Boycotting the Boycotters
by Andrew BreitbartThis week’s Washington Times column:
John Mackey – the founder, CEO and marketing genius behind Whole Foods – finds himself in an organic, unsustainable mess with his carefully cultivated affluent, liberal customer base after penning an Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal titled, “The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare.”
For starters, Mr. Mackey opens with a line from known-liberal-allergen Margaret Thatcher that features the dreaded “S” word: “The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.” Then he goes on to provide eight sensible free-market solutions gleaned from his company’s well-regarded employee health care program.
Mr. Mackey, a free-market libertarian, is now at the mercy of an unforgiving grass-roots mob intent on destroying his company. More than 25,000 people have signed on to a Whole Foods boycott on Facebook.
“Whole Foods has built its brand with the dollars of deceived progressives,” the online petition reads. “Let them know your money will no longer go to support Whole Foods’ anti-union, anti-health insurance reform, right-wing activities.”
A complementary Web site, WholeBoycott.com, features unintentionally comical video testimonials from aggrieved former customers. The mainstream media have picked up on the story and fanned the flames.
The success of Whole Foods is largely built on Mr. Mackey’s understanding of the liberal mind. It wants the good life – but with instant absolution for the sin of conspicuous consumption. Whole Foods is marketing at its best. Iconography and slogans throughout the store – not unlike those Barack Obama used to win the presidency – tell the shopper they are saving the planet in large and small ways.
The product is so good even conservatives and skeptics are willing to play along.
But Mr. Mackey missed the key ingredient of modern liberalism: intolerance to the ideas of nonliberals. And this miscalculation may prove to be devastating to his multibillion-dollar business.
Everywhere one looks these days, the intolerance of self-avowed liberals is on display. Especially since Mr. Obama came to power.
The purportedly open-minded and empathic among us who now run everything – save for NASCAR and Nashville – openly wage war against those who dare disagree.
Witness Steny Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi’s joint-penned editorial in USA Today in which the House’s two top Democrats describe those publicly questioning Mr. Obama’s proposed health care system overhaul as “un-American.”
You can read the column in full here.
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185 Comments
everyone to whole foods!
[...] Read More: August 23rd, 2009 | Tags: Big Hollywood | Category: Left all the way | Leave a comment [...]
(most of this is copied from one of last week's open threads)
I enjoy Whole Foods (though with the economy, I don't shop there as often as I once did) and all I can do is roll my eyes at the "Boycott Whole Foods!!" gang. So their CEO expressed an opinion that was different than yours… so? Cry me a river!
From an AP article I read about it: "But the Whole Foods boycott [Facebook] group's blog says Whole Foods has 'built its brand with the dollars of deceived progressives' and urged people to stop shopping there."
"Deceived progressives"? Personally, I've always resented the stereotype that where you shop is determined by who you vote for and vice-versa… but that's for another day.
I found it's easy to boycott products I can't afford.
I happened to watch the sleazy lawyer (can't remember his abysmal name) who was heading up the boycott on Greta's show Friday night. He is the sleaziest, most unlikable man I have ever seen. I am not a violent person, but listening to that man made me wish I could have gone through the television screen and cocoa butted him.
Wish there was one here in my little city. Alas, the closest is at least 30 minutes, maybe 45 away.
Where or where has my truffle oil gone! Oh where is my arugula, too!
My wagyu beef is AWOL and my caviar is in the cesspool ….
Talk about biting the hand that feeds you. Attacking a person and boycotting a business which supplies "needs" because the CEO thinks differently. So much for having an open mind and forum of debate.
This goes to the whole "Democratic big tent" theory. Whenever a democrat or liberal strays off the path, they are attacked and go back on the path. Then they have the nerve to say that republicans are the party of "whites christians only".
Well, in Mackey's home town of Austin, all the liberals could protest Whole Foods by going to it's main competitor, Central Market. But I believe owner Charles Butt has a summer home next to George H.W. Bush in Maine, so I don't think that option would go over too well. Guess they'll have to starve or go down to Fiesta Foods on I-35.
Sweet! I was gonna go there to get stuff to make pesto!
I used to feel so dirty going in there. It's almost as awesome as the day I found out Gary Sinise was conservative…..oh, I may just have to rewatch Ransom again.
…..I'll be in my bunk.
*MissQuinn*
They deceived you?? No, no. They made a store; you liked it and shopped there. And you ASSUMED that because you liked the store and it had that modern hippie vibe and enabled your healthier-than-thou lifestyle, that everyone who worked there thought just like you. And now you've found out the head honcho doesn't agree with you on something. Oh heavens! Well, you can have that, can you? Gonna have to buy your whole oats elsewhere because he's one of THOSE people. Can't consider his ideas because if he's not in support of universal health care, he must be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad capitalist. It's all or nothing, isn't it? No alternate health care solutions allowed, and, good Lord, no additives! Too bad wheat grass doesn't purge stupidity.
"Whole Foods has 'built its brand with the dollars of deceived progressives.'"
They need to change "Whole Foods" to "Climate Change" to be more accurate.
I'll always shop there when I can. As a matter of fact, I just did the other day in Manhattan Beach, CA. Keep up the good work, John Mackey.
I would ordinarily rather have a tooth pulled than buy at Whole Foods, but this kind of thing ticks me off. I'm going to be doing some shopping there in a couple of days (though it will be limited, I'm not a rich yuppie). Commentarama had a good article on Mackey and his organization today called Liberal Businessman Bears False Witness (at least I think that was the title).
Most progressives live in a tiny world; theirs.
I went there once with my girlfriend and the clientel in the place made my flesh crawl. I would consider going back now
HEB! Woo hoo!
If liberal means maximizing freedom, then once again dems prove that:
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS ARE ANYTHING BUT LIBERAL!
My friends and I shopped at Whole Foods this weekend and will continue. While their store does not offer all the items we prefer, there are enough items we can easily adjust our shopping habits to include!
