Health Care Reform – Full Article
by John Mackey, August 14, 2009 | Permalink
As you are probably aware, I wrote an Op/Ed piece that was published in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week on health care reform, one of the biggest and most emotional issues facing our country. I was asked to write an Op/Ed piece and I gave my personal opinions. While I am in favor of health care reform, Whole Foods Market as a company has no official position on the issue.
In answer to President Obama’s invitation to all Americans to put forward constructive ideas for reforming our health care system, I wrote this Op/Ed piece called simply “Health Care Reform.” An editor at the Journal rewrote the headline to call it “Whole Foods Alternative to Obamacare,” which led to antagonistic feelings by many. That was not my intention – in fact, I do not mention the President at all in this piece.
I fully realize that there are many opinions on the healthcare debate, including inside my own company. As we, as a nation, continue to discuss this, I am hopeful that both sides can do so in a civil manner that will lead to positive change for all concerned. You are welcome to share your thoughts in the comments section below. (Just remember our comment guidelines prohibit vulgarity and personal attacks.)
Here is the original unedited version that I submitted.
Health Care Reform
“The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money”-Margaret Thatcher.
With a projected $1.8 trillion deficit for 2009, several trillions more in deficits projected over the next decade, and with both Medicare and Social Security entitlement spending about to ratchet up several notches over the next 15 years as Baby Boomers become eligible for both, we are rapidly running out of other people’s money. These deficits are simply not sustainable and they are either going to result in unprecedented new taxes and inflation or they will bankrupt us.
While we clearly need health care reform, the last thing our country needs is a massive new health care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and moves us much closer to a complete governmental takeover of our health care system. Instead, we should be trying to achieve reforms by moving in the exact opposite direction-toward less governmental control and more individual empowerment. Here are eight reforms that would greatly lower the cost of health care for everyone:
1. Remove the legal obstacles which slow the creation of high deductible health insurance plans and Health Savings Accounts. The combination of high deductible health insurance and Health Savings Accounts is one solution that could solve many of our health care problems. For example, Whole Foods Market pays 100% of the premiums for all our team members who work 30 hours or more per week (about 89% of all team members) for our high deductible health insurance plan, and provides up to $1,800 per year in additional health care dollars through deposits into their own Personal Wellness Accounts to spend as they choose on their own health and wellness. Money not spent in one year rolls over to the next and grows over time. Our team members therefore spend their own health care dollars until the annual deductible is covered (about $2,500) and the insurance plan kicks in. This creates incentives to spend the first $2,500 more carefully. Our plan’s costs are much lower than typical health insurance, while providing a very high degree of team member satisfaction.
2. Change the tax laws so that that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have exactly the same tax benefits. Right now employer health insurance benefits are fully tax deductible for employers but private health insurance is not. This is unfair.
3. Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines. We should all have the legal right to purchase health insurance from any insurance company in any state and we should be able use that health insurance wherever we live. Health insurance should be portable everywhere.
4. Repeal all government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover. These mandates have increased the cost of health insurance many billions of dollars. What is insured and what is not insured should be determined by individual health insurance customer preferences and not through special interest lobbying.
5. Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors into paying insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. These costs are ultimately being passed back to us through much higher prices for health care.
6. Make health care costs transparent so that consumers will understand what health care treatments cost. How many people know what their last doctor’s visit cost? What other goods or services do we as consumers buy without knowing how much they will cost us? We need a system where people can compare and contrast costs and services.
7. Enact Medicare reform: we need to face up to the actuarial fact that Medicare is heading towards bankruptcy and move towards greater patient empowerment and responsibility.
8. Permit individuals to make voluntary tax deductible donations on their IRS tax forms to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren’t covered by Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP or any other government program.
Many promoters of health care reform believe that people have an intrinsic ethical right to health care-to universal and equal access to doctors, medicines, and hospitals. While all of us can empathize with those who are sick, how can we say that all people have any more of an intrinsic right to health care than they have an intrinsic right to food, clothing, owning their own homes, a car or a personal computer? Health care is a service which we all need at some point in our lives, but just like food, clothing, and shelter it is best provided through voluntary and mutually-beneficial market exchanges rather than through government mandates. A careful reading of both The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter, because there isn’t any. This “right” has never existed in America.
Even in countries such as Canada and the U.K., there is no intrinsic right to health care. Rather, citizens in these countries are told by governmental bureaucrats what health care treatments and medicines they are eligible to receive and when they can receive them. All countries with socialized medicine ration health care by forcing their citizens to wait in lines to receive scarce and expensive treatments. Although Canada has a population smaller than California, 830,000 Canadians are waiting to be admitted to a hospital or to get treatment. In England, the waiting list is 1.8 million citizens. At Whole Foods we allow our team members to vote on what benefits they most want the company to fund on their behalf. Our Canadian and British team members express their benefit preferences very clearly-they want supplemental health care more than additional paid time off, larger donations to their retirement plans, or greater food discounts; they want health care dollars that they can control and spend themselves without permission from their governments. Why would they want such additional health care benefit dollars to spend if they already have an “intrinsic right to health care”? The answer is clear-no such right truly exists in either Canada or the U.K.-or in any other country.
Rather than increase governmental spending and control, what we need to do is address the root causes of disease and poor health. This begins with the realization that every American adult is responsible for their own health. Unfortunately many of our health care problems are self-inflicted with over 2/3 of Americans now overweight and 1/3 obese. Most of the diseases which are both killing us and making health care so expensive-heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and obesity, which account for about 70% of all health care spending, are mostly preventable through proper diet, exercise, not smoking, minimal or no alcohol consumption, and other healthy lifestyle choices.
