If he keeps digging that hole, he might be hitting the aquifer there in Austin. Given the bile he has displayed, that might be extra poison in the water BT.

Mackey is half right – I am angry, starting with clueless people like him.

I am pleased to say that I have not shopped at Whole Foods since his original outburst in August. I had been known to drop about half the Gnome family’s monthly food budget at the WF Home store in Austin. Not anymore. HEB gets all my business now.

My brother works for whole foods. He said that the patrons came unglued, and the poor employees were telling them that they do not agree with Mackey.

Boycott!

I never eat at McDonald’s, but that didn’t stop me from developing medical problems. And I could not afford insurance or treatment for seven years. I guess the Republican plan really is “Don’t get sick.”

More CEO worship from the Wall Street Journal. For an extra dose of sucking, try the comments.

That “health care plan” Mackey touts is a real winner: a $2,500 deductible partly covered by a contribution to an HSA of a few hundred dollars. A worker making the princely sum of $15 per hour, 33K per annum, is looking at spending about $2K per year on medical services. I bet that’s a lot easier on Mackey than the janitor.

Also note that Mackey takes his money out in dividends and capital gains on his stock and options. Those are taxed at very low rates.

Thank heaven Kroger stocks plenty of organic staples now.

If Mackey’s intent was to get people to consider his point of view, why use the smear, “ObamaCare,” in the headline?

reminds me of the trolls who from time to time grace us with their presence, beginning their comment with the words “you people”…

I do feel for the employees who will be the ones to suffer from the boycott. The assholes at the top are always so insulated from the world that they never get “it” or ever suffer from their boneheaded moves unless the Board and the stock suffers and then they get tossed out on their ears.

The revised comment almost but not quite approximates Diet for a Small Planet. The latter however takes a “commie, socialist” tack instead, castigating major food companies like Whole Foods for encouraging wasteful agrarian practices.

Last August the Guardian picked up a WF campaign supposedly spearheaded by Mackey:

He said the store would now attempt to educate in the ways of healthy eating: “There will be someone in a kiosk to answer questions, they’ll have cookbooks and health books, there will be some cooking classes. It will be about how to select food, because people don’t know.”

His comments come as Whole Foods reels from bad news. Jeff Turnas, who was parachuted in to take charge of the group’s faltering UK operation last month, said Mackey’s words “had been lost in translation”, saying that what his boss meant was that eating too many crisps or cakes even if they are organic is not the best way to keep healthy.

It remains to be seen if WF follows through.

In defense of writers, I must say that they do not get to choose their headlines. Copy editors do that.

I’m sure he approved it. But, that aside, he certainly decided to start off with Margaret Thatcher bashing socialism.

LIke many who embrace “libertarianism,” Mackey is is love with his own ideas. He evidently thought that when he started Whole Foods, so many would flock there that he’d get really wealthy and that the mega-sized food retail outlets would bew diminished. That’s evident in the scorn he shows for people in general for nor eating how he thinks they ought to.

Capitalistic libertarianism (which can be seen as logistical narcissism) and compassion for others simply cannot co-exist.

Just boycott Whole Foods, there are alternatives,

Edited by moderator

Yet his [John Mackey’s] now famous op-ed incited a boycott of Whole Foods by some of his left-wing customers.–Stephen Moore

Shouldn’t that read ‘infamous’ rather than ‘famous’?

I’ve really been enjoying the BH Farmers Market, there are plenty more wonderful farmers markets within 5 miles of my home throughout the week and I can order my Perfect Foods Peanutbutter bars online…

Ta Ta, Whole Paycheck Foods

Never shop there.

Won’t start now.

Libertarian capitalism (which can be described as logistical narcissism) and compassion do not go hand in hand.

Pretty obvious that Mackey only sees most people as lost because they are not embracing his vision.

Boycott Whole Foods, there are alternatives. [Sorry for the near duplicate post, I didn’t think that the first one landed]

Moderator, what did I say?

[Mod Note: Inadvertent ethnic slur corrected]

Mackey doesn’t understand or acknowledge that poor people eat shitty food because that is what is available to them. And most people in the United States are poor now.

If we want to be scrupulously fair (and I’m not sure he’s earned that), discount “ObamaCare” in the headline. More often than not, the publication’s editors write the headlines, not the columnist or Op-Ed writer.

(By the way, if we’re banning things not in the Constitution, I’ll note that neither it nor the Declaration of Independence include the words “bible”, “scripture,” “almighty,” or “God,” with the sole exception of the deist phrase “Nature’s God” in the first paragraph of the Declaration. Hmmm.)

