Time to keep that Whole Paycheck from Whole Fools?
Whole Foods Market Inc. CEO John Mackey’s op-ed in The Wall Street Journal has ignited a movement, it seems. In the last several hours e-mails calling for a boycott of the high-priced retail food chain have been flooding in from ChicagolandforObama’s listserv. Also, a lot of Twitter users are calling for a boycott, I see. Could it be that progressives are finally realizing it’s time to mobilize again?
The offending language that ticked off some progressives was Mackey’s dismissal of American’s basic right to adequate health care. He wrote, “A careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter. That’s because there isn’t any. This ‘right’ has never existed in America.”
Mackey also blamed Americans for their health problems, saying a lot of ills are “self-inflicted” and could be prevented through “proper diet and exercise.” The kind of diet based on the food one can buy at Whole Fools, I suppose?
One eager boycotter sent said in an e-mail, “I spend easily $1000 a month in Whole Foods……Trader Joe’s for me too! BTW, do we know if Trader Joe’s supports healthcare reform before we initiate an exodus to a company that has similar leanings? Has anyone researched to confirm Trader Joe’s is the right alternative?”
That’s a great question to ask of every retailer that gets our hard-to-come-by dollars these days.
ABC News online is also reporting that Whole Fools shoppers from New York to California are threatening to boycott the grocer. One commenter on the Whole Foods forum wrote: “You should know who butters your hearth-baked bread, John. Last time I checked it wasn’t the insurance industry conservatives who made you a millionaire a hundred times over.”