Freedom or Control – which side are you on?
He shoots, he scores!
I can't wait to get to my Whole Foods market this week. Can't afford it but it's worth the cost to support this solid gold man, John Mackey. Maybe you can lower your prices a wee bit to attract more conservatives. I hope you just say the hell with it and close down your stores. Then all the little liberal twits can run around trying to find a farmers market.
I thought Liberal once stood for open mindedness not mindless. Mackey runs a company that cares for employes pays a good wage and does not over pay executives. He has excellent quality food, buys locally and kicks back 5% back to the community where his stores are located. He filled a nitch that Yuppies and GenX flocked too.
So what were his radical conservative Ideas?
• Equalize the tax laws so that that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits.
• Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines.
• Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover
• Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
• Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost.
• Enact Medicare reform
• Finally, 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.
Sounds like common sense to me. No wonder this goes against The One's minions.
Do the "Progressives" really think a Socialist could run a successful business? Its almost an oxymoron.
I love this boycott. I have rarely shopped at Whole Foods, even thought we have two stores here in Pasadena, because of the high prices, dimiwitted employees, and the pretentious environment in the stores.
But I am going to revisit the stores, just to go against the grain of the boycotters. There seems to be alot of eating their own going on on the left lately.
I applaud Mackey's honesty, but I can't afford to support his store. We wanted to get a blueberry pie for my daughter on the 4th of July and dropped in to look for one. All they had was a small blueberry cobbler and they wanted $18 for it! I went over to Marie Calenders and spent $9 for a pie. I haven't been back to Whole Foods since. And like someone else mentioned, the clientèle is pretentiousness defined.
I won't be looking for one of their stores either, but kudos to Mr. Mackey for finding a way to con obnoxious, self-important Liberals out of their money. Sadly, now the The Goode Family has been canceled, we won't get the beautiful digs at the store for the right reasons. It was one of the best parts of the show. Liberals were practically collecting aluminum cans to sell to be able to afford to shop at the cartoon's version of the popular store.
While I agree with Mr. Mackey taking a stand for what he believes, I don't care if his store lives or dies, other than feeling bad for people who might lose their jobs. Personally, I'm not sure how brilliant his business model actually is, other than for the hysterical way Liberals bought into the con. I'd rather see someone who became successful for providing a quality product at an affordable price giving advice about how to handle health care. Mr. Mackey's business sounds suspiciously like Mr. Obama's idea of a good time.
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I suppose it's ok for these limp wristed "progressives" to boycott anything they don't like just like a conservative can boycott anything they don't like, such as a takeover of 1/6th of our economy and deceptively labeling it "health care reform". Takeover of the health care industry is just another revenue stream that the Democrats have been aching to get their hands on because it takes care of two things at the same time…total control over your life, liberty and pursuit of happiness and a great slogan for upcoming campaigns to win votes by telling the dumbmasses that "if you vote for the Republican, they'll take away your health care"…These people are playing with our lives to do only one thing…stay in power.
Put on those Birkenstocks and go back in
Isn't "Deceived" and Progressive" the same thing?
Looks like I'll be shopping at Whole Foods a little now, even if it is a bit pricey.
I am so wee-weed off by the Liberal Nutballs who are trying to destroy this very good man just because he has a different opinion on Health Care than they do. I live 143 mile away from a Whole Foods Market but I am going there next Saturday to shop til I drop! We go to Bend, Oregon about 4 times a year and I will make it a point to shop at Whole Foods in support of this fine man and his wonderful company. His employees may suffer from this boycott if he has to lay some people off. He pays 100% of his employees health care and gives millions to Charity and this is the way he is treated by the IDIOTS on the LEFT! Communist *astards!
I don't shop at Whole Foods for two reasons: it's mostly overpriced, and it's not any better than what my local grocer sells for less. Organic? I couldn't care less – if it's carbon-based, it's organic.
As for Mr. Mackey's views on health care – I agree with most of what he says. However, I'm not going to shop at his store because his target customers are having a hissy fit. Read more about John Mackey and you'll find he buys into a lot of the "factory farm" garbage, as well as being a vegan. His first store was called "Safer Way". Whatever, that's his right in a free country. Nothing wrong with being a vegan or anything else, but I don't agree with any of them, so why should I shop there when I'm not already a customer?
People need to think before they start supporting someone simply because they agree with one thing that they say. Let the left boycott – they have virtually nowhere else to go, after Mackey took over Wild Oats Markets…
POST OF THE DAY NOMINEE!
"Terse and insightful…I laughed…I cried!"
I'm sticking with Lassens — they're being boycotted by liberals, too, and — sorry, Mr. Mackey — they're cheaper and were attacked first. I can't allow myself to become a victim of boycott fatigue.
"Deceived progressives"
Isn't that redundant?
Don't assume every Whole Foods shopper is a mindless sheep. I'm as crunchy as they come, disagree with the CEO, but will continue to shop there. Remember, he's the CEO, not the owner. And if the bustling stores I've been in are any indication, no-one's boycotting anyway. Last point: while some of their items are pricey (the meats and coffee and of course organic produce) much of the stuff under their 365 brand is competitvely priced with regular markets. Whole Foods continues to donate to many liberal causes, so careful guys– you're welcome to shop there but you may end up benefitting that which you despise rather than sticking it to a few bloggers.
Does this mean Whole Foods had to move themselves from the Good column to the Bad column?
Now after reading this – I will gladly shop at whole foods. Kind of funny since the store might have some appeal to me now that the "wee weed up" crowd is not in there shopping with me. I am so sick and tired of these loon leftist games.
Whole Foods guy anti healthcare doom, Costco and Walmart embrace it.
