The Yes Men screen their film "The Yes Men Fix the World" and their audience goes to Whole Foods to protest Macky's opposition to the Public Option.The Yes Men screen their film "The Yes Men Fix the World" and their audience goes to... more
After last night's showing of the new Yes Men film, a crowd of moviegoers stormed over to the Whole Foods on Houston Street and staged their own protest against corporations and Whole Foods CEO John Mackey.
Check out the photos below of the typical Yes Men-tinged mayhem:After last night's showing of the new Yes Men film, a crowd of moviegoers stormed over... more
Over the bridge in Oakland, there was a sneak demonstration at the local Whole Foods, complete with brass band and superb dancing. Art in Action!!! It's on film and veeeerrrrry entertaining! The police were scratching their heads over what to do.
In case you're not keeping up like some of us are, Whole Foods' CEO, John Mackey, recently penned an op-ed in the WSJ in which he opined that, because he is able to provide private health insurance benefits for his (mostly young and w/o pre-existing conditions, like arthritis or CAD or osteoporosis) workforce, he is opposed to health-care reform that would make health-care a "right" in America.
He even (surprisingly) went so far as to call it "ObamaCare," right in line with the nut-jobs who don't want our government to mess with their MediCare.
Just chalk Mackey up as yet another good citizen who strongly feels that since the system's working for him, there's no need to change it.
After watching the video, take a moment to email our two Senators.I got this email from a contact:
Over the bridge in Oakland, there was a sneak... more
As the Whole Foods Boycott on Facebook continues to swell — the group now has over 27,000 members — we’re finding out that CEO John Mackey’s statements in The Wall Street Journal are affecting more than just angry Facebookers, but consumers in general.As the Whole Foods Boycott on Facebook continues to swell — the group now has over... more
Whole Foods' rotten core: Whole Foods organic food-loving customers are right to feel bruised by its founder's opposition to healthcare reform
Whole Foods CEO John Mackey wrote a thunderous comment piece in which he derided the public option, Barack Obama's biggest campaign promise to progressives, and put forward a stridently conservative view of healthcare for America.
Does Mackey know who his customer base is? Did he really not foresee the backlash that has ensued – the howls across the blogosphere and Twitter, the Facebook petition to boycott Whole Foods?
Pundits argue that Mackey hasn't gotten a fair shake. He sells food after all, not health insurance. He's a successful businessman who has wisdom to share. But Whole Foods is more than a supermarket. From the cooking classes and wine tastings to the monthly event calendar on the wall, Whole Foods aims to be a way of life.
The brand Mackey created caters to a specific clientele. Customers are greeted with signage boasting of local farmers and grass-fed cattle. Whole Foods touts announcements of Green Prom projects and 100-best-companies-to-work-for accolades. The reusable shopping bags and shelves filled with yoga mats and all-natural beeswax lip balm aim to capture the same folks clicking "donate" on the MoveOn fundraising appeals.
These are the same people who pay large sums for a pint of organic strawberries, laughing off or even defending the "Whole Paycheque" label. They tell themselves: It's OK to pay double what those strawberries would cost elsewhere, because they're chemical-free, healthier, environmentally and ethically sound. Whole Foods customers want to feel good about their purchases and believe they are being better citizens for shopping there.
Now Mackey, the face of the company, is not only at odds with a central tenet of progressivism, but a supporter of free-market evangelism that has no space for the community-based, egalitarian solutions his customers support.Whole Foods' rotten core: Whole Foods organic food-loving customers are right to feel... more
HuffPost bloggers have taken some strong stances on the issue.
Ben Wyskida has decided he's done with shopping at Whole Foods, not only over the health care op-ed, but because he disagrees with many public stances Mackey has taken, like his opposition the the Employee Free Choice Act:
To me, it's pretty basic: Mackey is working to oppose things I believe in, so I should stop giving him money. That's not easy: I spend a lot of money on food. I also spend a lot of money at Whole Foods.
Wyskida's blog received enthusiastic support on Facebook, with the vast majority of commenters declaring they'd boycott, and one reader stating she'd even sold her stock over the issue.
