Saturday August 22, 2009, 8:49 am
At the P Street Whole Foods store in Washington, D.C., more than 15 protesters handed out leaflets informing customers of Whole Foods CEO John Mackey’s right wing stance against national health insurance, against unions, and against cracking down on corporate crime.

Mackey penned a piece in the Wall Street Journal last week arguing against national health insurance.

“I always come here to get food,” said Carol Kramer, a single payer activist who was protesting at the Washington, D.C. store. “It’s good food, so I am hurt by the boycott like others are, but it’s worth it.”

“Mackey is using his position as a representative of an organization that attracts a lot of liberals in order to move us in the wrong direction,” Kramer said. “I feel betrayed.”

Laura Jackson was in town from Virginia Beach, Virginia and joined the protest.

“It appears that Mackey is supporting the health insurance companies in furtherance of a system that is not working,” Jackson said. “There are many people suffering and many without health insurance.”

Adrienne Pine, an assistant professor of anthropology at American University, also joined the boycott of Whole Foods.

“I’m disgusted with the CEO of Whole Foods attack on his workers, attack on health care, and his attack on Americans,” Pine said.

“Single payer is the only system that will allow us to have guaranteed health care.”

Pine said that up until the Mackey’s piece in the Wall Street Journal, she had been a Whole Foods customer.

“I will not be a Whole Foods customer after this,” Pine said. “It crossed the line for me. I had heard about bad labor practices before. This editorial that John Mackey wrote crossed the line for me.”

When will she go back to Whole Foods?

“It would take a reversal of Mackey’s labor practices and his stance on health care – an apology to the American people,” Pine said.

Saturday August 22, 2009, 8:52 am
Last week, Single Payer Action called for a nationwide boycott of Whole Foods.

Why?

Because with 60 Americans dying every day from lack of health insurance, the CEO of the company, John Mackey penned a diatribe
against a single payer health insurance reform — the only health insurance reform that will both control costs and insure everyone.

Mackey took to the pages of the Wall Street Journal and insulted not only many of his customers, but many of his own employees.

The response to that call for a boycott was remarkable.

Thousands of people wrote to us and posted comments on blogs around the web saying that they had no clue that Mackey was a union busting, right winger.

And that they would join with us and boycott Whole Foods.

Today, we announce an escalation of the boycott campaign against Whole Foods.

On Friday, single payer activists will be picketing Whole Foods stores in three cities — Austin, Texas, Washington, D.C., and New York City.

We know that there is tremendous support for this boycott.

And now we want to reach the customers as they enter the stores around the country.

We know that Whole Foods allows non profit public interest groups to set up tables inside their stores around the country to allow these groups to reach Whole Foods’ liberal customer base.

Our demand: That Whole Foods allow single payer advocates to set up shop inside Whole Foods stores around the country and allow them to counter the lies and distortions of their CEO John Mackey on health care.

To let the Whole Foods customers know what the majority of doctors and nurses know.

That single payer is the only health care reform that both controls costs and covers everyone.

The first wave of pickets will take place Friday, August 21, 2009 from 12 noon to 1 p.m. (local time for each location) at:

Austin, Texas
Whole Foods
525 N Lamar Blvd
Austin, TX 78703

Austin, Texas Single Payer Action contact:
Marcus Denton
512.716.9559
mdenton0@yahoo.com

New York City
Whole Foods
Union Square
4 Union Square South
New York, NY 10003

New York City Single Payer Action contact:
Josh Starcher
718.909.6343
E-mail: joshmee_@hotmail.com

Washington, D.C.
Whole Foods
P Street
1440 P Street NW
Washington, DC 20005

Washington, D.C. Single Payer Action contact:
Russell Mokhiber
202.468.8868
e-mail: russellmokhiber@gmail.com

If you are in the New York, Austin, or Washington, D.C. areas, please contact your local Single Payer Action organizer (listed above) and join us on Friday.

If you are outside of the Austin, Washington and New York areas, and would like to start a picket of your local Whole Foods store, please contact Russell Mokhiber at russellmokhiber@gmail.com.

Saturday August 22, 2009, 9:02 am
Whole Foods Backlash & Boycott: Bloggers Outraged Over CEO's Anti-'ObamaCare' Column


Whole Foods CEO John Mackey's recent Wall Street Journal op-ed on health care which argues against President Obama's health reform proposals has caused a firestorm throughout progressive communities

Saturday August 22, 2009, 9:04 am
Here's the problem from a marketing perspective. The vast majority of WF customers lean liberal or progressive. Thus, when the CEO says something that appears to run contrary to that political leaning, it creates dissonance and possible mistrust because the WF brand is perceived to be in line with those beliefs. We often buy products and frequent certain stores because we believe they are a reflection of our values and, perhaps most importantly, we are even willing to pay more for that very reason (which explains why people pay more for a Prius). Whole Foods now has an image problem with some, perhaps many, of its base customers. Will some people continue to shop at WF? Sure -- because it's convenient or because they like their products. But others, now burned by this values disconnect, will not. The question moving forward is -- will enough of the company's base target market now choose to shop elsewhere or is this just a small ripple in a very big grocery pond? We shall see. One thing, though, is different. Bad news travels like lightning these days with blogs, Twitter, and Facebook, etc. That should make any company CEO take notice and think twice about his or her comments, regardless of their political leanings.

Saturday August 22, 2009, 11:49 am
Here is a petition via Care2.com.

Here is the Facebook groupurging a boycott. There are over 10,000 members so far.

Here is a roundup of media coverage and information on boycott actions at local Whole Foods.

Here is some interesting perspective from Matthew Yglesias on the efficacy of a boycott.

Finally, you can call or write Whole Foods Corporate Offices at:
601 North Lamar St. Suite 300
Austin, TX 78703
512-477-4455
512-477-1069 Fax

Check Whole Foods website for more addresses: http://www.wholefoods.com/company/locations/body/offices.html

Saturday August 22, 2009, 12:40 pm
When wingnut CEOs write op/ed pieces...Can Whole Foods Repair Its Image?Turns out comparing unions to herpes and raving against health care reform in The Wall Street Journal isn’t great for business, at least when your business sells granola to progressives, hippies and other Truthdig readers. Whole Foods CEO John Mackey’s efforts have earned him a boycott. Guess we’ll just have to get our gluten-free almond cookies elsewhere.

The Opinionator has a broad selection of reaction from the blogosphere. Top of its post is below. —PS

New York Times:

Of all the sideshows to the Great 2009 Health Care Debate, the Whole Foods boycott may take the prize as the most unexpected.

Last Wednesday, John Mackey, the chief executive of Whole Foods, took to the pages of The Wall Street Journal to opine that “we clearly need health care reform,” but arguing against the solutions being put forward by the administration: “The last thing our country needs is a massive new health care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health care system.”

Read more

Saturday August 22, 2009, 7:11 pm
Thi$ i$ an Information WAR! VOTE WITH YOUR WALLET$:
Oprah, Dr. Oz Sue Over 50 Businesses Over Alleged False Endorsements

Wednesday August 26, 2009, 4:11 pm
Unions Join Whole Foods Boycott Fray