It brings tears of joy to my eyes envisioning the gut wrenching decision making and perhaps wholesale (pardon the pun) questioning of all those turds on the left hold dear. The perfect free range hormone free rosewater cleansed hen egg or having to, hack, perhaps support Walmart by shopping for agrohen egg among the unwashed clad head to toe in Faded Glory.
Principle goes only as far as a wild caught Alaskan Copper River Salmon for $30 bucks a pound is available. Compromise: Wholefoods in a Teaparty getup at midnight and reluctantly peeling off the "Walfart" sticker from the back of their Subaru. All is right again in Hypocriticalville.
I saw some Wholefood protesters are heading over to Trader Joes. I wonder how they will feel when they find that some of their food is imported from Israel?
Where can a poor liberal shop these days?
Government cheese is available to those in need. Since basic needs are best doled out by the government, this seems like the best possible solution.
Why are you calling them "progressives"? Why not "retro-reds" or something that actually describes them?
I'm not a big bandwagon kind of guy. I get my arugula at Publix.
Good points. Just because somebody "signs" an online petition, it doesn't mean they actually even shopped at Whole Foods in the first place.
No. They'll continue to blame Bush.
They're already getting all the government cheese they can carry.
Where is that in relation to the "3D space we call reality"?
Technically, "Big Oil" are organic… harvesters of… the natural bounties of the Earth.
Holy crap, organic gas stations. We'll make a fortune!
What, like "fascists"?
Can we hold the ethanol?
"I wonder how they will feel when they find that some of their food is imported from Israel? "
Oh, they will be quite upset, that will really get the stomach acid churning. Then they may find out their generic OTC Prilosec, like a bunch of pharmaceuticals, is made in Israel.
Of course if they were really smart enough to read labels and know how good or bad something really is before buying it, they never would have voted for Obama.
Because "progressives" at least is better than continuing to profane a perfectly good word like "liberal", and actually does a good job of describing what these @$$hats believe in — placing social and economic progress above all other considerations.
For another twenty years, at least. Heck, if aliens from outer space would come and accidentally infect humans with some strange disease that is harmless on their world, they'll blame Bush for not revamping health care as part of preparing for biological weapon attacks by terrorists.
Then the liberals will offer them amnesty and free health care.
I love the use of quinoa (pronounced kin-wa for those not in the know) at the end of the full article version. It is easily one of the most nutritious and least tasty substances on earth. I have never enjoyed shopping at Whole Foods as much as I do now knowing that I am sticking my finger in the eye of the liberal agitators' storm by spending my hard-earned post-tax dollars there.
I also love the way the liberal movement works. They get pissed at someone and then take action to hurt the offenders financial interests which will only cause his employees (usually fellow liberals) to lose their jobs. Well done leftists. Nice going. I'm glad they really think things through.
Andrew, you are a scholar and a gentleman. – Ari
Lord, save us from the liberals!
http://i32.tinypic.com/1q1pau.jpg
ALL YOUR MARKET ARE BELONG TO US! : )
Time to go to the one near my house where the Top Chef Masters were shopping. I like Top Chef and I like makin' liberals mad even more…I'm a goin to Whole Foods.
Hey, I'd love to see someone list every business progressives frequent and find some conservative skeleton in each of the company's closets. Actually, I bet if you worked at it, you could make every liberal boycott any business you choose.
"…herb fresh goat cheese and three-bean salad with quinoa…"
Ah geez Andrew…I've alway been kind of a "meat and taders" kind of guy…man.
But, for helping with the rescuing our country, I’ll go out tomorrow and buy some far eastern, six stem, red speckled, pinewood fence setting, mushroom tops with spicy red pepper herb sauce…OK?
The sacrifices one has to make for freedom.
Not Over.
If they are a business that generates any profit at all that is not immediately "distributed among the workers" and/or "given back to the people," there will be "progressives" who complain. Draw up a list going by "percentage of selfishness" and work down, at some point they'll boycott the little guy with the corner ice cream shop who didn't drop his prices for two weeks so his kids could get new sneakers. From Wal-Mart.
Okay, this will probably get me a barrage of thumbs downs, but hear me out. How is shopping at a store that you never shopped at previously because the owner said something you agree with any different from not going there because he said something you didn't agree with? I've read through all the comments here and the general consensus seemed to be that people weren't going there either: a) because it was a hippie haven or b) because it was too expensive.
I'm not saying the boycotters aren't self-indulgent, hold-my-breath-'til-I-turn-blue babies. That's a given. But a week ago, the store was mockable because they were charging close to double what a regular grocery store was to slap an organic label on it. If I was laughing at them for being the suckers of yesterday, do I want to be the sucker of today just because Mackey drew a conclusion that any sane person would? Not meant to be rhetorical, I'm really interested in hearing anyone out on this.
All us right-wing nut jobs – time to un-boycott Whole Foods! Again these little pansie lefties want to stomp their feet, take their ball and go home like the little children they are! Good riddance. Grow your own organic and don't return.
I have a idea…Let's take our business away from Wal-mart, (who have succumbed to the socialist boycott of Glenn Beck) and give it to Whole Foods..
I love Whole Foods and like it even more now that I know the owner is a free-market libertarian. I think I'll shop their more often.
It's very sad the was the so-called "progressives" aren't very "progressive" when it comes to tolerance and open-mindedness. How pathetic…
I love Whole Foods and like it even more now that I know the owner is a free-market libertarian. I think I'll shop their more often.
It's very sad that the so-called "progressives" aren't very "progressive" when it comes to tolerance and open-mindedness. How pathetic…
The picture from the Washington Times article speaks volumes. "Boycott Whole Foods. CEO says he doesn't care about your health care" reads the sign. Obviously, John Mackey cares some about others people heath care, but I'm willing to bet he would say he can't provide health care. Health care is personal decision. And this is where the statist get confused. There is difference between medical care and health care. For the most part one's health is a personal responsibility. And the statists think they can transfer that responsibility to government, by providing medical care. That makes about as sense as saying providing auto insurance will prevent people from speeding causing them to get into car accidents. If fact, if the government provides insurance, it removes responsibility, and will cause rationing of MEDICAL care that one really needs for one's health. So the sign really says, "This guys who provides healthy food, wants me to be responsible for my health care not only with his product but also with my personal choice of medical insurance, but I don't want to be, I want to transfer my responsibility to the government, so boycott his business. And oh yeah, progressive now means anti-self determination"
"He is the sleaziest, most unlikable man I have ever seen."