Also on HuffPost, Ethan Nichtern declared that he's no longer shopping there:
I am not going to support [Mackey's] cognitive dissonance.... with any more of my hard-earned local-organic-neo-hippie-spinach money.HuffPost bloggers have taken some strong stances on the issue.
Ben Wyskida has... more
It seems Chief Executive John Mackey's recent op-ed entry in the Wall Street Journal regarding the Health Care Reform debate is receiving severe backlash from the left. The bigger issue is his remarks debunking the WH health care reform proposals are causing the very people who are staunch supporters of Obama to pull their money from Whole Foods. In his piece last Wednesday, Mackey, a libertarian from Austin, TX, stated, “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.”
He offered four of eight ideas he felt would improve the health care system including the following:
Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs).
Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines.
Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
Revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren’t covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Ben Wyskida of the Huffington Post said, “the bottom line for me, reading Mackey’s op-ed, is that by shopping at Whole Foods I’m giving money to a Republican and I am supporting by proxy a donation to the RNC and to health scare front groups like Patients First. I don’t give money to Republicans, so I will have to cross Whole Foods off my list.”It seems Chief Executive John Mackey's recent op-ed entry in the Wall Street Journal... more
Hey John, have you ever actually been inside one of your stores? Do you think the aisles are full of conservative republicans?
He literally begins the article with the following quote from Margaret Thatcher:
"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money."
There you have it, the CEO of Whole Foods propagating the lie that President Obama is a socialist and that giving Americans the choice to opt out of the insane for-profit health insurance industry and buy into a public option is somehow socialism? Doesn't he know that the delivery of health care will still be a private enterprise? No one is proposing true socialized medicine where the government owns the hospitals and employ doctors directly, but rather a system where the government acts as the insurance company only. Would he call Canada or the UK socialist nations? Would anyone? (Consequently, both of those nations spend substantially less and have better results in their health care system)
He also defends the lie that the overhaul will lead to "rationing" of health care. What does he call the system we have now? Personally, I'd rather have the government rationing care by need than the private insurance industry rationing care by cost (i.e. if you can't afford it, you can't have it, even if it is medically necessary to save your life), as the system currently works.
How can you have the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" if you can't heal yourself when you get sick, simply because you can't afford it? There's a reason why the framers of the constitution mentioned protecting the "general welfare" of the nation and it wasn't so that GroupHealth can pay it's executives literally billions of dollars.
Let the liberal boycotting of Whole Foods begin! It's a shame, I was a fan...
Here is the most outrageous part of his "article:"
"Many promoters of health-care reform believe that people have an intrinsic ethical right to health care—to equal access to doctors, medicines and hospitals. While all of us empathize with those who are sick, how can we say that all people have more of an intrinsic right to health care than they have to food or shelter?
Health care is a service that we all need, but just like food and shelter it is best provided through voluntary and mutually beneficial market exchanges. 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
Even in countries like Canada and the U.K., there is no intrinsic right to health care. Rather, citizens in these countries are told by government bureaucrats what health-care treatments they are eligible to receive and when they can receive them. All countries with socialized medicine ration health care by forcing their citizens to wait in lines to receive scarce treatments. "
Can we end all this esoteric political debate about "socialism" and "freedom" and actually talk about what IS in the bill?Hey John, have you ever actually been inside one of your stores? Do you think the... more
"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money," has left some Whole Foods loyalists enraged. Many say Mackey was out of line to opine against the liberal base that has made his fortune possible."The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money,"... more
The CEO of Whole Foods, John Mackey, just penned an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. It sounds like something written by Dick Armey with the help of Sarah Palin and the teabag brigade. I am absolutely shocked. Joe, an avid Whole Foods shopper, up until this morning, is absolutely devastated.
Read this opinion piece. It's not just someone who disagrees with President Obama about the details of health care reform. It reads like someone who is a conservative Republican activist. I'd highly suggest you share this article with your progressive friends who, like Joe and me, have for far too long been under the mistaken assumption that Whole Foods was a "good" company. Apparently they're one of the worst out there. Not just agnostic on doing good, but affirmatively trying to stop good from happening.
