Whole Foods CEO John Mackey's recently provided a "clarification" that ObamaCare is more like Fascism...and not Socialism as he stated in 2009. Such statements are to be expected from the extreme, right wing nut cases that obstruct progress in our country. However, by using these terms so loosely and inappropriately, Mr. Mackey demonstrates a lack of understanding of both concepts and how they have played out historically. Rather than contributing positively to the debate on how to improve and expand health care, such language only feeds into right wing paranoia and the irrational behaviors and policies that follow. That being said, to his credit, Mr. Mackey is making a positive contribution to public health debate particularly with his perspective on food as addiction and being a Vegan.
I have been a Whole Foods customer since its inception. While I share community concerns about the dominance of corporations in our economy and society, the revival of local health foods stores, coops, etc. simply is not going to be an option for most people. Whole Foods is here to stay. Nevertheless, we should strive to keep corporations like Whole Foods accountable and demand that they not sabotage such incremental steps to expanding and improving health care (until society is ready for universal, single payer healthcare!)
Let John Mackey know that you don’t appreciate his description of ObamaCare as Fascism and demand a retraction! Not sure how best to get his attention, but you can start with the following links and also speak to the customer service staff at your local store:
Whole Foods CEO John Mackey's recently provided a "clarification" that ObamaCare is more like Fascism...and not Socialism as he stated in 2009. Such statements are to be expected from the extreme, right wing nut cases that obstruct progress in our country. However, by using these terms so loosely and inappropriately, Mr. Mackey demonstrates a lack of understanding of both concepts and how they have played out historically. Rather than contributing positively to the debate on how to improve and expand health care, such language only feeds into right wing paranoia and the irrational behaviors and policies that follow. That being said, to his credit, Mr. Mackey is making a positive contribution to public health debate particularly with his perspective on food as addiction and being a Vegan.
I have been a Whole Foods customer since its inception. While I share community concerns about the dominance of corporations in our economy and society, the revival of local health foods stores, coops, etc. simply is not going to be an option for most people. Whole Foods is here to stay. Nevertheless, we should strive to keep corporations like Whole Foods accountable and demand that they not sabotage such incremental steps to expanding and improving health care (until society is ready for universal, single payer healthcare!)
Let John Mackey know that you don’t appreciate his description of ObamaCare as Fascism and demand a retraction! Not sure how best to get his attention, but you can start with the following links and also speak to the customer service staff at your local store:
We, as a Conscious Community, need to boycott Whole Foods Market, Inc. for the following reasons:
An alternative health publication called "Natural News" disclosed that Whole Foods, admittedly, sells a very large volume of GMO products. This continued massive sale of GMO foods takes place despite the general belief on the part of Whole Foods' customers that we are buying healthy, non-GMO, non-carcinogenic, locally produced foods:
https://tv.naturalnews.com/v.asp?v=A6D9F56EC3D67EB38801CCAACE10D645
Furthermore, you can read in Wikipedia.org that following quote from founder, John Mackey:
In a Wall Street Journal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street_Journal) article in August 2009, John Mackey acknowledged that his company had lost touch with its natural food roots and would attempt to reconnect with the idea that health was affected by the quality of food consumed. He said "We sell a bunch of junk".[68] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_Foods_Market#cite_note-68) He stated that the company would focus more on health education in its stores.[69]
You can read it in detail here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_Foods_Market
In another example of Whole Foods' poor food products and business practices, the State of California filed a lawsuit against Whole Foods for selling personal care and household cleaning products containing the carcinogenic contaminant 1,4-Dioxane (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1,4-Dioxane).[40] (https://www.transworldnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=52631&ret=AccountDtl.aspx)You can read more about this in the same Wikipedia link, above.
Yet another discovery reveals that Whole Foods does not come anywhere near to fulfilling its claims of how much locally produced foods it is purportedly offering the public. This also available on the same Wikipedia link, above.
And finally, I invite EVERYONE to boycott Whole Foods, not only because they are not everything that they sell themselves to be (non-GMO, non-carcinogenic, locally grown, organic, healthy, etc) but also because they are against universal healthcare for all Americans. We need to find alternatives, true local alternatives (or any truly healthy alternative), such as Community Market and others. Community Market will be opening their second store later this year in Sebastopol:
Community Market:
https://www.srcommunitymarket.com/
Further information and reading:
Whole Foods caught in GMO marketing deception, false advertising - here's the proof:
https://www.naturalnews.com/037467_whole_foods_marketing_fraud_gmo.html
Investigative video report of Whole Foods' false advertising and truth about GMO products sold:
https://tv.naturalnews.com/v.asp?v=A6D9F56EC3D67EB38801CCAACE10D645
California Suit Against Whole Foods for Carcinogen in Body Care Products:
https://www.transworldnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=52631&ret=AccountDtl.aspx
Federal lawsuit against Whole Foods Market, Inc:
https://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/0710114/0710114.shtm
Edward
MAG
01-19-2013, 11:12 PM
RE: the one liner - “We sell a bunch of junk.” Below is only a paragraph from the article. Seems he was referring to the likes of organic potato chips . Fewer organic potato chips, more actual potatoes.
'A year ago, Mackey came across a book called “The Engine 2 Diet,” by an Austin, Texas, firefighter and former professional triathlete named Rip Esselstyn. Basically, you eat plants: you are a rabbit with a skillet. Mackey had been a vegetarian for more than thirty years, and a vegan for five, but the Engine 2 book, among others, helped get him to give up vegetable oils, sugar, and pretty much anything processed. He lost fifteen pounds. This thinking about his body dovetailed with a recession that left many shoppers reluctant or unable to spend much money on the fancy or well-sourced food that had been the stores’ mainstay. Mackey, in a stroke of corporate transubstantiation, declared that Whole Foods would go on a diet, too. It would focus on stripped-down healthy eating. Fewer organic potato chips, more actual potatoes. He told the Wall Street Journal in August, “We sell a bunch of junk.”'
We, as a Conscious Community, need to boycott Whole Foods Market, Inc. for the following reasons:
MAG
01-19-2013, 11:41 PM
People can agree with Mackey or not. But in all fairness, the complete articles and interviews should be seen so what he meant by his words may be known.
re: ObamaCare is like socialism
The health-care op-ed’s headline, “the whole foods alternative to obamacare,” was the Journal’s, Mackey says, but the sentiments were his. Mackey’s prescriptions ranged from the obvious (people need to eat better) to the market-minded (promote interstate competition among insurers) to the dreamy (the corporations will take care of us). The gist was that, together, they’d obviate the need for a federal plan, and that the course being pursued by the White House and the Democrats would have disastrous consequences. He led with an epigram attributed to Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.”
ObamaCare is more like fascism
RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
John Mackey also spoke about how government decisions affect business. When we asked him about the new health care law, he said this.
JOHN MACKEY: In fascism, the government doesn't own the means of production, but they do control it. And that's what's happening with the health care program with these reforms. So I'd say the system's becoming more fascist.