Whole Foods CEO Slams Health Reform, Angering Liberal Pro-Reform Whole Foods Customers

[ProSense]

Whole Foods CEO Slams Health Reform, Angering Liberal Pro-Reform Whole Foods Customers

By Brian Beutler

Here's a thought: If you own a major supermarket chain that caters to a great deal of liberal-minded people with money, don't rail against the evils of health care reform in the Wall Street Journal.

Unfortunately, that advice comes a few hours too late for Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, who did just that.

As a result of this misguided effort, it seems, his company's website has been fielding angry comments all afternoon, and has had to set up an online forum where customers can vent their frustrations, and, oh, call for a boycott!

Not seeing the "good for business" angle here.

[Windy]

1. I will never shop there again... and I was a weekly customer... nt

[jasi2006]

55. I intended to shop there today. Never again!

I'll just look harder for other alternatives. Thanks for posting this!

[jasi2006]

57. The RW crazies will find out what REAL PROTEST is like.

And so will those in business who support thier kind of bitter and vile behaviors. We will boycott, we will VOTE!!! Whole Foods has got to know that their customer is not made up of the folks you see howling at the townhall meetings. We need to get Rachel to get us a list of the corporations and small businesses who are supported by the folks who have funded and masterminded this attack on healthcare reform. The tenticles run deep and wide. We need to know.

[CakeGrrl]

2. Someone's a little out of touch with their target market. n/t

[Howardx]

3. no shit

what a dumbass

[crim son]

4. It's rather astonishing, isn't it? n/t

[polichick]

5. I've always known that Mackey was pretty far from me politically...

...but this latest move will certainly make me think twice about shopping at Whole Foods, even though I really like the stores.

[PhilosopherKing]

41. Boycott Whole Foods

If he sees his revenue go down as a result of his comments, maybe he'll think twice about his stance on the issue. Maybe not. Stick it to him anyways and boycott!

[Stuart G]

6. Just remember..stupid is still stupid. And

I will never shop there ..ever...

[DevonRex]

7. Whole Foods is a 5-minute walk from my house. I haven't shopped

there since reading some of Mackey's RW opinions a couple of years ago. He claims to be libertarian, but that is just bullshit.

Plus, 3 years ago I got some bulk brown rice there. I left on vacation for a week. When I came back, the bag, which was still twist tied, had worms or something creepy crawly in it.

So, if you want to support RW assholes and eat worms, shop at Whole Foods.

[hlthe2b]

9. I used to love to walk there (often with my dog) and shopped

frequently. No more... I have forwarded this info to 32 of my closest friends/colleagues, who I know shop at WF. I am going to ask that we pledge to shop (car pool as necessary) to the more distant Sunflower Markets and the local Farmer's Market while it remains in season.

I'll miss my local store and hate to hurt the people that work there, but this stance on the part of the CEO and his related actions are beyond
redemption.

Be sure and email/write them your intentions.




Unbelievably stupid...

[DevonRex]

10. I will do the same thing. Thank you for spurring me into action.

This is just intolerable. He must really be further to the right than we even know, since he obviously doesn't care about losing his clientele. I guess he's made so much money off of liberals that he doesn't need any more. Well, fine. I'll make sure that my friends know about this, too. Let's stick it to him where it hurts, eh?

[CrispyQ]

18. Don't forget Vitamin Cottage - it's a privately owned Colorado company.

And their prices beat King's.

I'm fortunate to have many options other than WF.

[hlthe2b]

20. Yes... I will have to shop them more as well...

thanks

[DevonRex]

43. That is where I do a lot of shopping now. I have to cross a busy

intersection to get there so it's not as much fun to walk to, but there prices are much better and I've never found worms in their bulk rice and stuff.

[Robb]

33. Mrs. Robb will be VERY disappointed.

She maintains there is no better beef or chicken to be had. It's the only thing we buy there, our little splurge from time to time.

Ah, well. Back to hitting up organic ranchers and my friends who hunt, I guess. Not sure where we'll find chicken.

[Hieronymus]

50. I stopped after having bought "Manna bread" several times to find it

either molded or dried out inside. I called the manufacturer {in Canada} and found that they date the product, but Whole Foods apparently removes the "date" and keeps it frozen for long periods.

[graywarrior]

8. What a dichotomy Whole Foods is.

The store sells anti war and anti establishement music at their check out and hires granolas to work there, but yet they are against everything they portray themselves to be.

[blm]

11. which means they are likely also willing to TARGET those they determine to be liberal

if and when a form of uncivil war is started by the RW crazies.