--
more at link.The CEO of Whole Foods, John Mackey, just penned an opinion piece in the Wall Street... more
Reusable shopping bags are popping up everywhere: from the grocery store to the home improvement warehouse. Are these totes as environmentally friendly as they seem?Reusable shopping bags are popping up everywhere: from the grocery store to the home... more
While the rest of the world scrapes together their precious pennies in order to triumphantly step over the threshold of their local Whole Foods, I choose a perfectly legal and yet infinitely greener method of indulging in the creme de la creme of their inventory. On an empty stomach, I choose to case the joint for the free sampler's buffet of junk food that is distributed throughout their hallowed halls...While the rest of the world scrapes together their precious pennies in order to... more
If Whole Foods were perishable, it probably would have expired this past year. But instead, it has done surprisingly well, holding its own as a high-end food spot in what's now been a yearlong assault on any store considered expensive. While its most recent earnings report wasn't dazzling—revenue compared with last year's was flat—it wasn't dismal, either. And many analysts are predicting increased sales to be announced in the earnings report next week. "We haven't been hearing that anywhere else in the luxury retail space," says Jefferies & Co. supermarket analyst Scott Mushkin. Such optimism has fueled the grocer's soaring stock price, which is up 156 percent so far this year. In the same period, Safeway (SWY) and Kroger (KR) have each fallen more than 20 percent.If Whole Foods were perishable, it probably would have expired this past year. But... more
Sun Power Natural Cafe. Studio City, California
Celebration. Vegan Stuff! Opened by Rawsheed, Ronald and their families.
Rasheed sang a song for the event, and one of his daughters entertained
the diners with another beautiful song.
The food is pretty good, and they maybe starting some
cooking classes as well.
Music from APM Library-Raw Energ-
Artist:RusselSun Power Natural Cafe. Studio City, California
Celebration. Vegan Stuff! Opened by... more
Local food is fresher,more nutritious,better for our environment,and simply tastes better.At Little Bug,we purchase only seasonal organic produce directly from Northern California farms.Then,in our certified Oakland kitchen,we lovingly prepare each batch by hand.The short distance from farm to spoon ensures that Little Bug Baby Food is the healthiest tastiest food for your baby all year found.
It's getting harder to avoid GM foods.
Certified organic, locally grown food....the only way to go. It's getting harder to avoid GM foods.
Certified organic, locally grown food....the... more
South L.A. is a "food desert," with few supermarkets and a lot of land in between them. This video chronicles the extraordinary efforts of Healthy Eating Active Communities (HEAC) student Lae Schmidt to obtain the quality and variety of fruits and vegetables she desires.South L.A. is a "food desert," with few supermarkets and a lot of land in between... more
Current.com favorite 'If Kids Ruled the World' finally hits the festival circuit. The short film stars a number of kids that decide to combat evil bag island (the garbage island floating out in the subtropical gyre) by reusing their shopping bags.
Make sure to catch it at the 4th Annual Los Angeles International Children's Film Festival on September 21st in Long Beach. See my link for all the details.Current.com favorite 'If Kids Ruled the World' finally hits the festival circuit. The... more
Massachusetts health authorities are warning consumers not to eat ground beef bought from Whole Foods Markets over the last two months after seven infections have been linked to meat bought there, some after a national recall.
The state Department of Public Health today confirmed the seventh E. coli case linked to ground beef. The people who fell ill -- five of whom were hospitalized -- had all eaten ground beef from Whole Foods last month. Preliminary results indicate that the ground beef products were part of a nationwide recall of meat produced by Nebraska Beef Ltd. because of possible E. coli contamination.
"A review of records from Whole Foods indicates that some of the stores received product from the recall list," the state said in a release. "At this time, it is not known why the food listed under the USDA recall was sold to the public after the recall date."
The statement from DPH also said the grocery chain has cooperated with state investigators.
The products involved include ground beef and ground beef patties from the stores' meat counters as well as packaged meat found in the stores' cooler. Any meat bought between June 2 and August 6 should be thrown out, state officials said. Consumers should also check their freezers for meat they may have bought last month and frozen for later use.
E. coli can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and in the most severe cases, kidney failure. The very young, the elderly and persons with weakened immune systems are the most susceptible to foodborne illness.
Ground beef cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit kills the bacteria. Massachusetts health authorities are warning consumers not to eat ground beef bought... more