There’s nothing in the Constitution guaranteeing an education either, so should we ban public schools? Let’s just go ahead and ban everything that’s not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, including charging people $24.95 for a tiny wedge of imported Parmesan.

There is nothing in the Constitution guaranteeing Corporations should exist never mind having First Amendment rights to free speech and to spend as much money as they can to buy the Government… Lets get rid of them… They are Unconstitutional! So are police, fireman and so on…

PRIME EXAMPLE of how the people who just don’t get it, ruin this country.

Ignorance is bliss when you got money.

I heard we’re shrill and unserious, too.

A careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter.

Hmmm? Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness Life and Happiness should cover healthcare

I’d also like to know how a healthy diet would solve the problem of people bankrupted by medical bills for treating injuries sustained in accidents?

Don’t drive. Don’t climb trees. Don’t play sports. Don’t skydive. Don’t make love in precarious positions. Don’t …

Or people that get sick from polluted air and water.

Stock is off its high of over $ 70 a share a few years ago $29.21 now his stock holders must be pissed.

http://www.google.com/finance?q=whole+foods

Don’t make love in precarious positions.

umm, is The Mariott ok?

I hope that his speaking out again means he is noticing a drop in profits at his stores. Now to read other comments…

“A healthy diet is a solution to many of our health-care problems. It’s the most important solution. How much sugar do you think Americans consume? […] We can spend all the money we want on bypass surgeries, chemotherapy and diabetes, but . . . two-thirds [of Americans] are overweight, one-third are obese.” He’s on a roll: “And it’s not that they have to shop at a Whole Foods Market. But people need to eat whole food plant foods, primarily . . . whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. That diet supports our lives. We ought to live to be 90 or 100 without getting any diseases.”

There’s not a thing wrong or untrue about this. Only trouble is he’s a corporate fuck, trying to scold us for being fattened and poisoned by corporate fuckery, which HIS corporate fuckery will now solve.

Yet his [John Mackey’s] now famous op-ed incited a boycott of Whole Foods by some of his left-wing customers.–Stephen Moore

Some of his left wing customers? I suspect all his customers are Lefties I don’t see Rush Limbaugh eating a 20 gallon bucket of tofu.
Whats next Pat Buchanan running a Jewish Deli or a Bus taco stand?

A careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter.

Hmmm. The part of the Constitution that states what the powers of the government are …provide for the general welfare…

In my book that covers fire, police, health care, food, shelter, clean water, clean air, I could go on.

…and don’t get hit by a car either, or fall and break your hip, or have a child born prematurely or with birth defects…

the @ssholes who talk like this don’t know how lucky they are. They think their good luck is all their own doing. Boy, it must be wonderful to live in that kind of dreamworld.

Yes he sounds like my sister on that subject ” people have choices ” quick to make cheap food with preservatives so it doesn’t go bad is chosen by working people for a reason.
The more perfect a person in their own minds at least the less tolerant of the less fortunate, unless its to express pity.

I am sorry but I have tried. But I keep going to WF.

I told the attractive babe at the checkout that I wish their CEO would support national health care. She pointed to their Customer comment area and said to write it down. She also said they had a new group of customers due to the controversy. I suggested she tell them that President Obama was born in Fiji.

If Mackey truly believes that he can teach people to eat better – he needs to put one of his stores in East Oakland, South Central LA, Harlem, etc. and cut his prices in half so the people who live there can actually afford to buy something. Then they would. If you live in one of those places there aren’t any real grocery stores of any kind. What you get is a liquor store that has a few food items there, and even those are way overpriced. And no fresh veggies/fruit of any kind.

Cheap food is often very high carb and fat food. Our corporate food supply has high fructose corn syrup in every single thing that comes in a box or a can. This stuff is highly addictive too. Plus, there are over 20,000 additives in packaged food that are not on the labels – the government/FDA/USDA don’t even know what they are because they are “proprietary” information. It has been reported by some researchers that some of these additives are addictive as well. So even if they are marketed as low fat, they have twice as much sugar (in the form of HFCS) and then the additives make you want to eat twice or three times as much. It’s a volume thing for the food corps – they want to sell more stuff.

Who is the new group? Neocons? Birthers? Nimrods? What class of people has money to throw away on fancy, dancy food that looks about the same as the food in Safeway? I have shopped at Whole Foods for years. I noticed in the last few years that things in the produce dept. suck. Now I shop at the local co-op. And I hate Libertarian capitalists. They don’t know their asses from page twelve. But they are superior to the rest of us.