[graywarrior]

12. Wonder what would happen if a union tried to get into WF's.

[Hamlette]

39. Whole Food is VERY anti union, fires people if they talk about it

far worse than Wal Mart. That's when I stopped going there. I'm working on hubby and even though he shops there, I refuse to eat anything he buys there.

[Iris]

34. A few years ago, I got a blast of local right wing radio coming from behind the dairy section.

I've been suspicious ever since! ;)

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

37. Yes, it's shocking to me. I would have never guessed that the CEO was a winger...

All the Whole Foods I know are situated in very progressive neighborhoods. How dumb can one be?!?!!?!

[CrispyQ]

47. That is a very good summation of WF.

I worked there for a short while. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. I worked in one of the regional offices. It was one of the few places I've worked where workers either really, really loved working for WF or they really, really hated it. There was a fair amount of turnaround among office workers.

[whopis01]

48. It really isn't a dichotomy at all.

Whole Foods is a business that is interested in one thing - profit. Their marketing people decided that portraying themselves as a progressive company would secure a certain market share. They are about image and what can sell a product and nothing else. But at least they are consistent with that.

[Blue_Tires]

76. +1

[PopSixSquish]

13. I Went to Trader Joe's Tonight and Will Be Shopping There from Now on

I also joined a local organic vegetable co-op so I'm covered...

Do the words "hoisted on one's own petard" mean anything to you John?

[Hieronymus]

51. Trader Joe's is great, and apparently fair to their employees.

[MasonJar]

14. Maybe Whole Foods needs a new CEO.

[autorank]

15. You're seeing the "moran" angle k*r

What a total idiot. Does he know who his customers are? Does he care if they shop at his nicely priced store?

The real question is how strong is the board of directors? This intemperance is firing material. But don't expect
much. He probably picked a majority of them.

[noiretextatique]

16. i stopped shopping at Whole Lotta Dollars a while ago

there are other places to get healthy food in my area that don't require my entire paycheck.

[emsimon33]

17. I will never shop at WF again and have urged everyone I know to do the same!

If the CEO caters to trailer trash and nut jobs, then let them be his customers--er...I forgot...they can't afford to shop there! Oops!

[Honeycombe8]

19. I don't shop there, anyway. Could be Whole Foods is against reform because they

have a special way of dealing with health care. But I don't know why they'd be against others have a "special way" to handle their health care costs.

[noamnety]

40. They have great health care for their employees

Not to excuse his comments, which were stunningly ignorant. But the one thing I'll say for him is that he does provide 100% coverage to his employees - they don't have to pay premiums at all, so it's actually better than the federal employees health insurance that I'm currently under. And the benefits extend to civil unions. So he's at least not a hypocrite - and that is partly why their prices are so high.

The issue is that most companies can't afford to do that and stay competitive, his corporate policies don't help the unemployed, his policies don't help people who have preexisting conditions or have care denied.

[girl gone mad]

63. I thought WF employees only had catastrophic coverage?

Plus they are given a small amount to cover basic care (<$2000). Isn't this what his editorial was pushing for?

The employees pay for all doctor visits and prescriptions, etc. using the money WF puts into their medical savings account. If they go over that amount, they have to pay out of pocket. He thinks that if people are forced to shop around, health care costs will become more competitive. Of course, this ignores some basic realities such as first-time visit charges and the fact that no one can shop around when they have the flu or strep throat, etc.

This program is probably great if you are young and healthy and spend less than $2K a year on health care.

[noamnety]

67. I think it's more than catastrophic

(but admittedly I won't know for sure until the first time my daughter tries to use it.)

I suspect the health care is good - because there's a very critical article of WH from slate from a couple years ago, definitely not a fluff piece, but even there they are praising the health care benefits:

"under the umbrella creed of "sustainability," Whole Foods pays its workers a solid living wage—its lowest earners average $13.15 an hour—with excellent benefits and health care. No executive makes more than 14 times the employee average."

http://www.slate.com/id/2138176/

Going back to info from his infamous editorial: "Our team members therefore spend their own health-care dollars until the annual deductible is covered (about $2,500) and the insurance plan kicks in."

If I'm understanding that right, (Big IF) they have an annual deductible of 2500. I think my family deductible under the Fed Employees blue cross blue shield is 1200 per person, 2000 per family. So theirs is worse, but they get an account from WF to cover some portion of that deductible, making it comparable to what I have. If you have an illness (aren't young and healthy), it sounds like you have the account to cover up to the first 1800 of your deductible (less if you're a newer employee), then a gap of 700 dollars that you need to cover, then the full insurance program kicks in. So on that part, I think it's better than a lot of programs, and not a bad deal at all. A 700 uncovered gap is better than my 1200 gap before I meet my deductible.

