Cranky Whole Foods Employee Scribes Overblown Resignation Letter

After working at a Toronto Whole Foods for five years, a now-ex-employee had a lot of things to get off his chest. In his epic resignation letter, sent to the entire company, he calls out what he sees as the company's hypocritical policies in everything ranging from not recycling properly to shrinking portion sizes, from ugly t-shirts to providing too many latex gloves. Not satisfied with his missive to the company as a whole, he also targets specific employees for their personality faults, including someone who the author felt belonged in a psychiatric ward and another person who had "really, really stupid" ideas. The full tirade is certainly worth a perusal (see here); see below for some especially bad excerpts.

• "Oh, you sometimes intentionally order too much just to guarantee a full shelf, knowing full well the product will most likely be thrown out?"
• Oh, you actually think being 20 minutes late matters? You know Whole Foods Market is just a grocery store, right?
• "Oh, the food here is really quite awful on average? Almost everything that prepared foods makes is terrible. The pizza used to be pretty good but the slices have shrunk, the toppings are sparser and it's usually extremely overcooked. The sandwiches are the stuff of nightmares."
• "A lot of the stuff in Whole Body doesn't even work or has absolutely no credible evidence to back any claims up. You're kind a faux hippy Wal-Mart now. Great. Job."

As for the named employees:

• "How you haven't been fired by now is a massive mystery to, not just me, but many people. You probably belong in a psychiatric ward. If you didn't have such a constant negative impact on everyone around you I might just feel sorry for you."
• "I haven't met a single person working under you or who has worked under you who doesn't loath the way you treat people."
• "We get it, we get it. You go to the gym. Nobody is impressed. In fact we all just laugh at your inferiority complex."

Read the whole letter at Gawker.

Comments

[mlaiuppa]

03:39 PM on 07/28/2011

I shop the farmer's market and the farmer's outlet.

I read the labels at the store.

I don't bother with Whole Foods or Henry's. I still have to read labels there. How healthy is HFCS or other artificial ingredients?

What I need is a Michael Pollan store that follows the five food rules.

[ABACADABRA RABBIT]

06:59 PM on 07/28/2011

Michael Pollan Store sounds like a great enterprise idea!

[training123]

03:48 PM on 07/31/2011

A Michael Pollan store would be great.

But I have to defend Whole Foods here, because you are wrong-

Whole Foods doesn't sell anything with artificial flavors or artificial colors. Also nothing with High Fructose Corn Syrup.

[Max Shaw]

02:48 PM on 07/28/2011

Ive always wanted to resign in a beligerant way like that. Maybe one day when I win the lottery I might just go berserk.

[Bob Serrano]

12:09 AM on 07/28/2011

Whole Foods is a company you get what you put into it. If you have a bad attitude you're going to have a bad time. I've known people in this company from many different backgrounds- dreaded hippies, immigrants, liberal arts students, republicans all given a chance to excel here if they are serious about it. This guy obviously wasn't so he's gone. It's too bad people are accepting so much of his ramblings as fact.

I do work for Whole Foods and run a produce department in the midwest. (I got this guy's actual email) A lot of the comments saying that the company doesn't support local are uninformed. Maybe some stores and locations do it better than others, but I know I work my butt off to get local product in my store. I pay higher prices to my farmers and take a lower profit to keep their prices in line with california product. The standing rule is that local always gets priority if the quality is good and the price is fair to our customers. I have great relations with who I work with. One of the problems is that there is not a stable enough supply of local products. There's very few retail ready local farms and not enough younger farmers to fill in the gaps in production. Everyone growing tonnage vegetables and not enough fruit.

[Larry Florey]

04:20 PM on 07/27/2011

I used to go to Whole Foods and enjoyed it, but I discovered Cordon's Ranch Market in La Crescenta Ca. The meat is equivalent(organic) but is 40% less, the vegetables are fresh every day, and the manager is great if you need something special. The only thing Cordons is missing is the high wattage(environmentally unfriendly ) lights. Big companies have a reputation of using employees unfairly. If your in the Glendale/Montrose/La Crescenta area check them out.

[Counterglow]

09:50 PM on 07/27/2011

I have no plans to head in that direction in the immediate future, but when I do, I'll drop in. I've entered the location in my PDA.

[Elizabeth Zeigler]

12:01 PM on 07/27/2011

I don't shop at Whole Foods. I have no desire to shop at Whole Foods. HOWEVER, yeah buddy if your shift starts at 1 and you show up at 1:20 that is a problem. It shows that you can not be counted on. It is called personal responsibility. Other than that, who cares.

[Counterglow]

09:52 PM on 07/27/2011

I'm actually glad the guy provided some insight into what goes on at a place that clearly isn't what it pretends to be. I agree with you 100% about being late, though. In most jobs, your co-workers are the ones inconvenienced by your lateness, not the boss.

[Counterglow]

01:48 AM on 07/28/2011

Allow me to revise my comment. I actually went and read the guy's letter. The comment about being 20 minutes late has been taken out of context. It's more of a throw-away line, delivered after he noted that there doesn't seem to be much point in phoning to advise that you're going to be late when they just write you up anyway as soon as you arrive. I still stand by what I said, but although habitual lateness is unacceptable, an occasional occurance coupled with a phone call shouldn't warrant written discipline.

