The American Spectator : Whole Foods, Half a Brain

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Whole Foods, Half a Brain

By Nicole Russell on 8.25.09 @ 6:06AM

John Mackey discovers that on health care, liberals want easy answers and no debate.

As healthcare reform continues to spark debate, both intelligent and obtuse, at town hall forums and dinner tables around the country, it's also aroused those who would prefer to shut the conversation down.

In a refreshingly no-nonsense op-ed in the Wall Street Journal earlier this month, Foods CEO John Mackey poked several gaping holes in Obama's healthcare plan and made several suggestions that mimic Whole Foods' healthcare option for its employees. While Mackey may have gained added respect from Republicans unaware of his libertarian ideals, he not only lost the esteem of some Democrats, he may have lost some business too.

Roused by Mackey's pro-free-market claims, liberals cried "Boycott!" faster than they could shovel organic granola into their whiny mouths. At Whole Foods' Internet Forum, a site normally reserved for customers to "exchange recipes" and the like, a health care debate tab now appears. As of this writing, there are 11,000 posts on it. They range from the thoughtful --"Mackey actually makes some really good points" -- to the absurd --"What an embarrassment Mackey is. Plus, he's really stupid." Writes "MLad:" "Spewing right wing ideology may be good for fox news, but I suspect it's not good for whole foods. My wife and I have been regular customers for years. That's no longer the case..."

For some time, the trend to shop organic and at high-end grocery stores has been associated with liberals -- conservatives are obligated to duck into Wal-Mart. In an article on Slate a few years ago, the writer gushed Whole Foods is a "haute-crunchy supermarket chain that has made a fortune by transforming grocery shopping into a bright and shiny, progressive experience" and praised how well the company treated its employees while simultaneously supporting wind-power utilities. (In the end, the writer was critical of the company too.) So it comes as no surprise then that when Mackey turns out to operate his company in a way that would make Milton Friedman proud, liberals cry foul because they either disagree, or they don't understand market-based economics

On Facebook, several groups calling for a boycott of Whole Foods have popped up; the largest has 14,000 members. On that group's homepage, the creators comment Mackey believes "healthcare is a commodity that only the rich, like him, deserve." Not only is that a blatant distortion of Mackey's op-ed which offered detailed and effective ways to create healthcare reform, but such comments filtrating the internet cast a glimpse into the flawed thinking of postwar Democrats.

Before World War II, Americans had to not only pull themselves up by their bootstraps, but they had to purchase and replace them with their own money as well. In other words, before President Franklin Roosevelt, if a person could afford healthcare, he purchased it himself from a company that offered the best coverage at the best price. When World War II broke out, the Roosevelt administration instituted a cap on wages freezing the pay of millions of financially-strapped Americans. To attract new workers, companies started offering health insurance and other fringe benefits, a tradition that continues today.

Caps on wages are obsolete but healthcare has the employer-based health insurance system has exploded into a serious mess. Rather than try to fix it, many rank-and-file liberals insist that healthcare is a right rather than something that must be purchased through costs and trade-offs.

It is easier to call for boycotts on Whole Foods than to think about healthcare policy with more than half a brain.

topics:
Health Care, John Mackey, Whole Foods

About the Author

Nicole Russell writes from Northern Virginia.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (43) | Leave a comment

Darin| 8.25.09 @ 7:10AM

What this shows, once again, is that liberals have no interest in intelligent debate. It's their way, no highway option (love that line from The Pacifier). John Mackey provided numerous good alternatives, but because he didn't tow the party line, he had to be destroyed. Liberal definition of "tolerance" in action. Tolerance only for those who agree.

Doorgunner| 8.25.09 @ 7:39AM

Never forget the mentality we're dealing with:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Plr3.....lag+GI.JPG

Appleby| 8.25.09 @ 7:43AM

Its TOE the party line. Not tow.

And anybody who has been in a grocery store at rush hour and seen carts filled with, and trailed by, wailing, tantrum (and grocery) throwing toddlers and pushed by exhausted mothers just getting off work and toting the brats home from daycare has seen the framework of modern discourse.