Obviously, you have not yet seen an adequate sampling of lawyers… and I pray that you never do. 99.9% of them are scum. Unfortunately, we can't just kill them all, because 0.1% of them are awesome people. That's 1 in 1,000 for those of you in Berkeley. Sometimes I wish the good ones would just agree to take one for the team. LOL!
They haven't had an original idea since 1848, when Marx wrote "Das Kapital." A 161-year-old, discredited, book based on distorted interpretations of out of date info about factory conditions written by a Jew hater who was awful to his wife. That's the source of the left's view of the economy. Everyone do yourself a favor and read Paul Johnson's book "Intellectuals" for more about what kind of person Marx was and his dishonest tactics in his writing.
I must continue to shop at the local HEB monopoly. OK, there is Sun Harvest, but San Antonio doesn't even have Kroger anymore. Kroger employees went on strike and tried to unionize – in a right to work state – so Kroger closed all of its stores and left. LOL!
Even Handy Andy and Piggly Wiggly are but distant memories now. ~sigh~
Maybe the one near where I live will not be so crowded now with "deceived progressives" or in other words obnoxious boors with permanent smirks on their faces. I may hit Whole Foods on my shopping rounds next weekend.
So, Mackey, whether he's cool dude or not, provides a health care program to his employees, that the majority of them qualify for and like? He suggests aspects of the plan may be more practical than Obamacare (whatever that is, has anybody in Congress read it yet?). THE MONSTER…THE HORROR…it's like Scream IV or something.
Another lesson of what happens to anyone who dares to speak against The Great One.
I'm pretty sure most of the 24,000 plus in the boycott Whole Foods facebook group are doing a lot of, talking the talk without walking the walk. They're thinking "yes!! I'll join the boycott WF group, yea! I'm part of a protest, I've been counted among the 24 thousand", next thought "I'm out of organic milk and need some natural mood stabilizers, what the hey, I'll go to Whole Foods, none of my 24,000 closest friends/fellow protesters will ever know and gosh I joined the group".
"Willfully Self-deluded Progressives" would technically be more accurate, but close enough…
the clientèle is pretentiousness defined
That part, at least, should be fixed now.
From way Downtown! Shot at the buzzer, nothing but net!
I used to shop there when I was in construction, right off the job in construction clothing. Out of place among the arugula crowd, the most self-conscious group of pretenders tripping over themselves to be seen as pc. Let them eat hungry man tv dinners! It would serve them right. I doubt that if you dug deep into Trader Joe's core business philosophy it would be much different. Not a peep out of them, I'll bet. Obama did it to Las Vegas and now his loyal followers are trying to do it to a great company. Just kind of getting their feet wet. 2010!!!!
I don't shop at Whole Foods for two reasons: it's mostly overpriced, and it's not any better than what my local grocer sells for less. Organic? I couldn't care less – if it's carbon-based, it's organic.
As for Mr. Mackey's views on health care – I agree with most of what he says. However, I'm not going to shop at his store because his target customers are having a hissy fit. Read more about John Mackey and you'll find he buys into a lot of the "factory farm" garbage, as well as being a vegan. His first store was called "Safer Way". Whatever, that's his right in a free country. Nothing wrong with being a vegan or anything else, but I don't agree with him on so many issues, why should I shop there when I'm not already a customer?
People need to think before they start supporting someone simply because they agree with one thing that they say. Let the left boycott – they have virtually nowhere else to go, after Mackey took over Wild Oats Markets…
Squires
now that is thinking out-side the box.
Sunny
agree.
i'm bucking tired of this crap and on top of it i'm really wee wee weed off!
Yeah, I'll throw some bucks at Whole Foods, even though they may support some aspects the libtard statists want, BECAUSE:
If you want to change an opinion, seek out the guy left hanging on the figurative cliff by his so-called friends, rescue him, tell him you don't hold it against him, and keep moving his business forward in profitability.
Even if he pauses a second or two before continuing to support some crazy off the rez libtard policy, we will have won…
can i get a garden hose there or do i have to go to Home Depot?
is Home Depot ok?
I saw that too and couldn't agree more. He made my skin crawl. I wonder how he looks his family in the face after a hard day's work draining society?
Oh my God! Founder and CEO of billion-dollar company is (ghasp!) a CAPITALIST! The gullibility of the liberal knows no bounds. So Mackey has made a fortune charging trendy lefties through the nose for – let's face it – luxury goods with awesome mark-ups. SUCKAS!!!
[...] Boycotting The Boycotters [...]
But what's really ironic and reveals the utter stupidity AND self-destructive character by many on the Left is that they'd be going to such an extent as they are in boycotting WholeFoods BECAUSE Mackey devises a workable plan to provide workable health insurance to WholeFoods employees. I mean, it's utterly idiotic that the Left would feel such hate toward the retailer AND the plan itself.
And if they had their way, Whole Foods would go out of business and thousands of employees would be out of a job AND the healthcare they receive now. Just because the CEO said something they don't agree with. I've said it before and I'll say it again. To liberals it's their way or the highway, which fascist……
"progressives" are completely on empty when it comes to common sense and decency….
Defends and continues warrant-less wiretapping.
"Saved" big businesses.
Troops still not home and even more being sent to Afghanistan.
Backroom deals behind closed doors with big-money special interests.
Less transparency than foot-thick mud.
Losing on "climate change" and "health care reform."