Over the past two decades, breakthrough scientific research by Colin Campbell, as documented in his book The China Study, and clinical medical experiences by many doctors including Dean Ornish, Caldwell Esselstyn, John McDougall, Joel Fuhrman, and Neal Barnard have shown that a diet consisting of whole foods which are plant-based, nutrient dense, and low-fat will help prevent and often reverse most of the degenerative diseases that are killing us, and becoming more and more expensive to treat through drugs and surgery. We should be able to live healthy and largely disease free lives until we are well into our 90’s and even past 100 years of age.
Health care reform in America is very important. Whatever reforms are enacted it is essential that they be financially responsible and that we have the freedom to choose our own doctors and the health care services that best suit our own unique set of lifestyle choices. We are responsible for our own lives and our own health. We should take that responsibility very seriously and use our freedom to make wise lifestyle choices that will protect our health. Doing so will enrich our personal lives and will help create a vibrant and sustainable American society.
Categories: health care reform
August 14th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Well said. I for one will be shopping more at Whole Foods. It is a bit out of my way, but I support those who are willing to take a stand for what is sensible and right. Thanks you John.
August 14th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Keep up to good work. I am a customer and agree with your point-of-view.
August 14th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
I read your WSJ article, and also read that some folks are now boycotting the store. Fools. All you did was give some excellent alternatives to socialized health care. You expressed an informed opinion, which is still legal. Your arguments were reasonable and valid. I support your right to free speech and I also agree with your sentiments. Don’t let the naive naysayers bother you. Keep up the good work!
August 14th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Amen! God Bless you Mr. Mackey. You are a true Patriot. Please run for office!
August 14th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
Bravo Mr. Mackey. I applaud your willingness to submit ideas on health reform. Individual responsibility and fairness under law are the path to true health reform.
August 14th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
I would consider suing WSJ if they caused damage to your companies reputation by twisting your words.
August 14th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Thank you for being a voice of reason! I just hope logic like yours will prevail in the end.
August 14th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Thank you John for adding something meaningful to the health care debate. And unlike most, you speak from a position of actually having tried something different, and seeing how well it can work. I am inspired by your thoughts, and I will look at implementing something very similar in my own small business.
As for the goverment plan, why can’t people realize this simple old truth:
It is never possible for the government to GIVE you ANYTHING that it did not first TAKE from someone else. Period.
And as an economic model, that is always a downhill slide. Look how horribly medicare is going into the red and trying to bankrupt our nation.
Government cannot create wealth. Entrepreneurs and private companies create wealth. Why do we villainize that? We should hold them up among our greatest heroes- those who support an economy that allows us to pull civilization out of the dirt and move humanity forward! They aren’t perfect, nobody is. But as long as we have a strong economy we can keep working on moving forward. Without that, all hope for the future fails.
Of course there are things we can and should do to improve health care for all Americans. But the answer is not socialism, or a massive expansion of government if you are allergic to that word.
In any case, thank you again John.
S. Houser
August 14th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Excellent article. Thank you for taking on the notion of entitlement. I hear the words “healthcare you deserve” constantly and it makes me cringe.
August 14th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
It’s easy for rich people to decry health care reform as “socialist” – you have health care.
It’s also easy to target “ruinous lawsuits”. Those lawsuits are the reason our food supply is safe. We pay for it one way or antoher – in this society we have collectively chosen to pay for ensuring the safety of our healthcare system by requiring providers to take responsibility for the care they provide. In the same way we require grocers to take responsibility for the safety of our food supply. Your free market approach is not free – more people will die if food is unsafe or healthcare provided without regard for liability. Again, we’ve chosen to pay for this by making it expensive to (even accidentally) kill people with unsafe food or incompetent healthcare.
Your op/ed piece restates the morally bankrupt stance of those who are most fortunate and don’t want thier piece of the pie to be smaller. It is repugnant to me, and if you think the personal opinion of a CEO doesn’t reflect on the corporation then you are naive.
August 14th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Dear Mr Mackey
I have been a loyal Whole Foods shopper for more than 10 years. I read your article in the Wall Street Journal and can assure you Whole Foods will receive no further business from me or my family.
I love your store but not more than I love my country. You are out of touch with the people who made your store popular and your article proves this point.
Your article illustrates your inner believes … you don’t care about people, you care about large insurance companies and protecting incompetent doctors.
I will no longer be shopping at your store and will be sharing your article on my blog with syndications to Facebook and Twitter in hopes others will join me. You understand money and I hope you also understand that your comments will lead to less money for you and your investors.
Cindy Lou Ferris
August 14th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Tort reform, interstate commerce so Big Insurance can nationalize their local monopolies. You may as well have thrown in ending the “death tax” as well. These are all standard Republican talking points. You attitude–that the sick have no intrinsic right to health care–is both tight-fisted and self-serving. You’ve got yours so what do you care, right? If we’re arrested and we can’t afford an attorney, the state provides one. If we’re dying and we can’t afford doctor, as far as you’re concerned, tough luck.
Nice try, but even with the new headline, it’s the same vile, soulless garbage. You’ve lost my business.
August 14th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Too little, too late.
The Whole Foods Board of Directors needs to fire you and move on.
August 14th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Dear Mr John Mackey,
Thank you for being against the Health Care (Insurance) Bill the present administration is trying to force on us.
It needs to be thourougly analysed and modified before any being voted on, as the majority of American citizens think.