CB| 8.25.09 @ 8:00AM

I have been in the wholesale/retail grocery business for 40 years and have followed Whole Foods' rise since my brother started working with Mackey when he opened his first store in Austin. He met his wife there, worked for them a number of years as did his wife. We are no big fans of Mackey, but acknowledge his savvy business sense in this ultra-competitive business.
Mackey's op-ed displayed too much common sense...something the libs have a problem with.
It's nice to see that even a left-winger like Mackey can't ignore Obama's boondoggle health care plan when it smacks him in the face....

MikeVermont| 8.25.09 @ 8:47AM

Better eating through science I say. Organic food is an overpriced waste. Kinda like wind and solar come to think of it. Surprised to see Mackey spit in the liberal mouth that feeds off him.

mt| 8.25.09 @ 8:58AM

Draft Mackey to run for Congress against
the statist Lloyd Doggett

Bram| 8.25.09 @ 9:05AM

I work near a Whole Foods - it usually has the biggest crowd of rich liberals you'll ever encounter – the parking lot looks like a BMW dealership.

I prefer to buy my veggies at the farm stands, but now I'm more likely to pop in and grab lunch there.

Flipside| 8.25.09 @ 9:14AM

Great, what a relief. No more standing in line next to unbathed, hairy armpitted, greasy haired liberal women.

WilliamR| 8.25.09 @ 9:55AM

I live next to the flagship Whole Foods in downtown Austin and it is full of all types of people. From politicians, to Sandra Bullock, but the vast majority of shoppers are well dressed upper middle class professionals. The store hasn't missed a step. I stopped in last night and the place was jam packed. People shopping the best selection of fresh fruits and veggies in town and buying their wonderful dry aged beef.

BoFL| 8.25.09 @ 10:11AM

What I find amusing is that the liberals boycotting Whole Foods are all about choice and they choose not to shop there because they don't agree with an honest, common sense opinion of the CEO, at the same time trying to deny us the same choice in healthcare and in the rest of the economy.

Doorgunner| 8.25.09 @ 10:15AM

Yes, BoFL, it does seem odd that the "Keep Your Laws Off My Body" don't understand principled objections to Obamacare.

Doorgunner| 8.25.09 @ 10:16AM

...please read 'crowd' after "... My Body"

Bubba | 8.25.09 @ 10:22AM

Liberals, like most of these former Whole Foods shoppers, are inherently insecure, which is why they always have to be the smartest ones in the room. They've bought into this notion that shopping at Whole Foods elevates them far above the great unwashed; who, by the way, they are SUPPOSED to stand up for, yet they wouldn't be caught dead at WalMart.

Raoul Ortega| 8.25.09 @ 10:52AM

I think what really bothers the boycotters is the realization that this guy running Whole Foods has make a lot of money catering to certain prejudices and insecurities. The boycotters prejudices and insecurities. Nobody likes to find out that a con is being run and they are the mark.

Paul from SA| 8.25.09 @ 11:52AM

Marc Jeric,

You're right. More people get sick and die from eating 'organically' grown food every year because they don't use chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Mostly, the growers use manure.

The food must be washed and washed and washed to get all the parasites off.

Plus it's less nutritious and less tasty.

I'm glad there is no Whole Foods where I live.

Pete| 8.25.09 @ 12:01PM

This continues to be one of the most amusing stories in recent memory. I only go to "Whole Paycheck" once a year on Valentine's Day to buy Ahi Tuna to sear for the wife - I can't stand going more often. From the parking lot filled with Saabs, BMWs and Piouses to the unwashed long-haired elitist hippies in the store, it is not a pleasant experience. But it is clear they love it and really do believe they are better than everyone else because they shop there. Meanwhile, the CEO, who by definition is a capitalist, caters to these knobs and rakes in the money. It is beautiful that these elitist liberals now have to decide between their precious organic chai and free-range chicken and the ideals they are told to have from CNN. I may have to stop by before Feb to witness the conflict and comedy despite the ludicrous prices.

William R| 8.25.09 @ 12:20PM

People don't get sick and die from eating organically grown food. Paul where do you get this BS from??

And Raoul, what con is Mackey running. I'm a native Austinite and he's been in business here since the late 70s.

wbheff| 8.25.09 @ 12:46PM

Every time I see a section of a supermarket produce department with a sign that reads "organic vegetables" I am tempted to ask a clerk where I can find the "inorganic vegetables."