Too bad. I like the Whole Food stores generally, and they mostly carry a good line of products. They are more expensive however.

Mackey should be forced to eat hot pockets for the rest of his life.

Sorry, if you are comparing the Whole Food brands versus the Safeway brands, you lose. Safeway is not all that much cheaper and they don’t always carry the better nutrition products.

John Mackey you sell your product to Lefties I assume you have researched this topic or paid others to research it for you. You must have come across our the Left’s ideas on this topic.
Your product research people must have told you that we Lefties are your Customers.
Any salesman worth his salt has had to bite their tongue at something their customers have said you John have just insulted all your customers.
The word Moronic does not even begin to cover your comments. In the future if you keep talking words like unemployed or even…poor might describe you soon.
Oh yeah please include some studies or links next time you write an article.

He would probably go crazy and do something (even more) evil and then blame it on the hot pockets (twinkie defense revisited). He probably doesn’t even eat the stuff from his stores. He’s too rich. He probably has a chef who gets his stuff direct from the wholesale markets – you know, a place regular people don’t have access to.

Yes, the produce is pretty standard fare from big producers. Nothing special there.

I don’t think I lose. I am just saying the difference ain’t that great. I don’t shop at either now.
And the co-op actually has great produce but it is expensive. Plus, I grow my own and am getting some chickens soon.

I thought Sen Ensign said that if we took gun and auto deaths and accidents out America’s healthcare numbers would be great!
So then John is organic food going to make us bullet proof and invulnerable to car accidents?

Yeah, that’s great because people who get shot or get hurt in other kinds of accidents and car crashes don’t need healthcare.

WTF???

Maybe we should just take sick people out of the equation all together. oh wait…..

Well that is the GOP plan as Alan pointed out:)

I wish every grocery store had healthy food, grown locally. And WF is definitely overpriced. To me their milk and cheese just tastes better. Their soda pop has sugar not that industrial HFCS. The people who work there are quite helpful. And there are items I cannot get elsewhere.

The WF’s bought out a local healthy food chain a few years ago. That chain bought out some even smaller “health food” stores a few years before that. We have no other alternative except grocery stores that have MSG, HFCS, and their meat products come from animals in concentration camp feedlots, and the fish is full of mercury.

I always say there is nothing more politcal than food and clothes.

From what I have read, even if you discount car crashes and gun violence U.S. health care only ranks 17th in the world.

Is that snark or do you really believe he was born in Fiji?

Just asking.

John is Libertarian GOPer he worships money and thinks that virtue and eating good is tied to money the more virtuous you are the more money you make the smarter you are and of course the more people should listen to you.
Take away his money we hurt him given his ego nothing else will touch him.

They don’t have car crashes in the rest of the world?

Probably fewer than the U.S. but it is really irrelevant, as was Ensign’s argument.

What Senator Ensign was wrong :)

Don’t have a co-op here, but I wish we did. Used to live in Berkeley, and the co-op there was pretty good. Very eclectic, and the prices were decent. But that was a while back, so I don’t know what it’s like now.

Problem is WF made their decision to go into a city based on if a local health food store was already there. If it was thriving WF moved in and drove the smaller store out of business. Yea, yea, I know, this is capitalism. But it is a shitty thing to do anyway and it fucks up options for local people. Just another reason to buy locally.

I think it is still pretty good. My daughter lives in Berkeley. She shops at the Monterey Market. Amazing place.

The GOP is scared of boycotts in this economy nobody can afford even a 1% drop in sales John is angry that he is under pressure because of his dumb remarks.

Yep, Monterey Market is good.

But people need to eat whole food plant foods, primarily . . . whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.

Well. I know who would shop at Whole Foods, if he were still alive. Hitler, that’s who.

Did I leave out the HTML snark tag /s. I meant that some of WF’s newer customers had a few “birthers”, and it would be fun to “play” them a little bit. So if you meet a birther suggest that the President was born in some exotic location, such as Fiji or Mars. Also, say: “The main stream media is covering up that we have the first Martian president.”

A few days ago, I asked Alan from TX where the President was born. He said he did not know because he was not there. He only knows for certain where his kids were born. But the issue of the President’s citizenship is a real “acid test” to check if someone is a neo-con.

But it is a problem for me if I have to put a snark tag on everything I say.

Mackey’s sins aren’t just running off at the mouth like a radical right winger. Worse, they include the way he has been working over the US organic producers who supply him. His business model was learned from WalMart, and like them, he gets a fair amount of “organic” produce from China.

