Whole Foods

[beac]

I've hesitated to bring up the Whole Foods boycott (begun as a result of their CEO's op-ed on health care), but now it seems he's a climate change denier too:

One of the books on the list was “Heaven and Earth: Global Warming—the Missing Science,” a skeptical take on climate change. Mackey told me that he agrees with the book’s assertion that, as he put it, “no scientific consensus exists” regarding the causes of climate change; he added, with a candor you could call bold or reckless, that it would be a pity to allow “hysteria about global warming” to cause us “to raise taxes and increase regulation, and in turn lower our standard of living and lead to an increase in poverty.” One would imagine that, on this score, many of his customers, to say nothing of most climate scientists, might disagree. He also said, “Historically, prosperity tends to correlate to warmer temperatures.”


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7392308&mesg_id=7392308

If you weren't boycotting before, does this change your mind at all?


And yes, I realize one man isn't the whole corporation, but he continues to use his position as the head of the company to spew his right-wing rhetoric and they continue to let him do so. That, coupled with WF's often shady business practices, makes me unable to square shopping there.

Whole Foods has taken over (and ruined, IMO) many smaller natural food businesses and I can't help feeling that if WF was to go out of business, many smaller BETTER companies would be able to take its place.

[The empressof all]

1. I wanted to like Whole Foods when they first came to my state

I loved the fresh cooked food bars and the gelato and pastry....OMG... :wow:

I admit to having shopped there a total of three times. They were over priced and the quality of their produce was no better than I can get in my "local" market or the farm stands. We're lucky to have PCC here in WA http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/ What I can't get in my store down the street I now get at the co-op. It's silly to pay more.

[Warpy]

2. I don't go there at all and I go to the co op infrequenlty

because a Sunflower Market opened up closer than either of them and seems to combine the best of both with the lower prices of the co-op.

I doubt if their corporate offices are much to brag about, either, but at least they keep their mouths shut about it.

[fizzgig]

8. i like sunflower

they've got great bulk and produce and are rather inexpensive. i need to shop there more often, but i'm never on that side of town.

[kentauros]

3. Not everything they sell costs more than other stores.

For instance, much of the stuff in the frozen section either can't be found at any other store, or it's actually cheaper and of a better quality because they go through it faster. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten something like Soy Delicious at a local Kroger's that was pitiful for how long it had likely been on the shelf. Plus, it cost at least a dollar or two more than at WF. However, Whole Foods isn't open at 1am, either.

Now, I'd gladly shop at HEB's Central Market if it was closer, and I didn't have to put up with the rudest customers you are ever likely to meet on the face of the planet! Then again, it's located in one of the wealthiest parts of Houston, so maybe they just can't help it. I guess if I go in with an mp3 player and sunglasses on I won't have to notice them as much and maybe even blend in :P

[hippywife]

4. Yeah, he's an ass, that's for sure.

But all the folks that work at my WF are really nice and very helpful. I can get things there that I can't get anywhere else, and my list of organic musts can only be found there. My meat and other things I get through my monthly coop order and some things at another local grocer, but there are things that I have to go to WF for.

I try to separate his assiness from my needs and the kids that work there.

[beac]

6. LOL, hippywife--- "assiness" just might be my new favorite word!

:)

[hippywife]

7. I was having a

and couldn't come up with the word I really wanted so just went with what fell out. :rofl:

[NashVegas]

5. It's Pointless For Me to Boycott WF

Wild Oats killed our ground-breaking organic grocer when they bought it, constructed a new store in a more expensive zip code and then sold the old building in the mixed income, mixed ethnicity part of town.

I shop at WF when I need to, and other smaller locals and farmers' markets when I need to.

[Vinca]

9. I feel so fortunate we have a small, consumer-owned,

natural foods co-op available. There isn't a WF within driving distance as far as I know.