is nothing more than a smokescreen by republican hypocrites to distract people from considering they destroyed the USA and at least two other nations in the last eight years with their hyper expensive, murderous wars, and that cost FAR more than a silly little health care program.

You might as well be arguing about providing your own fresh water instead of using that evil communist municipal water. Guess what? We've had DECADES to develop private health care that works. IT DOESN'T. I am already vegan for 20 years. I am healthy. I don't need Mackey's green washing. But because I am self employed there is no way I can afford health care. I live next to a hospital that benefits from all kinds of public investment, but I have to price shop for clinics in far off ghetto neighborhoods. Hospitals are useless to me and I should not be paying for some rich person's exclusive health care! National health care is just a way to get some of my money back. EVEN DOCTORS SUPPORT IT.

Meanwhile the rest of the world, (even Cuba!) is laughing at the stupid penny-pinching, pound-foolish USA. The shrieking republican spectical of this country is more and more bizarre as they sink into oblivion and madness. Obama won by a HUGE landslide. THAT IS HIS MANDATE (quoting bush).

You don't like it? Then love it or leave it.

[Xenu]

John Mackey is the Rupurt Murdoch of the health food industry.

[TaBrun]

"At The Big Money, writer Mark Gimein -- in a post titled "Has Whole Foods' CEO Gone Completely Bananas?" – says that Mackey is dreaming if he thinks people are going to radically change their behaviors..."

Well when you've been misled ALL YOUR LIFE about the 'safety' of dead commercial human food offered in the grocery stores and at restaurants and at fast food restaurants,,,, and the countless contradicting research PUBLISHED in 'respected' journals about the causes of our diseases and illness,,,, AND CURES,,,,,, i can seeeeee that it's going to a paradigm shift to get people to WAKE UP to the grim reaper that is the elite.

The medical community looks into a smokey mirror when they accept PILLS from the pharmaceutical industry and accept contracts with health insurance. "Do no harm"???? They're doing it and approving EVERYDAY they go to work and write prescriptions.

[Nyte]

"Wait -- is it a boycott if I just can't afford to shop there?" writes Richard.

I'm with this guy... I can not afford to set foot inside WF.

99 Cent Store ftw!

[Ryan]

How refreshing to hear of a CEO with integrity, who understands wholly the issue at hand, who is not greedy nor altruistic! Please, to all the bleeding-heart liberals who will no longer frequent Mackey's stores, Ralph's now has an impressive organic foods selection, and they have replaced the unionized checkers with scan-it-yourself machines, but not significantly lowered prices.

[Paul Short]

I never shopped Whole Foods in my life until last week. Outside a store, I saw a bunch of wild people holding signs. A lot of women with mustaches and men with squeaky voices. I supposed it was some big promotion for a new store or something. So I figured there must be something good.

Wow. I bought all kinds of cool stuff. And I didn’t need anything. I just bought stuff and gave it away to my family and friends. And the air conditioning in the store was great, nice and cold. After I finished my snacks, I just threw the wrappers out the window, which is pretty cool too.

I am now hooked on Whole Foods.

Thanks all for the campaign!

BTW.

Socialized government healthcare – to insure the 25 million illegal aliens in the US – would lead the US faster to ruin, which is what liberals want because they hate the US and its history.

The polls prove it – most Americans don’t want government run health care.

The people who want it had never heard of “health care” before until Al Gore invented it a few years ago. Or was that the Internet, I forget?

I am a Democrat BTW.

[Marie]

I wish a politician on any side would speak the truth as Mackey has done in his article. The idea that I will have to pay for lazy, ignorant, out of shape, people's health care makes me want to gag! It's PREVENTION through proper nutrition, not drugs masking underlying problems. We have the knowlege and solutions to so many degenerative diseases and don't do anything about it. Give our bodies food it loves and watch what would happen. Why is it that we have solutions to problems and then do not act upon them? (just like the fuel issue) It's not complicated! Eat whole foods, not too much, stay away from process foods, and get off your lazy butts and MOVE! Do American's really want to be the laughing stock around the world for being so FAT? Really? I'm with Mackey!

[kt]

Some people like to punish others for having opinions that differ from their own. Others see them as "jerks" or "bullies" or worse, but they see themselves as the righteous guardians of goodness and justice. There are few things more damaging to civil society than righteous indignation, but to the righteously indignant person, it feels so good. It infects liberals and conservatives, environmentalists and industrialists, religious people and atheists, and now people who advocate a certain approach to health insurance reform.

I'm going to go over to Whole Foods later today and buy some stuff.

[Scott A]

Because of this CEOs remarks I am going to now start shopping at Whole Foods to support them. The CEO is pretty much right on the money here.

[Stephen G. Sullivan, MD]

I read with great interest CK's 8/21 irrational and uninformed ranting about our terrible health care system including our life expectancy numbers as published by the WHO. Before he goes shooting his mouth off about things of which he is obviously woefully ignorant he should understand a few salient facts and learn exactly how they (WHO = SOCIALISM) arrive at their conclusions. And yes I can argue against their conclusions after practicing medicine in the US for over 35 years. The WHO includes 5 factors in their determination most of which have no correlation to health care whatsoever and are slanted to conclude that socialized medicine is superior to private health care. "Google" it and learn something instead of listening to the empty headed politicians who are ruining our once great country.

The prime reasons for the US's poor longevity ranking are social problems vice medical. Life expectancy is affected by many factors not related to health care per se, such as poverty, homicide rate, dietary habits, accident rates, tobacco use, etc. In fact, if you remove the HOMICIDE rate and accidental death rate from MVA’s from this statistic, citizens of the US have a longer life expectancy than any other country on earth. The politicians and other proponents of the government taking over our health care system are either stupid or lying and I don't know which is worse. The system needs buffing and modifications for sure, but government control, NEVER. And believe me, once they get the camel's nose of the public option in the tent it will just be a matter of time before they take over the system.

I could go on and on but I have to go shopping at Whole Food Market. And yes, go JJ.

[Richard]

I find it amazing that they will boycott a health food store yet not boycott the fact that you can't turn your head without seeing another taco bell burger king mcdonalds pizza hut. Despite the mackey opinion, whatever yoursay be, it seems obviously bourgeois to boycott whole foods and not hear a peep from anyone about the sick places the poor are forced to eat at. if these liberals really cared about people rather than politics they would be out boycotting and trying to fight the root causes. There are many other things that should be in every blog suddenly before whole foods, even if they were right in opposing mackey. For instance I don't see them going out of their way to bash ford cars for publishing anti-semetic literature in the middle east. A non health issue but see the point?