Paul from SA| 8.25.09 @ 1:36PM

William R,

Please re-read my comments. I said more people get sick and die every year.... The term 'organic' is often misused and misunderstood. I mean mass growers who do not use chemical pesticides and fertilizers and often do not use genetically modified crops. Many plants absorb the bacteria in manure and it cannot be washed off. Manure is also the main source of tetanus.

In fact, most of it comes from California.

It's a true statement, not opinion. I wish I had documentation at my fingertips. At the moment, I do not, but will search.

William R| 8.25.09 @ 1:54PM

Here's your post

Paul from SA| 8.25.09 @ 11:52AM

"Marc Jeric,

You're right. More people get sick and die from eating 'organically' grown food every year because they don't use chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Mostly, the growers use manure.

The food must be washed and washed and washed to get all the parasites off.

Plus it's less nutritious and less tasty.

I'm glad there is no Whole Foods where I live."

You're statement is still false. No matter how you spin it. What people get sick from is eating stuff that has been drenched in chemical pesticides. Organic fertilizer contains dozens of ingredients. Bone meal, blood meal etc etc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F.....tilizer.29

All fertilizer whether it is organic or non-organic has some manure in it. It is full of nitrogen and replenishes soil.

Paul from SA| 8.25.09 @ 2:11PM

William R,

Which statement is false? You did not counter my reply to your statement. I did not say, "People don't get sick and die from eating organically grown food." You did.

I said "...more and more people get sick and die..." Can you not understand the difference between what I said and what you said? Did you not see the part about ‘more and more?’ It's a true statement. I will try to find sources....

Does chemical fertilizer contain e-coli and salmonella and the bacteria that causes tetanus?

Do you have any source for your statements? Sure, if you misuse pesticides, you can die.

A related subject: Do you believe DDT should still be banned? Did you not know Rachel Carson falsified most of her data? And that she and a few colleagues were using the same data, peer-reviewing each other's work, to create the false appearance of credibility and independence?

sinanju| 8.25.09 @ 2:24PM

Don't be so quick to make blanket statements about those who eat organic, take nutritional supplements, or use alternative health therapies.

The vast majority of them can be considered liberals but a strong strain of libertarianism and distrust of Big Government run strong in them. I've followed this subject intermittently over the years and their decades-long, twilight struggle with the pharmaceutical/agricultural/medical-industrial complex and its political lackeys forever trying to restrict their choices in and access to vitamins and herbs, unpasteurized milk, organic veggies, un-irradiated spices, peyote, non-traditional cancer therapies, etc., would be all too familiar to those of us trying to protect our 2nd Amendment and property rights.

Quite a few of them would be our natural allies on Health Care and other issues and we should be making an effort to introduce ourselves to them.

Nancy Oteri| 8.25.09 @ 2:36PM

I have been an inconsistent customer of Whole Foods (formerly Bread&Circus;) here in Cambridge, MA. Inconsistent because...I cannot bear most of the customers. But, I made it a point yesterday of driving to the Fresh Pond W.H. to annoy the protesters and buy some goodies. Alas, no protesters to annoy.

Most of the liberals who would boycott W.H. are the very people who cannot live without their products. I find that amusing.

William R| 8.25.09 @ 3:10PM

Paul you're spinning. You wrote people get sick and die from eating organic foods. Is said that's BS.

Paul from SA| 8.25.09 @ 3:41PM

William R| 8.25.09 @ 3:10PM
"You wrote people get sick and die from eating organic foods. Is said that's BS."

I did not say that. Re-read my comment. Or just read it right here where I pasted it for your convenience:

"More people get sick and die from eating 'organically' grown food every year because they don't use chemical fertilizers and pesticides."

Why can't you see or acknowledge that word, 'more?'

Or the others, "...every year..."

It changes the entire meaning. It's standard English.

I stand by the statement. I believe you are resorting to ignorance because you can't tolerate something you object to.

I'll say it one more time. "MORE"

It changes the entire meaning. Do you need eyeglasses or a new brain?