The Health Care we have today is the best in the world, what needs to be done is improve it, eliminating waste.
Thank you again for your stand.
August 14th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
I am a big new fan of Whole Foods. Thank you Mr. Mackey for standing up for what is right. I will shop there and recommend your stores to my friends as much as possible.
Obama’s plans are not the “change” most people envisioned.
Mr. Mackey will undoubtedly get a lot of heat for his stance, which is indicative of his courage. You are a great American sir and I salute you.
Geoff Douglas
August 14th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Thank you for having the courage to give readers a fair and educated editorial article.
We support you, and the wise business practices that you have put into place at WF.
The minute folks quit being “responsible for our own lives and our own health” and started thinking others should be responsible to fix the damages by their bad daily decision, was the beginning of a very slippery slope. Our founding fathers would be livid!
August 14th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
don’t back down from this. your piece was insightful and on the mark. those calling for a boycott are just blind followers of Obama w/ no sense of nuance. well done…
August 14th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
I’m sorry. While I don’t disagree with all your points, I believe you miss the basic point. You’ve just told people like my brother–critically injured by a negligent driver whose condition leaves him uninsurable–to go take a hike. Donations through tax returns are not going to help. And trying to disassociate the corporation from your piece when you used Whole Foods repeatedly to support your claims is disingenuous. I think that you should post your op-ed piece on the bulletin boards of all Whole Foods stores. After all, you are its CEO.
August 14th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
flaming Interesting universe you live in that you consider “personal attacks” worse than denying people health care. You’re too delicate for the former, but the latter is fine with you. Name calling burns your ears, but a kid dying because of lack of medical care, that’s fine. Oh well, on to trader joes.
August 14th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Sir,
What a well-reasoned solution you have outlined! That is because you understand the issue as well as the economics of it. If there were a Whole Foods Store near my house, I would shop there to show my support. I have heard that one may be built soon and you can be assured that I will patronize it.
Thanks for your solution-minded approach.
Diann Averett
August 14th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
John,
My husband and I have been voicing many of the same suggestions for reform, but you have definitely thought it out more fully – and more publicly.
You have provided a lucid and wide-ranging list of solutions. These are all very practical and do-able. Most importantly, these solutions, taken together, ensure that we, the people, retain control over the one of the most important aspects of life – our health care.
Even if we ignore the burdensome cost of the government’s plan, the cost to our culture of freedom and independence would be devastating. We should do everything we can to empower people, not to make them wards of the state.
Quick note: I experienced the public healthcare system in the UK a few years ago. It was very unsatisfactory (only one x-ray was allotted, and so they did not “see” my leg fracture).
Thanks for your courage in writing about this subject in a very volatile atmosphere. Hopefully you will continue the dialogue with more articles.
August 14th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Hey, a CEO who can run a great business which employs people who consistently rank their workplace as tops in the US can tell us a lot.
I appreciate your opinion on health care reform and think you have every right to share your company’s successful formula with anyone who’s willing to listen.
I’m a three-times-per-week Whole Foods shopper who would never go anywhere else.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
You lost my business – Now since this is a corporate site, delete this message and pretend people like you.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
This lays out the problem and the solution so very well. you must get this message out not just by more exposure by you but by encourageing other articulate responsible community leaders. the pols are helpless to speak up with this series of solutions so it must be done by the community in blogs ,letter to eds tv, parties, schools etc. thanks for your voice. When are you going ot have a store in NH?
August 14th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Thank you Mr. Mackey for your response.
But as a Whole Foods customer I can not in good conscious continue to shop at a store that has taken this kind of public position.
Even if this does not reflect the general attitude of the other managers and employees of the company, knowing the CEO is so actively working to deny affordable and attainable health care to Americans — all in the name of your libertarian political philosophy — means I can no longer be a Whole Foods customer.
I wish Whole Foods the best of luck in attracting your new target audience — but this does not include me.
Finally, wish to express your views on global warming, as well? It could be entertaining.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
I agree with your comments and will drive 50 miles to your nearest store to shop in support of your courage and candor.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Mr. Mackey, Good grief, a common sense approach to a problem and you are being vilified and boycotted. I don’t understand how anyone could find anything offensive in your Wall Street Journal op-ed. I intend to shop even more frequently at Whole Foods as a result of your op-ed piece.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
I, for one, will gladly continue shopping at Whole Foods. In fact, your piece made me even HAPPIER to shop there! (Great Thatcher quote, btw)
August 14th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
personal attack Mr. Mackey,
First off, let me say that I admire your chutzpah. You take to the pages of the Wall Street Journal to pen an op-ed that is both factually incorrect and tone-deaf to the vast majority of your customers.
Did you have no idea this would happen?
Your points have been rebutted frequently throughout the web (I’d suggest a Google search to show what some of the more cogent arguments contra your libertarian “deregulation” scheme, so that I don’t have to take up space in your comments rebutting your ignorance).
Our nation is 37th in the world in infant mortality. We are the only industrialized nation without some form of government-mandated health care. Are you proud of that? I am ashamed of the fact that we spend twice as much as any other country and yet our health care results are far below the rest of the world (even the UK and Canada, which you belittle to your detriment).
I can honestly say that I will never set foot in a Whole Foods Market again as long as your unfeeling, selfish, uninformed, disingenuous carcass is heading this company. And I’ll feel so much better for it.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
I loved his article. It was the best article on health care that I’ve read; everyone should read it.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Mr. Mackey–
Your editorial is the latest in a series of comments I’ve heard from/read by you that impressed me favorably. Your stated views and your corporate goals always seem to me to reflect a social consciousness rooted in an understanding of history, and a knowledge of the importance of freedom in society.
