Published on Thursday, August 27, 2009 by The Valley Advocate (Massachusetts)
Whole Foods Boycott Grows
CEO, John Mackey, Shoots Himself in the Birkenstock
by Maureen Turner
The Western Mass. Single Payer Network and Western Mass. Jobs with
Justice have thrown their support behind a national boycott of Whole
Foods.
The boycott was sparked by a recent op-ed piece in the Wall Street
Journal by Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, which sounds a very different
note from the supermarket chain's earthy-crunchy image. In the
piece-headlined the "The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare"-the
libertarian Mackey argues against increasing government's role in the
healthcare system. In the column-which begins with a quote from
Margaret Thatcher-Mackey writes that, while he agrees that the
healthcare system needs reform, "the last thing our country needs is a
massive health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions
of dollars of new unfunded deficit and move us much closer to a
government takeover of our health-care system."
Instead, Mackey calls for a reform driven by "more individual
empowerment." Among his suggestions: the repeal of government mandates
on what insurers must cover ("What is insured and what is not insured
should be determined by individual customer preferences and not
through special-interest lobbying."); tort reform to curtail "ruinous
lawsuits" that drive up doctors' malpractice insurance rates; and an
unspecified reform of the Medicare system "that creates greater
patient empowerment, choice and responsibility."
"[W]hile all of us empathize with those who are sick," Mackey goes on,
access to healthcare should not be a guaranteed right, but rather
should be "provided through voluntary and mutually beneficial market
exchanges." And-echoing the hecklers who've dominated town-hall
meetings around the country in recent weeks-he claims that "All
countries with socialized medicine ration health care by forcing their
citizens to wait in lines to receive scarce treatments....
"Rather than increase government spending and control, we need to
address the root causes of poor health," Mackey writes. "This begins
with the realization that every American adult is responsible for his
or her own health."
Many of Americans' health problems are "self-inflicted," he writes,
and could be prevented by diet, exercise and "other healthy lifestyle
choices" (including, presumably, buying the natural and organic
products on the shelves of his supermarket chain). Nowhere in his
paean to responsible behavior does Mackey mention any degree of
corporate responsibility for public health-the industries that pump
pollutants into the air and waterways, say, or makers of unhealthy
food who spend billions to market their crap to kids.
Mackey was already the nemesis of organized labor and other
progressives before his op-ed ran. The CEO also opposes the Employee
Free Choice Act, and in April, Mother Jones magazine (available for
purchase, by the way, at the checkout racks at Whole Foods) reported
that it had obtained an internal company document that named remaining
"100 percent union-free" as a key corporate goal.
Cathy Cochran-Lewis, a spokeswoman for the company, sent the Advocate
this statement: "While Whole Foods Market has no official companywide
position on the healthcare reform issue, we would not want our very
successful and sustainable healthcare coverage to be jeopardized. Our
CEO submitted an opinion piece last week with the intention of
expressing his own viewpoints and providing constructive ideas to
support reform, as President Obama invited America to do.
"We have heard from individuals who both agree and disagree with
John's ideas as there are many opinions and emotions surrounding the
ongoing healthcare reform issue, including lots of differing views
here inside of Whole Foods Market," the statement went on. "We
appreciate those diverse perspectives but it is unfortunate there is
misinformation and confusion out there to cloud John's good
intentions.... One single opinion piece is far from the sum total of
what Whole Foods Market has been known to offer for the past 30 years.
Our customers can be assured that our primary focus is to continue to
serve our valued shoppers, to ensure a great work environment for our
Team Members, and to support our communities and our planet as a
whole."
Jobs with Justice and the Single Payer Network point out that there
are other local food stores that support their communities, including
Stop and Shop, which is unionized, and Northampton's River Valley
Market co-op. (And, for the next couple of months at least, the Valley
is filled with farmers' markets and farm stands, where the community
can directly support local food producers.) The activists also plan a
boycott action at the Hadley Whole Foods sometime next month.
Copyright © 2009 by The Valley Advocate
Article printed from www.CommonDreams.org
URL to article: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/08/27-5
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