But I agree that it ignores basic realities - you're right that people can't just "shop around" when they are having a medical crisis, and also when insurance is covered by an employer the patients don't really have the right to shop around at all, because the CEO makes decisions based on cost and the employees are limited by the participating physicians in that plan. Shopping around only works (if it works at all) when the person making the decision is also the one who is or isn't satisfied with the services - and if they have the direct ability to change if they are unsatisfied.

Mainly, what works in a company where the CEO voluntarily limits his salary to 14 times the employee average isn't going to work the same in a company where the CEO makes 100 times the average salary. Many CEOs are driven by pure personal greed - including CEOs of insurance companies. He makes no allowances for that in his idealistic model.

[depakid]

75. his editorial was basically pushing the Enzi bill, i.e. junk insurance

with all state coverage mandates federally preempted.

"Free" market fundamentalist stuff.

One of the only successful filibusters the Dems every mustered against Bush Co. (with the usual Dem suspects defecting).

Ironically, had it passed and ruined so many people's insurance- it would have been LOT easier to get meaningful health care reformed passed today.

[Drunken Irishman]

21. Fuck them whole...

:D

[burning rain]

22. Look for the prick to spaz out over EFCA when that comes up, too.

No doubt he'll wibble on about how he's concerned it might hurt his workers. I love his explanation that he's worried about Whole Foods' ability to provide insurance for its workers. When a CEO claims to be concerned about his workers, he's not concerned about his workers, but rather his precious fucking profits.

[jesus_of_suburbia]

23. I don't have one in TN, but I will be telling my Atlanta friends about this.

I shop at EarthFare.

I would shop at Whole Foods too if they were in TN (which I bet they will be eventually).



I WON'T ANYMORE.

I'll stick with EarthFare.

[Touchdown]

24. There's one down the street from me in Cherry Creek.

went there 4 times before I fund out he was an anti-union asshole and never went back.

Safeway has quite a bit of organic/free range foods now (mixed in with the rest) and they're cheaper than WTF anyhow. Safeway and King Soopers are also union.

[hlthe2b]

27. Yup... and you can hit the Sunflower Market on S. Colorado

and the Vitamin Cottage on Leetsdale to get whatever you can't get at Safeway... There were only a few things I bought at WF... These I will live without.

[DevonRex]

45. I'm going to try the Sunflower Market down here on County Line in Littleton.

At least for meats. Most other stuff I can get at Vitamin Cottage and it's close enough to walk to. For Sunflower I'll have to drive. OTOH I can combine that with trips other places like the nursery near there for my gardening stuff.

[intheflow]

62. Sunflower Market is also good in Denver.

There's one near I-25 and Yale, straight shot south down Colorado Blvd. from the Cherry Creek area, about 4 or 5 miles. Way cheaper fruits and veggies than either King Soopers or Safeway, very nice selection of organics.

[Doremus]

25. Email sent. Arrogant bastard has seen the last of my money. nt

[saltpoint]

26. It does seem to be a completely tone-deaf move by Mackey.

Who does he think shops at his stores in the first place?

A fool. A tool.

[Cha]

28. What could he have possibly

had to say about bad about Health Insurance Reform?

[firedupdem]

29. I was happy to pass this info to my in laws...they spend loads

of money at that store. He just lost good customers.

[saltpoint]

30. I hope many people registered on this site will take the time

to email Mr. Mackey and express their opinion of his comments against health care reform.

[e-mail]

[TheKentuckian]

31. What a tone deaf jackass

[donco6]

32. I'll never set foot in one again.

And I used to shop there regularly. What an idiot.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

35. This guy is an idiot! A complete and utter MORAN!!! I live in Silver Spring-Takoma Park, MD

...one of the most liberal, progressive areas in the entire country. We all shop at Whole Foods, which is at the center of the town. Can't wait to see the political activism that is sure to be taking place this weekend!

[Hello_Kitty]

58. Boycott that mother! Shop at Costco instead.

They have locations in Gaithersburg and Beltsville. Little more of a drive but worth it. They pay their employees well and donate 100% to Dems. Their CEO voluntarily takes the lowest salary of anyone in a similar position.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

60. There's also a Trader Joes that is not too far from the town center...

I'll be shopping there as well...

Oh, and there's a Takoma Park-Silver Spring Co-Op. It's expensive but worth the drive...