In particular, I worry about the current debate on Health Care in America–a debate that is ill-served by the non-informative drivel being released by politicians from both of the major parties, and a media that would rather report arguments than provide facts. Your editorial places itself in a select group by providing some clear ideas for consideration.
Your column will undoubtedly get you both brickbats and applause–from me you get the latter. And because I believe that free enterprise _can_ be used to shape society for the good of all, I vote with my dollar when I can: I will definitely shop at WF more often. Thanks for writing the column!
August 14th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
“All countries with socialized medicine ration health care by forcing their citizens to wait in lines to receive scarce and expensive treatments. ”
If you don’t have money in the US, you can go ahead and die in a ditch. That’s our system. A for-profit health care system is implicitly rationing, and if you don’t have money you don’t get a ration. That’s morally wrong, and people who defend this arrangement are on the wrong side of history.
Our grandchildren will look back on the people who defend this system the same way they look back on segregationists and those who opposed women’s suffrage. It’s basic human progress that they’re fighting against, and it’s really sickening that we’ve let the for-profit system destroy so many people.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Health care is not just for cancer and fatal illnesses!!!
Insurance or Universal Health Care is not just for terminal illnesses or obesity.
It’s for hings that have nothing to do with diet like some forms of diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, Krohn’s Disease, Alzheimers’s, broken bones, strep throat, the flu, ear infections, tonsillectomies,car accidents etc. etc. etc. etc.
Apparently you could care less about people who get sick or autoimmune disorders or just general things that can happen in life.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Before you continue to sing the praises of HDHP/HSAs, you may want to consider that a significant portion of Americans who are under- or uninsured are low-income and/or elderly. More than half of those without insurance earn so little that they have no tax liability, meaning they don’t see a benefit from contributing pre-tax or nontaxable dollars to an HSA.
The higher the burden of cost-sharing, the more likely people are to delay seeking care, or to not seek it at all, and experience poorer health outcomes. As you might imagine, this is more expensive for society to treat.
See this for more: http://www.kff.org/uninsured/7568.cfm
Consider that many of the employees at Whole Foods may fall into the “low-income” bracket. Your desire discourage unnecessary spending on health care (which would be what, exactly?) by requiring them to meet an absurdly high deductible – and what counts toward that deductible? do prescriptions? Wellness checks? – before their insurance kicks in is patronizing, cynical and selfish.
I will not be shopping at Whole Foods any longer.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Thank you for your op-ed piece. You have stated very clearly what many of us believe is a better approach than the current bill.
We are once-a-month WF shoppers due to geographical distance – may have to go more often now. Our local store offers many products not available elsewhere, and with special dietary needs, we appreciate it.
By the way, we have had a Health Savings Account through work for the past 2 years, with a high deductible and low premiums, and we love it so far. The nice thing is that we get to keep our money that we don’t use.
Again, thanks for not being afraid to be a voice of reason in this important debate.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
As an American living in Canada, I can safely tell you that you are full of it. My care and that of my family here has been excellent, timely, and has not caused a financial hardship. I can also tell you that Canadians are aghast and disgusted when they hear about the inhumane private medical system in the US.
Yeah, deregulate the insurance scam industry some more – that worked out GREAT for banking.
Frankly it’s not necessarily your views on healthcare but rather your obvious contempt for people who are not vegetarian CEO’s who can afford to shop at your rip-off of a grocery store that is making me stay away from your Vancouver area stores. Your loathing of the very people who made you wealthy couldn’t be more clear. As far as I’m concerned the sooner you and your ideological brethren “Go Galt”, the better off we’ll all be.
Your selfishness is disgusting. And nice try at changing the subject. This boycott is on no matter how much you now try to blame innocent Americans for their own illness.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
I think you’re misrepresenting not only what is being proposed by congress but also the health care systems of other countries (UK & Canada). Health care in industrialized countries that have some form of socialized insurance or direct care have better overall care than and higher satisfaction with their systems among their population than we have in the US. What you are proposing is radical, has never been done in any other country, and won’t end up covering everyone. It is experimenting with peoples’ lives.
It’s good that you pointed out that lifestyle choices drive health care costs. But do you think that HMOs will be any more interested in preventative care when there are millions of dollars to be made on treating illnesses? Do you think a government bureaucrat with an actuary table in his hand is any worse than an HMO analyst with an actuary table in his hand?
Also, you’re essentially saying that rich people deserve to live and poor people deserve to die or at least that the rich deserve better care.
But money seems to be all that really matters to you, as your past actions have proven.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
My niece has scoliosis, has a steel rod in her back to keep it straight. This has nothing to due with diet or exercise, she did ballet, danced and ice skating as a child so her posture was always good. She had the rod installed at the age of 15 I believe, she has NOTHING ELSE PHYSICALLY WRONG WITH HER. She cannot get ANY insurance because it is a preexisting condition. She would not be able to get an HSA HDHP even because no insurance company would have her.
Your ideas are useless for people like her.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Yeah, you lost me.
There are other places to shop
August 14th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
You wrote as the CEO of a company and allowed your brand to be used as part of that.
Fidiciary Duty Fail.
Then when the reaction hit your website you had all dissenting threads deleted.
Civil Debate Fail
You run a high end retail business, and just gave your base customers a reason to explore other available options from CSAs to the competitors who offer similar products at lower prices.