[thundermummy]

08:43 AM on 07/27/2011

20 minutes late is a big deal if it isn't preceded by a phone call and happens regularly..

[cameron d]

04:18 PM on 07/26/2011

I live within walking distance to this Whole Foods. I like to go there on walks with friends and just gawk at the fools who shop there.
We call it Yuppie Hunting.

[Susan Leas Latham]

09:54 PM on 07/26/2011

it's a horror show...for a laugh go to YouTube Whole Foods Inc Bad Neighbor

[iknowitall4]

12:57 PM on 07/26/2011

Whole Foods is a scam. Plain and simple. It started as a concept that morphed into a giant business. They're overpriced (way overpriced) and they don't have better produce than my local chain supermarket. But it's indicative of the American people, pound them with slogans and images of what they "should" be eating and where they "should" be shopping and the next thing you know, they're paying $8 for a cantaloupe. Lemmings.

[Susan Leas Latham]

09:56 PM on 07/26/2011

they are a very nasty corporation; it is hell living next to them....vote with you dollars and give them not a thin dime

[Christopher Koulouris]

12:51 PM on 07/26/2011

Who knows, maybe you’ll end up resigning from your corporate job after you’ve read this letter, but just remember if you do, there’s always a needy desperate unemployed person desperate to take your hell from you.

So much for faux pleasure shopping experiences and existentially challenged employees...

http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2011/07/disillusioned-whole-foods-employee-writes-epic-fuck-you-resignation-letter/

[pahpah25]

10:48 AM on 07/26/2011

i have bought my groceries at PUBLIX[FLORIDA] for some 40+ years, am still alive and healthy. a WHOLE FOODS opened recently..i haven't even 'visited' the store as i had shopped at WF in boca raton and found it to be over priced and over hyped....a faux-hippy wal mart....lol......i will stick with PUBLIX.

[tombug777]

10:46 AM on 07/26/2011

Must agree, I don't care for Whole Foods. I live in Austin, where we have the flagship store. It is so incredibly overpriced and the deli sandwiches, pastries, etc, are awful for the most part. This place is packed all the time, you would never know there is a recession. I have to think a lot of people must sadly be buying the hype and spending most of their disposable income on shopping here so they can look cool and think highly of themselves.
Despite going over the top, the letter writer made a lot of good points. I am going to try to avoid them in the future. Fortunately, we have a lot of other natural foods stores here in Austin and all are doing well.

[Cantinflas]

01:10 PM on 07/26/2011

I also live in Texas and share your view. It's been years since I went into WF, and the last time was just to go to the rest room.

[my2cnts]

04:22 PM on 07/26/2011

i live in IL.. they do have nice bathrooms! that's about it!... i just signed an online petition asking them to donate their day old food products as other local grocery stores do... but they don't bother!

[shelagh63]

10:07 AM on 07/26/2011

Hi-larious, and spot on

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UFc1pr2yUU

[John02050]

08:11 AM on 07/26/2011

Whole Foods is just a scam for dumb and/or rich hippies. Their food is overpriced and of low quality. It's owned by Archer Daniels- a company which expressedly doesn't care about organics or sustainability and heavily invests in interests contrary to local economies. It invested in Whole Foods in order to control and change it into a way to make $$$ on the 'organic food movement' without having to produce or sell actual organic foods. Archer Daniels is waiting out what it's analysts have determined to be a fad- the local, organic food movement- by purchasing a chain of stores which people associate with those ideas.

The entire Whole Foods grocery store chain has become a method for the wealthy to maintain wealth while not changing the manner in which food is produced and sold.

Shopping there reveals one's own ignorance and nothing more.

[hardheadedwoman]

10:05 AM on 07/27/2011

I believe you are wrong about Whole Foods being owned by Archer Daniels. Where did you get that information?

[Aldo Rodriguez]

09:23 PM on 07/25/2011

"A faux hippy Wal-Mart" - I gotta give him that one. Well said.

[MagicalPossibilities]

11:33 PM on 07/25/2011

True that! I hate WF as much, or possibly even more than I hate Wal-Mart, for mostly the same reasons.

Starting with the takeover of my beloved Wild Oats, then on to putting our local co-op out of business...

[techjockey]

08:46 PM on 07/25/2011

There is a local asian market that just opened up around the corner from the local Whold Foods. It puts them to SHAME in the produce & seafood departments.
Another local, high end, grocery chain opened up a few miles away last year &, though they don't have an organic mantra, they sell far more locally grown produce, meat, cheese, etc. than Whole Foods does.
That said, this ex-employee's rant could be posted at any grocery chain. They have to be the most miserable places on earth to be employed &, somehow, the most greedy, sociopathic, mean-spirited people always seem to rise to the top in those organizations.

[shelagh63]

10:04 AM on 07/26/2011

You are right on all points!

The Peter principle at work, promoted to the level of one's incompetence.

[Lisanne Anderson]

11:12 PM on 07/26/2011

Or any large retail operation.