And the economy still has not magically recovered.
So will the "deceived progressives" now boycott Obama?
"Everywhere one looks these days, the intolerance of self-avowed liberals is on display".
Boy that is an understatement! Their reaction to this whole Whole Foods thing is frustrating yet comical to me. The libs do not see their hypocritical, intolerant anger. Sad for Mr. Mackey if the the kool-aid drinkers follow each other out of the store tho. I will continue to shop there. Since they don't have plastic bags anymore just paper, I LOVE to take my own PLASTIC bags from Target or CVS and catch the fish eye from the others in line. A couple times I've heard audible tsks or disgusted sighs and turned to them and said "not my cause!" with a smile proudly displayed.
"Mr. Mackey missed the key ingredient of modern liberalism: intolerance to the ideas of nonliberals. "
Poor guy forgot that those who oppose the liberal/socialist agenda are EVIL-EVIL-EVIL, and must be destroyed at all costs.
well said
Boycott Whole Foods and eat at MacDonalds! That will teach Mackey a lesson on the 1st Amenedment.
The first person that a Progressive deceives is himself. Kudos for observing that such individuals are not hypocrites because they have no standard of behavior from which to fall short.
Not a arugula fan; I suppose they sell ketchup there too.
I wonder if I can get a nice big Porterhouse there for my grill…….
I went to a local Whole Foods (or as they call it, Whole Paycheck) on Friday and if there's a boycott going on, you wouldn't know it. The same kind of folks you always see at Whole Foods were still there. After all, they still have to get their organic gluten-free vegan fair trade goodies from somewhere. Whole Foods has always been a guilty pleasure for me, especially when they're giving out samples. Yum. Every conservative I've met thought I was nuts for shopping there, but their rotisserie chicken is awesome, their seafood soup's great, and the free range turkey I got there for Thanksgiving was one of the best I ever ate. Certainly, I'm more of a Trader Joe's kind of gal but the guy on Greta Van Susteren's show last week made me so mad, I made a point to go to Whole Foods. And I'll be back again!
WE SUPPORT MR. JOHN MACKEY AND WHOLE FOODS!
Stand up and speak out!
http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?q=small+business#/...
Laughs~
I think they were waiting for their Guru to tell them. Unfortunately their Guru is the one peddling the snake oil. Beware when Guru sez \”I could no more throw the American people under the End of Life Bus than I could my own grandmotherpreacherGatesBlackFarmersAntiwarfreaksGaysBiden…\”
— On Mon, 8/24/09, IntenseDebate Notifications <notifications@intensedebatemail.com> wrote:
what goes around comes around They refuse to carry Israeli Olive oil, choosing to carry,promote, and subsidize Palestinian olive oil made by extremists who support Islamic terrorism. The olive oil company sends its profits to fund scholarships at An-Najah University , where the majority of the student body is in HAMAS and recruits for HAMAS, and where official school displays glorify the homicide bombing of innocent civilians at Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem, and mock its blown-up victims.
Secondly, there is the Whole Foods sponsorship of anti-Israel, anti-Semitic “Radio “Intifada” programming on a West Coast radio station, KPFK. After repeated requests by many, Whole Foods refuses to drop its sponsorship and donations to this programming.
So is there really any definitive right or wrong in this case?
I've got no dog in this fight. The two Whole Foods markets are far enough south of me to make a casual trip there impractical. Now, if they had one nearer to me, I'd likely wind up picking up specialty items or ingredients the competition doesn't offer. But as it is, I already patronize Hen House, Price Chopper, HyVee, and Wal-Mart for various grocery items depending on what I need. Some stores just provide better stuff in certain areas.
Besides, have you seen the price of arugula at Whole Foods?
I used to like to go in and "out -snob" the liberals there, I would see them get some arugula and feta cheese, and I would sniff condescendingly, and say, with that "sooooo Upper crust" Marin county accent, " Arugula is sooooo yesterday- we found some superbly delish microgreens that are grown with angora poo- the anti oxident factor is just OFF the charts." Then would look at them as if they were something I would scrape off of my shoe, sniff condescendingly again, and move on.
The little trolls would follow me to see what I WOULD get in that store. Its a fun thing to do on a slow Saturday night.
They ALWAYS bite when you out- elite them.
Because Progressives are what Liberals became. Progressives were in vogue in the 1920s- Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, FDR- all progressives, and it really did not matter if you were Republican (Teddy R.) or Democrat (FDR)- it was an elitist mode of thought, and insidious in its tenets. Progressives were the first to advance the thought of Eugenics, weeding out the infirm and mentally unstable in our society. That eventually morphed into Hitler's Death Camps in WWII- so you can see that calling them "Progressives" is both correct, and an insult, or should be, if they only knew, but far too many of them "can't be bothered with troublesome little things like History."
Jen- sometimes you shop to support, in this case, someone's right to free speech- I am certainly not suggesting that you go completely out of your way,nor that you spend all your money – but this "boycott" is only really hurting the people who work there, and that's just not right.
Home Depot is OK- you just might not get foods as tasty there.
I live in Texas also, and we have Kroger here, but i like HEB better- their produce section rocks- but then I love Tex-Mex and use a lot of what they stock.
Arugula?
Good news, you and Barry have now found your "common ground." Now you can start agreeing on lots of things!
HEB is where I go. I can find certain Central Market stuff at mine. And yes, they do sell some stuff from Israel.
Kroger is overpriced, even with the discount card.
Whole Foods? A forty-minute drive to the closest one in Houston is too much for me.
Have yet to be convinced this boycott has any real teeth. Meanwhile, here in Nashville I'm upping my weekly Whole Foods budget to help bridge the gap just a little. One other snippet of Mackey's excellent WSJ piece is the reminder that affordable healthcare starts with the dreaded words: personal responsiibility. I couldn't agree more. However the liberal victim-mongering media ridiculously re-frames this as: Mackey says eat and buy more stuff from Whole Foods to keep your health care costs down.