Epic Management Fail
It’s gonna take a lot more than a blog post to walk this back-and I’ll be interested to note if and how long this comment stays posted.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
This formerly very loyal Whole Foods customer will not shop there again as long as Mr. Mackey opposes the Obama health care reform plan.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
There are a couple of problems with your current perspective. Despite praising yourself for offering health care plans for your employees, there are numerous tax advantage for you to offer a tax qualified plan. There are also major financial incentives for you to shift your employees into high deductible health care plans as that are purely profit motivated move.
Also, why are you afraid of competition in the health care market. Would it not provide you as an employer the opportunity to offer lower cost higher quality products? I am also fairly certain you pay yourself in a stock bonus plan that allows you to pay a far lower income tax rate than your employees? How very American of you John. Pay less taxes, shift more cost to your employees, and tell them to buy your products.
-Crashwatcher
August 14th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
I have to say that I agree with your 8 points wholeheartedly. Personally, I have never really understood our health care system in the US. I think this is also true for many people and a contributing cause to all of this anger and confusion. I do know that this is a behemoth issue that will not be fixed/changed overnight. I think the reform needs to take place in stages and over a four year period.If we take it one piece at a time I think people will calm down. I’m just flabbergasted over the panic, anger, hatred and fear that I’m seeing.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
I’ve run companies based in Canada and companies based in the US. All I can say is that our Canadian employees (with a single payor system) got better coverage and we paid less than for US employees. The simple-minded, misinformed baloney promoted by John Mackey and his right wing allies certainly help fill his pockets, but doesn’t do anything for his employees or customers. Personally, count me as a once loyal customer that now has taken his business elsewhere.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
I initially shopped at the Whole Foods here in Tampa when it first opened and quit doing that about a year ago. After this article I am going this weekend! Kudos to you what a great American Patriot you are! There are many just like you down here in Florida. Behind you all way!
August 14th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Off topic. Care to discuss why you oppose unions so much, Mr. Mackey? Or how many of the commenters on this blog post are sockpuppets, given your past history of such on yahoo! business discussion boards? Or how you can allow employees to vote on health care choices without being in violation of NLRB guidelines?
August 14th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Too little, too late. Even if this explanation (”WSJ edited me”) satisfied me, I have since discovered other things about you, your politics and your business ethics that I dislike. Your company will have to do without the $175 we’ve been spending weekly at your stores for the past several years.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
I hope you do read this, cause you argument against healthcare being a right is extremely weak. Especially when you compare it to food and shelter not being rights.
So what are inalienable rights? Among them, the right to bear arms. Should carrying weapons be more of a right than being given healthcare? I mean, if you aren’t healthy food and shelter aren’t really going to help. How can one work if they are sick or severely debilitated. By your logic, you would not have the right to protect yourself if you are sick.
While I agree that people should be proactive and a number of your other points, I think you are being not willing to look outside of the box. Just because Canada and many places in europe have fully functioning healthcare systems with “long lines” that “equate to rationing” (have you been to some of your stores sir? are you rationing the amount of people to go in or it it just because you provide a good service that people line up?) doesn’t mean that the system we choose has to function like that.
Also, your example of what Whole Foods does, does not constitute what other people should do, as your organization is not fully representative of the types of business that exist out there (remember, more people are employed in small businesses, not large ones).
Good Luck.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
BTW, a friend refuted your points pretty thoroughly here.
Just in case you are interested in possibly learning instead of just promoting debunked talking points.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
I applaud you for making your opinion known. There are many who have not read this bill, that is over 1,000 pages, and includes provisions in it that would make our Founding Fathers roll over in their graves. This bill is on target to push the US into a socialized country and most of it’s supporters have not truly read it. I don’t understand why the hippies who have mainly supported Whole Foods and fought for individual freedoms in the 60’s, now support stripping our freedoms away. You may have lost a lot of consumers, but my guess is that people like me will get behind you and shop there more. Thank you for your common sense!
August 14th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Thank you for your recent piece in the WSJ. It was thoughtful and you raised some straightforward and inexpensive alternatives to enacting yet another costly government healthcare program. It is unfortunate that so few of our elected officials are listening. Please continue to speak out on issues when you have something valuable to add to the debate, despite the negative comments from some “progressive” and “open minded” customers. I have been customer of Whole Foods for years and will continue to support your business.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Bravo! I wish the senators were talking this straight. Love whole foods.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
I find it unfortunate that so many people believe only liberals shop at Whole Foods. And the people who decided that because they don’t agree with John Mackey’s opinion, they can no longer shop there.
It just shows that some people who claim to be open minded have the narrowest of views.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Thank you, Mr. Mackey. I am a closet conservative shopper at Denver Whole Foods (Hampden Avenue). I suspect most of the wonderful WF employees who regularly help me select organic produce and fresh fish would share exactly NONE of my public policy or political views, including my (our) views on health care reform. I cannot tell you how many times prior to the election my checker asked if I had voted yet … presumably for McCain (NOT!). But, you know what? I take no offense. They are all great people. (They can’t even make me feel guilty for keeping my 30 cents for bringing my own bags!) In the years I have shopped there, it never occurred to me to boycott your store because most of your employees are lefties (although I did park my car with the McCain sticker at the end of the lot to avoid any “errant” carts of other shoppers). Rather, I shop at your store because eating good food keeps me and my family healthy. Sort of our own family’s commitment to health reform. So, it is with disappointment, irony, and even amusement that I read that some on the left are boycotting WF stores because of your common sense view on health care reform … even though the bill offers nothing to our fellow citizens that has anything to do with good health … as you and I would define the term. Hang in there, sir. You know you are right. American knows you are right. And, when the politics settle, even your not-so-committed shoppers will know you are right, too.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Echoing other comments, thank you for your op-ed. I did not interpret your essay as hateful. I can understand how others interpreted it as that though. Thank you for adding constructively to the health care reform debate. I hope that some of your ideas make it into legislation.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
You are out of touch with this country! Ever been to a neighborhood where there’s not a WF? Or maybe you’d be willing to open some new stores in areas where people don’t have access to your health-conscious products? South Central LA? Fifth Ward Houston? If that’s what you think is the right answer, put your money where your mouth is.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
That Thatcher quote is absurd. The last 8 years have shown that unregulated capitalism does a marvelous job of running out of other people’s money. Their pension money, the money invested into their homes, and now their tax money. I’d also add that the person you quoted presided over a country with a massive socialized medicine apparatus and left it that way. Just today the head of Thatcher’s conservative party reiterated their staunch support for socialized medicine.
