Why I Ain't About to Boycott Whole Foods
For years, John Mackey, the libertarian founder of Whole Foods (who I've met and talked with a few times) has--luckily for Whole Foods's PR squad--kept his right-of-the-right views more or less under the radar.
Then, a week or so back, he posted a slam of universal healthcare coverage in the Wall Street Journal (a venerable paper that's right-of-center-in-a-mostly-good-way, as opposed to the shrill Fox or leftist MSNBC, both of which treat politics like sports instead of stuff that actually matters). John Mackey's article, which read right out of the Republican playbook, began with a quote of no less than Margaret Thatcher -- never exactly a friend to the People.
Enter Sh*t Storm
Now, suddenly, everyone and their mother has called for a boycott of Mr. Mackey's Whole Foods. There's a Facebook group with thousands of members. There's been so much negative traffic and "I will boycott Whole Foods" messages on Twitter, Whole Foods hasn't even tried to put out the fires as they have with past controversies (such as his taken-out-of-context comment, only last week, that Whole Foods "sells lots of junk"; or his infamous commenting on his own blog and anonymous tirades against Wild Oats, which he was trying to buy out, and later did). There's been so many complaints from Whole Foods largely green-minded customers--the very ones who've made John rich (one of his homes is in Boulder, just two blocks from where I write this)--that yesterday they temporarily shut down the comments forum page on Whole Foods (not very democratic of 'em, hey?)
But I, for one, am not going to boycott Whole Foods. I'm not throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Why?
- Whole Foods is a vast organization, with thousands of staff, many if not most of whom disagree with John's idealistic, superior Libertarian views. We live in a democracy, with a lowercase "D." We don't have to hate those we disagree with--we just have to beat them at the polls, and in the halls of Congress.
- John doesn't own Whole Foods. It's public.
- Whole Foods, thanks to his leadership, has shown the way for thousands of green-minded companies. He and WFM have shown Wall Street that green can make green. For that, I am grateful--there is a reservoir of gratitude that will not be easily overcome by his anti-union views, by Whole Foods never having supported elephant over seven years even as I see them advertise in countless less-than-green publications and forums.
So we can agree to disagree, for now. Of course, if we fail to pass healthcare reform because we just can't give a care to fix an inefficient stystem that's also painfully unfair and bad for America's economy, I'll be mad as hell and I'll look for somewhere to place the blame, and I'll look for somewhere else to spend my hard-earned conscious consumer dollars.
In the meantime, I got Obama's back. Do you, Whole Foods nation? If Mackey's ill-advised screed motivates us to get off the couch and get active, 40 million uninsured Americans may owe him one.
Bonus, don't make us Mad as Hell, Congress:
Waylon Lewis is the founder of elephantjournal.comFollow elephantjournal on Twitter. Become a Fan on Facebook.
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Mike Lux: I'm for the Obama Health Plan, Are Anonymous White House Staffers?
Why are certain anonymous White House officials trying to undermine the president on health care? This is exactly what happened in the Clinton fight for health care reform.
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Way, think bigger - this is a chance to truly support local efforts, and unions. I understand that WF has good aspects, but really they have gotten very elitist over the past few years you have to admit. WE need CEOs who come out in favor of the public option, not the opposite. Now it the time to get in step with the rest of the developed world and lay the cornerstones of compassionate society - health care, food (organic or no), and shelter, oh, and education and jobs. This is the real health for society. With love
"We don't have to hate those we disagree with--we just have to beat them at the polls, and in the halls of Congress."
Spoken like a man who never left his chair to defend what is right.
No, but seriously. Democracy is a contact sport. It's not an entire nation hiding behind their screens.
Democracy requires leaving your home and meeting your neighbors, those who agree and disagree. If you've never tried it, I can see how you might be confused. But everything begins to look different once you've actually held a picket sign. You can drag your opposition kicking and screaming into doing what is right. (
So Waylon Lewis urges us to not boycott Whole Foods because its CEO is just expressing his private views and it is a public company, etc.? I noted that today CNBC dwelt at length over the great success of Whole Foods, which it repeatedly noted was under the able leadership of John Mackey. This obsessive concentration on one "successful" man, after he had come out in favor of a "libertarian" (anti-government-involvement-in-any-way) solution, this idolizing of greedy, anti-humanistic CEOs, seems so Last Year, even for CNBC.
Furthermore since Lewis thinks that nasty "leftist" MSNBC is as foul as "shrill" Fox (yes G. Beck IS shrill isn't he?), while "right-of-center-in-a-mostly-good-way" WSJ deserves our respect, perhaps he should be dropped as a regular contributor.
But is naughty to boycott Whole Foods. Let us just quit shopping there, at least we who are not Beautiful People in adoration of this new "green" fad, possibly at a loss as to WHERE ELSE one could stylishly shop. But our alternative is not WalMart (though Waylon must REALLY love that one) or TraderJoes, but shopping locally, from small farmers and merchants, although choices might be more restricted. And perhaps we poor under- and uninsured sods should just quietly stop reading the Waylon dude too.
Much of MSNBCs tone would not be there if there wasn't Fox Propaganda Network. Olbermann gets a little nutty with his fake voices. But Rachel Maddow cover much the same material with a bit less attitude. She also has political types on who probably would never go on Countdown because she treats them intelligently rather than as sport (though she does ask tough questions).
was at the whole foods on magazine st in NOLA a couple hours ago.
yeah, your boycott is REALLY workin! only thing i noticed was possibly about 3 less tatt'd up smelly 20 something progressives.
which, was a refreshing change.