Whole Foods CEOFireDogLake: If You Didn’t Like My Brilliant Op-Ed onthe “public option” for Health Care, It’s Because You’re Afraid or Angry [repeat n times]

Do you even own a mirror?

Regards,
Ric

What the fuck is wrong with being angry anyway? It’s a normal human emotion.

Ah, the fish is full of mercury no matter where you buy it. It is the wild caught ones that have been accumulating mercury from the environment, not the farm raised catfish and tilapia.

“I honestly don’t know why the article became such a lightning rod,”

I thought no one could have anticipated was the standard response:)

. “I think a lot of people who got angry haven’t read what I actually wrote. There was a lot of emotional reaction—fear and anger

Yes thats it Lefty Bloggers never read stuff online! We do react emotionally when we are confronted with facts we don’t like the war in Iraq, torture, some jerk who hates Obamacare!
But we unlike John don’t make choices based on emotion heck we have problems connecting to Lizard Brain, Emotional choice making voters we make choices with our minds.
But fear John we boycott Glen Beck we boycott you with no ill effect or fear of retaliation.
Oh we fear your ideas Bwhahaha! We have been reading and debating healthcare ideas for months even years John your plan well I think we should eat more organic food but that won’t save me from gun or car violence.
Maybe if you had the guts to hone your ideas on a Lefty Blog you would not have embarrassed yourself with such an obviously not well thought out proposal.

Its a double standard when we are angry we are out of control when they are angry they are being Men of Will!
The funny thing is they are lizard brains and make emotionally based choices. We can’t reach them as voters because we don’t connect with them we are to logical FDL had a book club on this and the book’s name is escaping me.
Still Fuck Them I do get angry its just I chose logically why I get mad. And as far as fear goes John can debate his idea here anytime the early morning and the late nite threads let anyone talk about what they want.
The GOPers never do though.

Not everyone is 100% logical or emotional and events like 9/11 can push people into the emotional fight/flight response.

I think someone needs a bigger shovel

Farm raising fish is very, very bad for the planet. Dirty.

Whole Foods, like almost every other grocery store, makes most of its profits from the pre-prepared deli food, bakery, deserts, salty snacks etc. Look at any of the products on the ends or front of the store, as many grams of fat as the similar products at regular stores. Just because it was made with “natural” or “organic” sugars and fats, its not necessarily healthy. WF would go out of business if its customers really just bought whole grains, beans, and fresh unpackaged produce. Then there is the dubious origin and provenance of the goods. International farmed fish, really?

I’m lucky to live near a locally owned independent grocery store with longtime unionized workers from the neighborhood. Their organic/health food selection is limited, but that is outweighed by the “health” it provides my community.

I always say there is nothing more political than food and clothes.

I hope you are kidding because there is nothing LESS political than food and clothing. Of course, that was the story of the 60s–for everyone who was actually concerned about our actions in Vietnam, for example, there were 50 who thought they were “progressive” because they dressed like hippies, listened to Joplin, smoked dope, ate “organic,” etc.

And forty years later, we still think playacting is a valid substitute for real action. God help us all.

The W**mart theory of store location.
It works as long as you’re not competing with yourself.

I think I’ve been in Whole Paycheck about four times in twelve years, and three of those were with a friend was was after stuff nobody else stocks. (bulk soynuts, certain essential oils, that sort of thing). I wasn’t overly impressed myself: I’d rather go to TJ’s or a local supermarket chain.

Other countries use mass transit a lot more than we do. It’s wonderful.

The interviewer/author of this article, Stephen Moore recently wrote an editorial for WSJ. I kid you not…

‘Atlas Shrugged’: From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years
http://online.wsj.com/article/…..66677.html

They are simply two of a kind.

I’m with you. TJs has all the out of ordinary stuff and organics, all at really great prices. They seem to be adding more regular groceries all the time too, so I don’t have to go to the super market and TJs both. I end up going to the super market mostly when I need paper goods and cleaning products.

Would anyone else think a campaign by a supermarket chain playing some of Mackey’s comments, then stressing their own organic equivalence to Whole Foods, then coming out in support of a public option? If King’s (I live in Morristown, NJ, so this is my local supermarket) or Trader Joe’s did this, I would be impressed enough to start shopping there exclusively.

John Mackey is a great CEO and an honest and courageous man for speaking out like he did.

The problem with leftist thinking is that it concludes that government has the solutions while freedom and the free market creates all the problems. This is because it is fundamentally Marxist.