Even if you don't want to include that word, 'more', it's a truthful statement. People die every year from ingesting e-coli and salmonella from 'organically' grown food. Do you not remember all the food poisonings from the last few years? Spinach? Cauliflower? Cabbage?

It's not the organic food that is causing people to die; it's the bacteria and parasites. My gosh, go to your room!

Big Al| 8.25.09 @ 4:04PM

I can't stand smelly hippy liberals either. I'll make a point of spending some cash in Wholefoods to support their CEO - why should anyone have a right to healthcare! I would love to get into an argument with some liberal boycotter - go Palin! After a few weeks I'll be back in Walmart though. How else can I afford to keep myself weighing 400 pounds - they even sell some non-Chinese items such as their ammo! I don't like all Mackey's ideas though. Keep the health system as it is. People outside the USA all have third world healthcare. I can treat my body how I like as long as I pay insurance. Sick people who have no insurance but live healthly lifestyles - tough - get a job! Haha

Mindless consumer| 8.25.09 @ 5:00PM

“More people get sick and die from eating 'organically' grown food every year” means that at least two people a year die from eating organic food. If this isn't what you meant, try a different wording.

William R| 8.25.09 @ 5:27PM

Paul and that's simply not true. You just pulled it out of thin air.

JS| 8.25.09 @ 6:11PM

Paul and William:

I can't document if "organic" produce is safer or more dangerous. However, as a farmer, I can tell you if you wan't to buy food that is produced inefficiently, of lesser quality, and treated with dangerous pesticides (many of which conventional growers quit using many years ago because of their toxicity) by all means purchase "organic"!

Richard Baker| 8.25.09 @ 6:19PM

If Mackey wants to provide his employees the health plan that I've read of I say more power to him! His choices remind me of Milton Hershey in Pennsylvania and Tom Watson, Senior at IBM taking care of their workforces years ago in their own ways. How utterly American Mackey appears to me. Good for him.
To the food whiners: Life is Terminal. Nobody gets out alive. Shuuut up!

jd| 8.25.09 @ 7:48PM

Paul SA,

I understood what you meant, and I agree. From my personal experience of eating spinach from an "organic" natural foods store and having a near death experience, the only thing I remember is my doctor telling me not necessarily equate natural with goodness. It is not always the best alternative, esp. since pesticides and fertilizers do provide an effective deterrent to harmful bacteria.

I don't think your opponent in your verbal war wants to believe that maybe buying all that organic food is really as good as the environmentalists want you to believe.

And my research on DDT has lead me to believe that millions of people, mainly in Africa, died needlessly since the '70s because the leftists overstated the dangers of a product that actually was safe.

I'll stop by a Whole Foods just to show my support of its CEO. But I think I'll stick to buying some "organic" soap or something that I don't have to ingest.

jd| 8.25.09 @ 7:52PM

Just want to add to my previous post that millions died FROM MALARIA, mainly in Africa, as a result of DDT being banned. Just want to clarify before somebody attacks me for my omission.

William R| 8.25.09 @ 8:41PM

And Js as someone who grew up on a farm all I can is, you don't know what you're talking about!

William R| 8.25.09 @ 8:57PM

Fumes from rotting seaweed on France's northern beaches could kill

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/t.....740746.ece

mkmk| 8.25.09 @ 10:53PM

After reading all of these comments, I can only say that the far left AND the far right are so smug in their own battles that the majority of middle Americans are screwed. Keep up the good work in your own personal battles folks - it sure does keep the real problem solving at bay!

Osamas Pajamas| 8.25.09 @ 11:54PM

Speaking of "boycotts," suppose that the privately-employed taxpayers of American decide to boycott the Democrat party --- by not paying any taxes to them. That'd give this bunch of bloodsuckers tight jaws, wouldn't it? No wonder they want to disarm the privately-employed taxpayers of America....

kj| 8.25.09 @ 11:56PM

Whole Foods has built a beautiful business model but I find myself scratching my head as to why I would want to shop in a store that OVERCHARGES for Fruit, Vegetables, Meat & Dairy Products and then hustle through the aisles and stand in line with hippies that don't bathe and look like they are still living in the 70's. Why would I want to waste my money on a product that is "Organic" (95% Organic) when I can go to a local farmstand or a corner grocery store and use my coupons...I will take that to the bank anyday. You hippies can have your ridiculous Whole Foods and then you whine because you can't make your car payments or because your house got repossesed!! You eat organic and then smoke Weed followed by a few bottles of Vodka...real healthy!!!