Did you read Mackey's column and agree with it? If so, you are in the wrong website.
One thing this blogger forgot to mention after citing the Margaret Thatcher quote in Mackey's Wall Street Journal column was that Maggie never touched Britain's National Health Service. The reason she never did was that it is extremely popular and incredibly efficient. Oddly enough, unlike Whole Foods' Mr. Mackey - and apparently this blogger, Britons think health care is a right, not a privilege.
How nice that Mackey is a libertarian expressing his own opinion. Since Whole Foods is publicly traded, he can be fired. I hope this incident leads to his downfall. He has been an embarrassment and a blight upon the organic foods landscape for too long.
For the commenter, read his editorial. Then address the specific points with which you disagree. To help, here is a summary of his points:
Health-care reform is very important.
Equalize the tax laws so that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits.
Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines. Health insurance should be portable.
Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover. What is insured and what is not insured should be determined by individual customer preferences and not through special-interest lobbying.
Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year
Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost.
Enact Medicare reform.
Revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance
What do you find objectionable to the above?
"1: Health-care reform is very important"
>> empty words, his reform means nothing for most people
2:Equalize the tax laws so that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits.
>> in other words, cut taxes when the government is already broke
3: Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover
>> well, now you're not gonna get covered if you have a rare cancer, heart disease or PTSD from being in iraq etc
4: Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs
>> This is designed to put the balance of power with the wealthy private hospitals instead of with individuals who will then have a very hard time finding lawyers willing to fight for them when they get mistreated, or ignored in order to save costs for the insurance company.
ok, that's enough for now, I need to get out of the house...
Congratulations on undermining your own position. Keep funding, by your purchasing decisions, the very rhetoric and political activities that you and others fight against .
Make sure you keep going to every LimboHannitySavageFoxWholefoods sponsor . Because afterall , who would ever expect millions is lost sales(switched to a competitor) to be able to match some angry emails in a contest of corperate influence ?
Waylon, NOW is the time to boycott Whole Foods, not after we lose the Public Option. NOW is the time it can make a difference, not afterwards. Boycott them now, demand that your neighbor Mackey resign. If the many purported progressive shareholders are responsible, they'll be doing this already.
And Whole Foods is a symbol we need right now, of justly angry citizens and patients refusing to back down in the face of corporate lies and pressure.
When Mackey resigns (it sounds like he'd already have a very cushy retirement), then you and I can go back to shopping there, and pushing in less drastic ways for better policies from them.
All these reactionary right wingers like to use big words like facism, and socialism. These idiots don't know what they are talking about! They want their country back. Too bad they lost the election. It must have had something to do with the war, and the fact that they tanked the economy. Facism: people should look up the definition of the term. It's all right wing all the way. Facism is the melding of corporatoins and government. That's what we have here in the USA by design of the right wing. They have too much power now, and they are abusing that power, and all of us here. Corporations have no conscience, or social responsibility; it's all about profit and PR. It's too bad that there are still some of these brainwashed hate mongers out there. There always will be. Rational people need to realize that it is pointless to argue with fanatics. A meeting of minds is impossible with these people. No compromise is possible. They will alway hate us. Nothing Obama could do would make them stop hating him. They've been home schooled and trained from early youth to hate... they spout this half baked garbage on que.
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I remember an NPR interview with John Mackey a few years back in which he made his political views very clear. I had always assumed that "healthy foods" = progressive = green, but Mr. Mackey's comments opened my eyes, which I appreciated, after my initial, Casablanca-like, shock had passed.
Whole Foods is a profit-based business. Mr. Mackey is a businessman interested in maximizing profit. I disagree with his take on healthcare, big time. But I see how it fits into his political ethos.
I do wonder, however, how this debate might be different if CEOs like Mr. Mackey had been saddled with my solo-preneur's healthcare options for the last decade or so. Nothing like tasting the system to inspire one to change the recipe to something more salutary ...
Whole Foods CEO John Mackey's comments are no surprise. I'm glad he shared them. I never shop there because it's always appeared to me to be a phoney environment, with over priced products. They're all image and little else. Now there's a lot of doubt about the quality and origin of some of their products. People that want change have to vote with their dollars too. Consumers are disregarded by right wingers like Mackey as chattel. Go to Costco. They pay their employees well, and support progressive causes, AND THEY HAVE BETTER PRICES!
If Mackey does not own Whole Foods, then let's see how this public-owned company responds to this boycott.
John does not own Whole Foods its public? Do you really think the stockholders own that company? Could they fire John for his article? If they cant fire him they dont own his company.
Well there are also local food co-ops and farmers markets not to mention TRADER JOE"S who sells NO food from China. I live with in close proxemity of all three and I never go in Whole Foods. Even before this. I don't trust them. When you have to read every lable to make sure it doesn't come from China it is just easier to go elsewhere.
How can anyone who just lost their job and has to pay for health insurance afford to shop at Whole Foods? (Even COBRA costs a fortune without the 2/3 stimulus subsidy--which Mr. Mackey most probably opposed.)
And then they say Chinese food is not not healthy!!
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