Mackey’s error was in ascribing an understandable human emotion to his critics such as fear or anger. The reality is that it is not fear and anger but simple stupidity and irrational hatred from unreformed Marxists who want to police every inch of human life. No free market solution can ever be considered because this would give people the power to choose. Lefties cannot let this happen. It goes against their tyrannical natures.

C.

hoo boy that SOB won’t sell me another head of lettuce. no way contrariwise.

HaHaHa, “Charles”.

Hey, Firepups, it looks like Mackey has been fake-commenting again, again using a fictitious name to insult his self-proclaimed enemies and self-glorify his glorious self again.

Hey, “Charles”, get a clue. We all know that wrongwingers like yourself always – ALWAYS – insult their perceived foes by projecting your own stupid traits onto others. Good job! You’re as predictable as Whole Foods Markup exorbitant prices! If you weren’t so ‘ideologically correct’, you wouldn’t have a brain at all, would you?

Perhaps you are correct about what I said. But I disagree with everything else you said. You obviously were not there. Are you trolling without a license?

ThingsComeUndone wrote:

I thought Sen Ensign said that if we took gun and auto deaths and accidents out America’s healthcare numbers would be great!

He did. However, if Ensign’s auntie had balls, she’d be his uncle. The countries which have universal healthcare (such as the one where this ex-pat yank lives, Australia), don’t take gun & auto accident deaths out of their figures and still whip America’s butt on healthcare.

The reality is that it is not fear and anger but simple stupidity and irrational hatred from unreformed Marxists who want to police every inch of human life. No free market solution can ever be considered because this would give people the power to choose. Lefties cannot let this happen. It goes against their tyrannical natures.

So its stupid to pay less money for healthcare? Its stupid to want to live longer like the French and Japanese do?
Your Freemarkets are freedom to be fleeced by the healthcare industry your a pigeon a fat one aren’t you.
Next time attack our ideas or argue your own case personal attacks won’t convince anyone.

79
John Mackey is a great CEO and an honest and courageous man for speaking out like he did.

Great CEO’s don’t insult their customers

Good point Ensign is grasping at imaginary straws.

Exactly. Great business plan, there, John. Piss off your target customer with your stupid political diatribe.

Agreed that would be a great idea!

BT look at 79 I think we might have John here:) Wonderful debating style no facts cited just name calling.

The biggest mistake that Mackey made was speaking up again to remove all doubt that he is an arrogant and insensitive fool and a dismal failure as a leader. Actually, we got the picture the first time he shot his mouth off and don’t need any more confirmation of his incompetence. There are already enough opinionated right wing blowhards out there rolling out their tripe that they confuse with wisdom and the hoax of “free marketism.”

Any bets on John being forced out as CEO if he says something else to piss off his customers?

Hey you cheap Cholly Knickerbocker Knockoff, answer my question. Would Hitler shop at WF???? Answer My Question!!!!

The lefties don’t want to hear anything that might disturb their train of Marxist thought, especially if it’s true.

Do not feed the troll.

I just got back from Michael Moore’s movie (go see it!). Sad to see the thread trashed by a deaf, dumb and blind capitalist dupe (79).

I’m pissed that Mackey’s forced me to choose whether to boycott WF or not. My choice to not shop there anymore is inconvenient to me, but hurts the employees and their families. Hey board of directors, dump this jerk, fast.

Chalk it all up to 100% markups.

Threads not trashed the troll did not make a single convert heck he could not even debate his ideas he had to go to insulting us quick, he was quick even for a troll suggesting he doesn’t like to be questioned or people who talk back.
Most Trolls like the abuse this one expected us to obey? Strange yet still stupid.

Strange yet still stupid.

Yep. G’night.

Michael Moore’s latest film, Capitalism, opened weakly with only $1.5 million in box office receipts. For purposes of comparison, Zombieland raked in nearly $10 million. Still, even unsuccessful propaganda can do damage. It’s a safe bet that hardly any of those who went to see Zombieland actually believe in zombies, while a considerable number of those who saw Moore’s film may actually believe in socialism.

John Hinderaker, Power Line

Do the Decl of Independence or Constitution say anybody has a right to be a Republican?

They still deny that all rights are in our hands and that the Constitution just specifies a few which are to never be abridged (though they are anyway).

Look ma, I can write on a blog and Republicans can’t stop me. Wheeee.

It sounds like we need to require food product businesses to declare if their products have any ingredients which are addictive or cancer-causing and report that to the public before fining the companies and putting their CEO in jail.

So, where does all the mercury come from? How do we get rid of it, or at least reduce it?

(showing my tyrannical side) I hereby require you to spend the rest of your life as a moron. :-)