10% already mixed in where I am in PA, don't know if that is also in the "high smog" areas as well.
On the plus side, it's been awhile since I worried about using "gas line anti-freeze" in winter.
Probaly only if it comes from a free-range steer that died of natural causes.
I am in total agreement.
Do you have Trader Joes near you? Love them.
Unless a company is doing something to materially hurt our country (like selling something to our enemies that may end up hurting us), I am disinclined to boycott or whatever the nutters are doing.
I wonder what the boycotters will do without knowing the history of their fruit they are eating, being assured that their fish was lulled sweetly into… alterlife and that their coffee was picked by Sumatrans who frequently and liberally applied hand sanitizer after taking a crap in the field.
Gosh I am nasty. Meow! If I am not careful, I am gonna turn into one of the harping jackers.
I cannot wait to shop at whole foods now.
Exactly. They were called Progressives in like 1908. LOL! That's not very progressive, is it…
True. The democrat party is a splintered mess these days…
Wholes Foods is one of the stores I shop at. I ran in there last Friday and it was as packed as it always is, and this is in liberal San Francisco. I don't think the boycotters are going to make any difference frankly.
Thes folks dont know what socialism is and are just talking out the side of they neck
Thes folks dont know what socialism is and are just talking out the side of they neck
Normally I can't shop at Whole Foods here in Atlanta because the parking spaces are only big enough for a Prius. I was very surprised to read that Mackey is a libertarian! Frankly, the "save the earth" crap and the uptight, holier-than-thou yuppies who generally shop there put me off of Whole Foods a long time ago. In fact, knowing the Founder is a libertarian will make me MORE inclined to shop there. Although, I do remember hearing that Whole Foods banned their employees from listening to Neal Boortz (the libertarian talk show hose in Atlanta) and also from leaving print copies of Neal's Nuze in the breakroom. So much for free speech among the "progressives."
You know, the really funny thing about this is that the progressives are only now referring to themselves as "deceived progressives." Heck, Al Gore and his "Global Climate Change," Bill Clinton and his wife and Obama and his Hopey-Changey crew have been deceiving the progressives for years. It appears these folks are very easily deceived…
Damn, I always hated that place because it was fulla smelly nutter libs… I'm a "decieved conservative" fcs!
Hey, if all those libs are all conflicted about shopping at WalMart because they support government-run healthcare where the CEO of Whole Foods doesn't, they can shop at the nearest SuperTarget. Having worked at Target part-time for almost five years, I regarded Target as the discount store for those people who hate WalMart. Target calls their employees "team members" and they support a host of the usual Liberal/"progressive" causes (I remember our "team leader", or "Teamfuehrerin" as I referred to her, addressing us one Saturday morning about June being "Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender" month). The prices are almost as good as WalMart and they have an organic produce section. Target's motto: "Expect More – Pay Less; We're not Evil like WalMart.
This government is pretty cheesy, all right. Can we expect the government to cut the cheese?
Marx, Engels, and Lenin – three more "dead white guys" whose discredited theories still inexplicably find favor with intellectuals everywhere.
Let them eat Kraft "Mac and Cheese" – "the Blue Box Please!"
…or committed suicide…
For the first time ever I am planning to ignore my objection to the Pachouli-stinking, Birkenstocks-wearing, unaware of their own body-odor, sanctimonious, unabashedly liberal fellow Boulderites and shop at Whole Foods.
The nuts and granola yuppy set are not going to give up shopping at Whole Foods. I was at the biggest Whole Foods in leftist Silicon Valley on Friday evening and the lot was still full of the faux greenies in their Prius cars. I was not accosted by anyone at all and if they are not protesting in the Bay Area they are not protesting anywhere. Mackey does not care a flying organic fig about the intolerant left and their nutball antics.
It's about time the libs start growing their own. Boycott indead. They'll get hungry and come running back.
It has nothing to do with health insurance and everything to do with power, control. What Mr. Mackey laid out are “Free Market” solutions that would actually improve the best healthcare system in the world. We can’t have that, this keeps statist from meddling in your life, and diminishes the power of Washington. Think about Sheila Jackson Lee making healthcare decisions for you …scary man! Lets all make a trip to “Whole Foods.”
Makes me want to actually spend money there…. kinda like I am going to boycott the boycotting companies of Glenn Beck for saying something that's on a lot of peoples minds….
My guess is that Mr Mackey will pick up a whole bunch of new customers out of this.. Well said Sir.. Keep up the good work.
Retro Red….do you mind if I steal it?..it is brilliant. Well said.
LOL…Thanks Wanda I needed a smile…good job.
Wanda you owe me a keyboard…you are so freaking funny. Love that acid tongue.
Same here Ruby. I was at their flagship store in Cupertino and not a soul was protesting. I know these faux nuts. They are as fake as Barry's Hawaiin birth cert.
Though I live a good hour's drive from the closest Whole Foods in the Philly 'burbs, I may just have to forgo all of the wonderful cheap veggies & fruits I'm surround by in the most fertile soil in the country (Lancaster County, PA)
and shop this w/end at W.F. It's no more lefty than the Farmer's Market stall owners in downtown Lancaster,PA (full of artsy Kumbaya, organic farmers selling next door to the Amish/Mennonite farmers).
"deceived progressives' " That may be a redundancy.
Whole Foods is an expensive market, but their meats are of excellent cuts and quality. I usually stop off at their Minneapolis, MN store just for their meats and do all my other shopping elsewhere.
And I too saw that really creepy and angry dude who's heading the boycott on Greta. "He's a bad man, He's a bad man." I like Greta because she usually has great, in-depth questions for both Democrats and Republicans alike and has no fear of questioning their answers. It's just really too bad she belongs to the wacky and dangerous cult of scientology (at least, that's what I've heard)…
Looks like I'll be stopping in Whole Foods this week…
Wouldn't it just chapp a statist libtards backside if their sales went UP?