And if you TRULY favored individual choice and responsibility, you ought to let your workers unionize if they choose to instead of busting up their attempts to do so (like you did in Madison, WI). I guess in your mind people should be free to do anything they want…except organize.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Just sold all of my WFMI stock.
Will NEVER EVER shop at Whole Foods again.
As CEO you cannot separate your personal and mean-spirited opinions from your fiduciary duties to the company. Perhaps you are simply targeting a new market segment which you have every right to do. But I no longer part of your target market.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Thank you Mr. Mackey for taking the time to voice alternative solutions to socialized medicine. They sound much better to me than what is currently being proposed. The angry people who have commented don’t understand the actual situation we’re all in as health care and health insurance goes these days. On the other hand, you seem to have a sound mind and actually care for your employees, which I greatly appreciate. Will a store ever be opened in the Boise area??
August 14th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Great view. It is of no wonder to me that Whole Foods is as successful as it is with this kind of mind at the helm. Much respect, i would love to shake your hand.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Mr. Mackey,
I applaud you for stating your OPINION. Anyone saying that you are a fool or unAmerican because you are stating your thoughts are the FOOLS.
YOU ARE NOT ALONE Mr. Mackey and the points you laid out are a great examples of common sense to improve our current health care options.
I hope that you are reading these comments and know we support you and you are not alone – as well as how much I LOVE Whole Foods and your companies values.
Jen Staffeldt Smith
August 14th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
don’t be fooled by the many positive responses here by desperate conservatives. your customer base is largely liberal democratic, and this will hurt whole foods.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
I join others who found your comments clear and refreshing. We are facing a national crisis in health care and other entitlements and they need thoughtful moderate dialogue, something we seem to have lost in these times.
One of your admirers suggested you run for office. I would not wish that on my worst enemy, but I would ask that you take this message out to the American people in an even broader forum than you have this week.
Good luck!
August 14th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Good on you man. If you are ever in Canada send me an email, I’ll treat you to some fine ol’ Canadian healthy cookin’.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Unfortunately, we do not live in an ideal world. Healthy people, who live healthy lives, get hit by cars, still get cancer, inherit health problems, and lose jobs. Whole Foods may hire anyone who is qualified, regardless of pre-existing conditions, but few other companies do the same, even those larger. The U.S. is losing its standing in the world, in large part due to the healthcare costs which companies must spend while other countries in the developed world cover these, freeing up money for the corporations and small companies to put back into building business. Whole Foods may be an ideal employer; unfortunately, too many companies and corporation either cannot or will not offer the same benefits as this company does. Perhaps it is time to look outside your privileged life and check out that of the majority of the citizens of this country.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
How can you lie like this with a straight face? UK and Canadian citizens receive basic care cradle to grave. Perhaps you’d care to ask their politicians about that.
Have you no sense of decency, sir?
August 14th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Health care is, most certainly, a basic human right. Anyone who does not believe so is beneath contempt.
Health insurance companies need more regulation, not less. (Ever hear of pre-existing conditions? Rescission?) People don’t rush to the doctor at every stubbed toe. Even most people who have insurance fail to remember to have regular checkups. If they are sick, they are sick and your $2,500 deductible is a disgrace. You are afraid of standards — the same type of standards the meat industry, the dairy industry and the food industry in general has to undergo — for health insurance coverage. Allowing unlimited deductibles is a stunning “idea.” And tort reform? Really, turn off Fox News. Can’t you come up with a more original talking point?
We have spent thousands and thousands of dollars at Whole Foods every year since 1992, when we first moved to the Bay area, including after we re-located to Chicago. You will not see another dime from us unless you retract the op-ed or resign.
You are certainly entitled to your opinion and if you’d kept it out of the major national papers, I would still be buying from your store. But you used a very public platform to KILL HEALTH CARE REFORM, a vital issue to the progressives who frequent your store. That’s where I draw the line. I’m not giving money to a company that allows their CEO to publicly try to kill health reform.
And you’re a big boy. A savvy one, as well. It’s your article. You should have signed off on the headline. In fact, you probably did.
I wish you luck that all those who align with you — who, let’s face it, do not currently shop at your stores — make good on their promises to do so. They should be aware, though, that the tea will cost a bit more than they are used to.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Your analysis does not factor in the societal cost of having sick citizens, employees, and customers, and you assume that basic health care has to be priced based on existing wasteful models and extravagent. Take an epidemiology class to get a grip on danger presented by doing nothing … Health care is not a cost bourne by individuals … It is an investment in people and society. WFM would not provide it to their own employees otherwise. All the WSJ editors did was clarify your position and highlight your own distracting comparison to “socialism.”