Osamas Pajamas| 8.26.09 @ 12:04AM

DDT. My folks fought in North Africa, Sicily and Italy in WWII. They sprinkled DDT on their bodies, clothers, sleeping bags, and domiciles, mostly tent floors and areas. Locals lined up to get sprayed with DDT, to kill their infestations, as war tends to radically disrupt personal; sanitation while you are dodging bullets and bombs and totalitarians and looking for anything to eat. So Mom was 6 years older than Dad [war marriage] and died at the age of 86 some years ago, and Dad is 87 and cutting down trees with a chainsaw where the trees on his south 40 drowned in a flood. Looks like the DDT really did a job on them, huh? And ever since Uncle Sam banned DDT, millions of Africans have died in the genocide perpetrated by ecofreaks and enviromaniacs. Oh by the way, the planet is not overpopulated, it's just underproductive, meaning that the other ideas of the Democrats are having their usual deleterious effects.

Terry Suominen| 8.26.09 @ 1:01PM

Mike and Terry on Patriot Express Radio feel that Mr. Mackey is a Patriot of America.

He had envisioned a company, worked to see that his plan is put into action and then by gods grace employee people to work at his stores. Capitalism at its finest.

Now, because he writes an op-ed that he believes would change the health care system for the betterment of our country and which is totally against the lobbyists, special interest, and the White House those very people want to boycott the store.

He pays the total cost of health care for 89% of the employees. We believe with that fact alone it is worth listening to him.

So on merit alone we advocate every American who has ever had a vision for their future and livelihood, go to the Whole Food stores and buy any item that you feel will be of use to you. Buy a cart full of items if you like what you see in the store regardless of ideology.

After Mike suggested this on the Patriot Express Radio Show we left to go our separate ways, he to the Whole Foods on his side of town, me to mine on my side of town.

That my friend happens to be the American way of doing things in this country. Do not let liberal bias stand in your way of keeping those employees with health care on the payroll of the Whole Foods chain. Might I remind you they are working when we have unemployment reaching 16% in some parts of this country.

JS| 8.26.09 @ 5:33PM

William you are uninformed. The only practical way to feritlize agricultural ground under ceritfied "organic" regulations is various forms of manure. Nitrogen deficiency is the most common reason for applying fertilizer. Most manure nitrogen sources are relatively low in nitrogen, but very high in phosphorus. Phosporus is much more likely to migrate off the farm than nitrogen, and it is very problematic as it is the cause of most water quality problems (aglae blooms etc.).

As far as pesticides, pyrethroids are a botanically derived pesticide class that are commonly used in organic production. They are broad spectrum, and are poisenous to humans. Unlike, for example, DDT that has very low mammalian toxicity.

Mackey has done a superb job of marketing to his customer bases' fears and prejudices. More power to him for capitilizing on an uniformed, dogmatically ignorant section of the public!

JS| 8.26.09 @ 5:38PM

I failed to mention that blood meal and bone meal are relatively high in phosphorus as well. Pelletized versions of various organic fertilizers are better products, but they still have the basic problems I described above and are prohibitively expensive in most cases.

Richard Baker| 8.26.09 @ 9:55PM

mkmk:
As for the conservatives, we're interested in saving our Liberty and Freedom from such as Obama and Kennedy. Only in America do we engage in the game of destruction of same. Do speak to those who've gotten out of Red China and who used to live in the old Soviet block and escaped. Listen to those who've lived your fantasies. Liberal folly is engaging in that game of destruction as if it won't affect them.

kerry| 9.13.09 @ 7:03PM

I'm not sure I understand why conservatives (like Rush) make fun of those of us who try and buy organic foods??? I am a big fan of dairy products without hormones and meat without antibiotics, etc. Our forefathers didn't eat all the crap we have in food today. Plus, I like to support small farms, etc. I don't understand why you can't be conservative and also want to be healthy and support good farming practices....maybe it is generational, I don't know!