I agree he covered most of the subject, except their should have been a term for "deceitful" included as well…otherwise 9/10…
\”love that acid tongue\”
TY! Levis has employed me to lick their jeans. I have, however, turned down many an offer to lick the eyes of former lovers of the spurned. I am, after all, principled ish.
I offer you a Nintendo keyboard… minus the \”W\” button. I guess you know who the jokers were that had it before me.
— On Mon, 8/24/09, IntenseDebate Notifications <notifications@intensedebatemail.com> wrote:
Thank you!
I watched the same show. Almost kicked in the TV. But then, I would miss Greta reporting on this stuff. Instead, I went to my nearest Whole Foods Store (75 miles away) and spent $100 in support of Mackey. I wonder if this means that I need to boycott all those companies that pulled their ads from Glenn Beck
The Left has nothing of substance to offer. They can only win if they lie about their agenda – Mr. Obama the candidate – or, demonize those who oppose their agenda – Mr. Obama the president.
What's noteworthy to me as an individual consumer is that Mr. Mackey's post actually now has me visiting Whole Foods for specialty items. Though I still do not buy into the leftwing-isms ("hope" and "change" and "save plastics before it's too late" [I kid with that last one]), I now include Whole Foods as a retailer for my wants and needs among groceries and specialty items just because I was so impressed with Mackey's ingenuity as expressed in his post. But Whole Foods remains overpriced, so what I do purchase from WholeFoods, I only buy in limited numbers/quantities for that reason alone — at least now I'm willing to actually patronize the place, though.
You will find that a great many progressive businesses are not run by hard core liberals but by intelligent business people who know good ideas and savy marketing when they see it. The unfortunate side is that they must keep their views to themselves because it means death to their business. Even run-of-the-mill businesspeople are often afraid to voice their opinions on local issues because the liberals will crucify them.
Another quick point: I used to avoid Whole Foods to some extent because here in San Francisco, the atmosphere was just too hippy-dippy for me.
Today, after reading MacKey's Wall Street Journal article, I walked in just to go against the boycott. I was pleasently surprised to find that some of the employees seemed to realize that B. Hussein O. Jr.'s real goal is to put an end to free enterprise. The extreme Left just stepped on some of their ardent supporters who really don't want to lose their jobs because their store is to be forced out of business during this recession.
I now feel better about going back there.
They are a bit expensive, but if I ever want fresh bagels or cashews, I can always depend on Whole Foods.
Some of you might enjoy a blog entry from June on this topic: http://www.shoutbits.com/2009/05/whole-foods-eart... . Also, this entry predated the Penn and Teller show about organics. Here is the text:
While the world most people inhabit rarely adopts Hollywood and Berkley fads, the 'green' movement has indeed caught fire with people who actually work to eat. Bemused by Kabbalah, Scientology, earth auras, and the like, regular America seems interested in being 'green.' Naturally, wherever there is a fad, an enterprising company will step up to exploit it. In this case, the practice of exploiting the public's concerns is called 'green washing.' While most green washing is simply characterizing established practices as somehow environmentally friendly, the grocery chain Whole Foods has magically turned one of the least green practices into a core sacrament of the new religion.
continues, but out of room here
WE SUPPORT MR. JOHN MACKEY AND WHOLE FOODS!
Stand up and speak out! Join our Facebook group to show your support!
http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?q=small+business#/...
I have always found the general attitude of the Whole Foods customer was one of self-absorption. On the recommendation of a friend, I went there once to get lamb for a recipe. During that time, my then 3-year old son was almost hit by three carts — and he was under control. He was almost hit by women rushing around, talking on cell phones. The narrow aisles and "eco-friendly" lighting didn't help.
I was not planning on going there to shop, ever. I hope Mr. Mackey stays strong, and if he does, I will give his store a second try. A few less self-absorbed shoppers would enhance the store tremendously.
There's a good reason most of the folks I know in the Bay Area call it "Whole Paycheck" (not that they don't shop there as much as possible).
My brother in law is a radiologist in Indiana. He says the two things that are not getting attention are tort reform and Medicare reform. And Medicare is just one big nightmare.
We live in a military town nearly 2 1/2 hours from the nearest Whole Foods. I guess I'll have to continue shopping at the Piggly Wiggly. As the bumper stickers on the pick-up trucks say in these parts: "I'm Stickin' With the Pig." Some comedians sometimes cover up the "with." Crazy kids.
Whole Foods is long the bastion of the Birkenstocks and the tie-dye crowd; as a long time Austinite (currently in exile, at school) I might consider going into a Whole Foods just as a counter protest…their flagship store is across the street from G.S.D. & M. probably the most influential non-coastal ad firm, and another reliably lefty Austin business…I patronize many of the firms GSD&M handles the accounts of, so walking into a Whole Foods might be a *doable* thing now.
If I can only just get reasonable financing on a basket of groceries there…."Cash for Grocery Clunkers" program where are you?
Whole Foods is famously crazy price wise. I was living in Austin when they really began to take off but I knew how psychotically lefty the were, or were precieved to be so I took my $$ elsewhere…your observations as to the costs are spot on, like I mention below I'm surprised they don't have a *credit office* located in-store!
Maybe we can have a "tossed salad summit"…
Meh… Mackey played with fire, now he's getting burnt. He wanted to these people's money, he got it, now they've turned on him. More or less like any other fad that comes and goes.
let's see…this CEO donates his entire salary, minus a dollar to charity…he employs over 60.000 people…his crime? he dares to disagree with Bozo's Health Care plan, and proposes one he, as a businessman, uses and finds it works…now, Bozo the great has never run a business, has little experience handling a work force, can only organize groups of thugs and bullies to threaten all dissenters…and we the people are seen as unAmerican??? "Tell a big enough lie and it will be believed…" hmm…shades of you know who….