August 14th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
I’m very sorry (though not particularly surprised) that the WSJ chose to edit out your paragraphs on the China study and healthy eating, as this was really the only part of your essay that made sense.
As for the rest, it seems at best thoughtless, especially coming from someone in a position of relative power.
Consider this:
Many promoters of fire protection services believe that people have an intrinsic ethical right to fire protection–to trained firemen,
rescue equipment and EMS. While all of us can empathize with those whose houses burn down and loved ones die in fires, how can we say that all people have any more of an intrinsic right to fire protection than they have an intrinsic right to food, clothing, owning their own homes, a car or a personal computer? Fire protection is a service which we all need at some point in our lives, but just like food, clothing, and shelter it is best provided through voluntary and mutually-beneficial market exchanges rather than through government mandates. A careful reading of both The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to fire protection, food or shelter, because there isn’t any. This “right” has never existed in America.
Sounds kind of nutty, eh?
August 14th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
This country needs more people like you. Reading your blog makes me want to shop at your store more than ever now!! For someone to say that the libs are the ones who got you where you are couldn’t be further from the truth. Thank you for your rational thoughts and common sense.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
flaming I considered shopping at your Louisville store, because of your brave stance – and willingness to speak the truth. Then I come here to tell you that and you have become a coward because some leftist says you don’t have free speech. So shutup whole foods, I hope you go out of business you coward. Glad I saw this before I made the trip to your store.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
John,
Well if you were running for office I’d vote for you based on your business success and your intelligent solution that 77% of your employees voted to keep. What is that old saying, “You can’t please all of the people all of the time”. You have managed to get pretty close. I will shop at Whole Foods just to support you and your 54,000 employees.
People who say they won’t are not really punishing you with their pettiness, they are really hurting those 77% of employees that like your plan. They think that punishing them will make them see that their freedom doesn’t matter. Only the elite liberals who shop here in America count, agree with them or you are demonized and intimidated and boycotted. It sounds to me like they are the only ones who understand money, since that is their power they will use against you and your stores. I know this kind of treatment from them will only make the majority of Americans want to support your business even more.
To those who say you do not care about your employees, I’d like to remind them that this is America, if you are unhappy with your job, get a new one, no one is forcing you to stay!
All my best,
Alana
August 14th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Thanks for standing up for our rights and freedom. It is refreshing to see a CEO and corporation standing for limited government. I’ll shop your store in Mason.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Mr. Mackey is absolutely, 100% entitled to his views-including having them published in the Wall Street Journal.
He is not entitled to anyone’s shopping dollars. Those are bestowed voluntarily, and at every customer’s discretion..
If Mr. Mackey and Whole Foods believe they can make their revenue targets off conservatives who eat vegan-I wish them joy of it.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Bravo!!!
I’m a proud shopper of Whole Foods and (with respect to Mr. Mackey’s article) will keep shopping at Whole Foods! I agree 100% with your ideas! This is America…let’s keep it that way. Socialism has no place here.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Your sound reasoning and clear commentary on health reform has won you a new customer for life–as long as you or a like-minded individual are CEO. While I note the distinction between personal views and corporate policy, I appreciate your courage in taking a stand on a controversial subject. HSA availability, tort reform, insurance liberalization–these are the elements of proper health care reform–along with measures that restore the connection between medical care value and medical care payment, a connection presently honored only by HSA plans. What we don’t need is European-style socialism to solve the problems created by earlier installments of European- style socialism. Your contribution to the debate is immensely appreciated.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
Mr.Mackey,You really don’t understand who the majority of your customers are(I mean were)
August 14th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
The people who are now claiming they will boycott Whole Foods are prime examples of what is wrong with liberal left wing politics in this country. Clearly, if you’re not with them, you’re against them. I hold very similar opinions about our healthcare system and what needs to be addressed and my hope is that those in the Obama administration and Congress will take your suggestions to heart and consider reforming the current state of the healthcare bill. Problems of this magnitude must be addressed from all angles in order to really achieve a positive outcome. As for the boycotters — they have inspired me to go out and use my consumer spending power to support Whole Foods even more so than I have in the past. Keep up the good work!!!
August 14th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
How you could possibly be comfortable denying health care to the poor is beyond me. Not all health problems are preventable by eating well. What about those who are made sick by contaminated water, etc? Should they just eat a low-fat diet and hope they don’t get sick?
I don’t understand how people can be against helping other people. This is not about personal responsibility, it’s about compassion.
My family and I will no longer be shopping at Whole Foods. We will take our business to Trader Joe’s. I will advise my coworkers, friends, and extended family to avoid shopping at Whole Foods. I will use Twitter and other social media tools to inform others that the position of Whole Foods is to deny the needy health care.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Thanks, Mr. Mackey. I’ve always admired the spirit, friendliness, and helpfulness of Whole Foods employees. Now, after your excellent health care article, I will be shopping there even more. I suspect you will gain more freedom-loving customers than you will lose socialist customers.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
All Mr. Mackey is doing is making suggestions. How some people extrapolate that out to outright denial of healthcare is beyond ridiculous.
This is a conversation people, not a lecture.
We have elected government officials who don’t know how to stop spending money (on both sides). We have people in Congress who write 1,000 page bills without a clue what’s in them. We have a Government who can’t take care of it’s veterans, yet we want to hand over 1/7 of our economy to bureaucrats?
We all need to take a deep breath and demand more from the people in D.C. They are doing no one a favor at this point.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
“Our team members therefore spend their own health-care dollars until the annual deductible is covered (about $2,500) and the insurance plan kicks in. This creates incentives to spend the first $2,500 more carefully.”
