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Don't Take It Out on the Arugula

Why it's wrongheaded to boycott Whole Foods to punish CEO

By Jane Yager, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 19, 2009 6:07 AM CDT

(Newser) – Boycotting Whole Foods is the wrong move for liberals irate about the politics of the company's CEO, Mary Schmich writes in the Chicago Tribune. Before joining Facebook boycott groups and denying themselves the company's farm-fed, fair-trade wares, angry customers should consider the difference between "a business's practices and a business chief's politics."

Libertarian CEO John Mackey sparked the boycott when he wrote in a Wall Street Journal editorial that health care is a commodity, not a right. Schmich doesn't like Mackey's "selfishly myopic" opinion but says it's "still OK to go to the salad bar," and boycotters should instead "use their energy to help explain to the public why he's wrong."

[Images (4)]

[Quotes (2)]

Customers shop at the newly opened Whole Foods Arroyo store Wednesday in Pasadena, Calif. in this Nov. 7, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, file)

Jodi May, center, shops with her daughters, Issa, 7, in the shopping cart, and Raina, 6, at the Wild Oats Natural Marketplace, in this July 17, 2007 file photo, in Woodmere Village, Ohio. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, file)

David Wilcox of Jamaica Plain, Mass., stows his groceries on his bicycle outside the Whole Foods Market in Cambridge, Mass., Saturday, Aug. 9, 2008. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

In this July 30, 2007 file photo, shoppers walk past displays of produce at the Whole Foods in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)

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...if Mackey is to the right of many of his customers, well, at least they know it. And there's a distinction worth making between a business' practices and a business chief's politics. - Mary Schmich

Mackey wasn't passing a law. He was just making a case. If the boycotters use their energy to help explain to the public why he's wrong, great. But it's OK to go to the salad bar. - Mary Schmich

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 5 comments

cognitivefilter

Aug 20, 2009 12:39 PM CDT

BUY LOCAL BUY LOCAL BUY LOCAL: whole foods isn't the only place to get groceries! remember they are still a corporation...

QueenAlli

Aug 19, 2009 12:50 PM CDT

John Mackey acted stupidly. In his apology letter he claimed that the op-ed was his own opinion and not that of Whole Foods. Fine, it's your opinion BUT you do represent Whole Foods and to not think that there would be backlash on this is just plain stupid. This guy has not learned his lesson from the Yahoo fiasco. In THAT apology letter he stated that he is a public figure and should have been more careful - so what happened John? These boycotters have the right to shop elsewhere, the world isn't going to end if several thousand people want to voice their opinion. The little guy doesn't get to write an op-ed in the WSJ. I have to say though, as much as people keep saying this boycott is a waste of time, articles keep popping up everyday to defend Mackey and Whole Foods. Boycott must be doing something.

oldgoat

Aug 19, 2009 11:42 AM CDT

Many people protest a company just because of what the CEO says. After all he is the leader of the company and like it or not, anything he says will go back on the company. So in this case I don't really blame them for the boycot.

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Don't Take It Out on the Arugula