Went to "Whole Paycheck" yesterday and the parking lot was full.
I prefer "Plain Stupid Idiots" myself.
Well If only knew where a Whole Foods store was here in Florida I'd stop in for a 6 dollar organic wheat grass smothee just to show him my support.
deceived progressives……that is the best spin I have ever heard. The 52% that voted for hussein were definitely "punked" or as the left now coins themselves "deceived progressives", or dumber than a stump. You decide……all it takes is a few well placed signs….changey hopey changey hopey….
".. the "Progressives" really think …"
Doesn't that sound like an oxymoron?
I really do not think they grasp the concepts of socialism or running a successful business. They seem to be driven by emotion, not intellect. They like to do what 'feels good' and have no regard for consequences. Kind of like immature kids/teenagers.
I agree with Blake10. I would shop there in order to support the right to free speech. I think if this boycott has little or no effect on the sales at Whole Foods, it would go a long way to showing everyone that there are more people who disagree with this healthcare fiasco of a plan than there are who support it.
Austin spawned a few competitors, mainly a spin off of the low price-high quality H.E.B. chain. The quality was just as good and the prices were better and I wasn't supporting a company I knew held what I percieved as fairly leftist veiws. Win -win. I was surprised to see Mackey "come out", so to speak, this way. Good for him…I guess being a liberal means never having to say "you're sorry".
I can't wait to shop at Whole Foods in my area. It always seemed like a liberal hang out so I wouldn't go. Now the liberals will all be busy boycotting the store and I'll get to shop in peace. This is going to be fun.
I do believe I have had more friends say they are going out of their way to shop at Whole Foods because of all this. People who have never set foot in this store are now making an effort to show their support. Whole Foods is by not means a cheap place to buy food, and especially in this economys, supporting a company with your hard earned dollars speaks volumes. mmmm Capitalism.
I tried to make that exact point on FB where some of liberal friends are all hot under the collar at Mackey. I also stated that it seemed odd to me to choose boycotting over some ideal rather than continuing to purchase/consume goods that are reportedly healthier. Ideals over health. No one respond to that, of course, because they couldn't.
Liberal Victimhood… wha-wha-wha
My wife can't cook, so I stay skinny, I would kill for a home cooked meal.
Where the hell are these bring your own bag bolsheviks going to eat?
McDonalds? Wal-Mart?
They'll be back when they get tired of the free range Big Mac's.
Sunk their battleship!__
easy for democrats to PAY acorns to act as their little soldiers and send in as many facebooks signsOns as they wish. but is it the reality of how the majority really feel? from what i see as a protest people who have not shopped in whole foods in a while are going back and new ones coming in as a show of support.
paid-for loyalty never stands up to actual passionite loyalty so Whole Foods will be the victor and the unthoughtful ones that will obviously eat their own young will be the losers. but that is the way we americans are seeing things these days. that little slipup that landed obama as president has tested the patience of many and now we are all doing the right thing and standing by the good guys… that leaves the bad guys.
democrat laders are amusing sometimes:
whoever opposes the healthcare plan proposed by obama "MUST BE A REPUBLICAN."
because this man's opinion differs from obama's, he's suddenly "a right-winger."
when dd we begin punishing any person for having a right to their opinion?
having an opinion is not breaking any laws. we ALL need to be outaged no matter how you identify yourself politically.
Breitbart is a sorry bastard…Shame on you m.f….
The ignorance of the Left in this country is astounding. They don't understand Capitalism, and they espouse Socialism, which is the direct opposite of the Classical Liberalism that defined the Revolution. They are on the wrong side of history again, and Carter 2.0 is only hastening their demise.
That was funny about the wheat grass!! Brilliant actually!
Whole Foods is a great store. This will blow over because there is nothing else like it out there and most "Progressives" or "Liberals" or wannabe radical leftists will not inconvenience themselves by doing without. If you know people like this, you will know that their consumption of organic and 'sustainable' food is a fetish; they consider their diets a political act and will not easily give up that piece of their lifestyle. What's most entertaining about this debacle is the lack of tolerance shown by those who wear their tolerance like a badge of honor. I mean, isn't Mackey's point of view just one color in a great rainbow of diversity that makes our society so great?
It will be nice at the Whole Foods Deli without having to smell the libs who refuse to bathe.
Why would you want a liberal customer base anyways? A bunch of customers that think they are better than you? No thank you. Time to kick the homosexual customers out of Whole Foods and get a better more natural customer in there.
If what you are saying is true then it is funny to watch the liberals eat each other just because one of them had an independant though.
I don't know if there is a Whole Foods near me, but I will do a search and then take a trip to make my contribution to free market enterprise and above all, free speech. (Not all of us Mainers have to go out and shoot supper you know.)
I hope all you Breit bart followers run to Whole Foods in droves. YOU DESERVE to blow your money on those rip-off prices.
aside from that…. I'm still wondering about the title of this article? How exactly are us readers supposed to "Boycott the Boycotters"?
Maybe the author should look up the word "boycott"!
LOL driving through Chicago today I actually say a bumber sticker that said:
I SHOP AT WHOLE FOODS
BECAUSE LIBERALS DON'T
LOL driving through Chicago today I actually saw a bumper sticker that said:
I SHOP AT WHOLE FOODS
BECAUSE LIBERALS DON'T
[...] Boycotting the Boycotters “The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.” (via Thunderstruck) [...]
I've been a dedicated Whole Foods shopper, and this debacle makes me want to shop there more.
I lived in Austin the year young John Mackey started his first little store – he was and is one of the finest — to work so hard starting with so little and end up being so successful. His home store in Austin is fantastic – . This whole thing is ridiculous. He is independent, innovative, an all American story – our U.S. must NEVER allow others to stop self-made men and women from full filling their dreams!!
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