[Hello_Kitty]

61. Ah...

I grew up in SS. I miss it. :)

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

77. Donna Edwards kicked holy ass the other day at her town hall meeting...

of course she had a friendly crowd, though.

[Hello_Kitty]

79. I'm sure.

When I left there in 1987 Steny Hoyer was the Rep., which tells you how long he's been around.

[Iris]

36. Wasn't he the one who did that questionable fake blogging when WF was trying to acquire Wild Oats?

[hileeopnyn8d]

52. Yes that was him

See post 42.

He's a douchebag who credits his libertarian awakening to employees complaining about low wages & customers complaining about high prices. That, he says prompted him to read and become a follower of Friedman, Mises, Hayek and Ayn Rand.

[donheld]

38. Nothing like biting the hand that feeds you.

[cascadiance]

42. This isn't the first time for Mackey. He's been doing some stupid/bad things earlier too...

Like pumping up the value of Whole Foods Stock anonymously online in different places, and trying to get proprietary data through the courts and the FTC during Bushco years of a competitor to show that he had competitors when they bought out Wild Oats (as stupid as that sounds).

Read more here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6303740

[HopeOverFear]

44. *points and laughs at the Whole Foods CEO*

he's stupid....hehehehehhe

[ProSense]

46. Whole Foods Boycott Gaining Supporters and MSM Attention

Whole Foods Boycott Gaining Supporters and MSM Attention :

Here is some of the media coverage so far:

1. ABCnews.com ran a front page story called Health Care Stirs Up Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, Customers Boycott Organic Grocery Store.
   
   
2. The LA Times ran an opinion piece called Whole Foods is in a whole lot of trouble.
   
   
3. A Chicago Tribune blog ran an item called Whole Fooey, Part II.
   
   
4. <...>

[BREMPRO]

49. time for the board and his customers to kick him to the curb and take away his health care benifits!

[robertpaulsen]

53. K & R!

:kick:

[Saphire]

54. Coffee is the only thing I bought there, so I guess they will have to

make do without my little $20.00 a month.

[Hello_Kitty]

56. Fuck Whole Paycheck. Way overpriced anyway. eom

[Beaverhausen]

59. I'm so glad I found another store that carries the hair color I used to buy at WF

I will gladly never shop there again.

[mod mom]

64. Ill find a new source for our organic wine and marinated garlic!

[ProSense]

65. Alert, damage control

here

[WinkyDink]

66. You don't have to be a Liberal to over-charge them.

[TeamJordan23]

68. Trader Joes & Henrys > Whole Foods. nm

[polichick]

71. What's Henrys? nt

[ProSense]

69. Costco CEO supports UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE!

Costco CEO supports UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE!

[polichick]

70. At least I agree with him about eating right for prevention. nt

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

72. Won't shop there again.

Shouldn't be too hard since there's none in my neighborhood.:patriot:

[DuaneBidoux]

73. Damn, I'll miss you. "all done"

[marshall]

74. One more notch on Wal Mart's belt

I think one day there will be nowhere else to shop other than Wal Mart.

[tabasco]

78. Nice of Whole Foods to find an idiot for a CEO.

Another business run into the ground by an idiot puke.

[Sannum]

80. This is what is called "crapping his bed"

Know your customer base...

[CitizenLeft]

81. Damn! I pass one every day and kept meaning to shop there...

...and check it out. I always figured it was more expensive, so I never stopped in. Oh well.

[BobReeder]

82. We should thank Mackey for his great health care suggestions

Why can't you liberals try just a little bit of objectivity? Many of you are just blindly dogmatic. Don't you think at least some of Mackey's 8 suggestions have any merit? Have you even read his article? I think every one of his 8 suggestions would do a lot of good, and I will now go out of my way to shop at Whole Foods to help offset any boycotters.

[StopTheNeoCons]

85. good, get in there with the rich hippies and have a ball....nt

[Kievan Rus]

83. A very good friend of mine....

swears by Whole Foods. I had planned on buying her a Whole Foods gift card for her birthday. Not anymore.

[NewMoonTherian]

84. Certainly can't tell there's a boycott going on.

At least in Tulsa anyway. I went yesterday and barely managed to find a parking spot, and this in the part of town perhaps most associated with political progressives.

[Cal Carpenter]

86. This guy's been an anti-union right wing prick

all along. Why is this surprising to people?

Is the marketing really that effective?

[NJGeek]

87. F**K whole foods - trader joes FTW

[BeyondGeography]

88. Fucking rip-off artists anyway

Whole Foods wants your whole wallet.