So if office visits are applied to the deductible, you can be “careful” by not going to the doctor until you have a dire emergency, then spend it all in the ER and compromise your health in the process. And I’m sure Whole Foods pays their employees so well they ALL have an extra $2,500 saved up to pay for health care.
“8. Permit individuals to make voluntary tax deductible donations on their IRS tax forms to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren’t covered by Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP or any other government program.”
Sorry, this just is not realistic. Are YOU willing to pay higher taxes to help provide health care for everyone? If so, how would that differ from a single-payer system? But your piece clearly indicates you’re not.
“While all of us empathize with those who are sick, how can we say that all people have more of an intrinsic right to health care than they have to food or shelter?”
The government subsidizes both food and shelter, for buyers (food stamps, mortgage deduction, FHA loans) and sellers (agricultural subsidies, bank bailouts). The government even runs single-payer health care for seniors (Medicare).
“Health care is a service that we all need, but just like food and shelter it is best provided through voluntary and mutually beneficial market exchanges.”
Few would agree with this if Americans were routinely denied access to food and shelter because they had eaten before or had a history of sleeping indoors.
“Over the past two decades, breakthrough scientific research […] have shown that a diet consisting of whole foods which are plant-based, nutrient dense, and low-fat will help prevent and often reverse most of the degenerative diseases that are killing us, and becoming more and more expensive to treat through drugs and surgery.”
So, John, what percentage of your stores’ floor space are dedicated to the sale of relatively low-margin plant-based whole foods like fresh produce and bulk grains? I bet it’s a fraction of the floor space devoted to the high-margin refined and processed foods in your pasta, pizza, gelato, and bakery departments; the high-margin dairy and animal foods in your dairy, meat, seafood, and deli departments; and the high-margin alcoholic beverages in your stores’ wine departments and tapas bars. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the percentages resemble your American Diet pie chart.
Your company showily advocates spending more money for a better, more cooperative altruistic world, but the reality is you’re just cashing in on however much of that sentiment you can arouse. That makes you a hypocrite, John.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
How wonderful to open the paper and finally find some alternatives for healthcare that don’t include an unconstitutional increase of the government into our lives.
The president has called for a civil debate on this topic and you have certainly provided that. Our current system definitely needs reform (although people without insurance are definitly not left without treatment as others have said earlier, everyone gets what they need to save their life whether they can pay for it or not) and yours are terrific suggestions!
No wonder you have made such a success of your business. I had never heard of it before I read your op-ed so I will definitely be looking it up and will try to shop there!
August 14th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
I say a big round of applause for Mr. Mackey taking a stance against this horrific socialist Health Care that the liberals and Democrats are trying to force on Americans. Polls are showing the majority of America is against it, and the numbers against it are growing by the day.
My political views are conservative, and I have shopped at Whole Foods many times. Now that Mr. Mackey has made a stance, I will go out of my way to support Whole Foods even more and encourage other people to shop at Whole Foods.
I just hope Mr. Mackey is seeing what these liberals are all about, in that they only believe you should be allowed 1st Amendment rights if you agree with them.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Dear Mr Mackey:
The problem is that if you’re poor you don’t have access to quality food, you just have access to fast food and “dollar menus” which eventually leads to expensive medical problems: diabetes, heart disease, cancer, etc.
How about working with the government to subsidize sustainable/organic farming in order to have more independent farmers creating better nutritious food at lower prices?
How about working with the government to provide school lunches for kids that are locally grown and fresh instead of deep fried, heavily process junk food like pizza, french fries and soda.
Also, in this economy, now would be a good time to lower the prices on your fresh/organic produce so that more people can afford to shop at Whole Foods and have access to healthy food.
– Thomas vandenBroeck
August 14th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Mr. Mackey,
In the interest of your shareholders, I encourage you to express your political opinions using the numerous anonymous outlets for discussion.
Thanks for the clarification, but I’m sure it’s going to hurt your new store sales in my neck of the woods. Perhaps you can sue the Wall Street Journal for misrepresenting your views and hurting your company? Maybe you should have known better?
August 14th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
I am an infrequent shopper of Whole Foods, but after reading your op-ed, and particularly after reading the attacks against you, I will be making a point of shopping at your store more often. Keep up the good fight!
August 14th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
The Margaret Thatcher lead-in quote is ironic, considering the top tax US Federal income tax rate at the moment is 39.6%. Under Thatcher in Great Britain, it was 60% in 1985, and there was Socialized medicine as well. If this were 1985, you’d likely be calling Lady Thatcher a Socialist, if you were in the British taxpayer’s shoes.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
http://www.libertyunbound.com/archive/2006_06/mackey-winning.html
John Mackey talks about how he went from being a leftist in his youth to waking up and becoming anti-establishment libertarian once he realized that voluntary interaction is win-win.
When he says he is in favor of health care reform, he likely means he is in favor of real health-care reform – which means liberalized commerced and free people interacting on a more voluntary basis, which will allow supply and demand to use resources more efficiently and help more people. Adding on more government regulation would exacerbate the previous regulatory errors made in the past that have caused the health care crisis.
It’s interesting that in the fields of breast augmentation, laser eye surgery, and contact lenses, quality goes up and prices down every year, because there are market forces because the government does intervene in those areas.
For more:http://mises.org/story/3613
August 14th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Now that I’ve read some of the other comments, I’m pretty sure this isn’t going to blow over like you probably hope it will. You’ve opened the Pandora’s Box and involved your company in the debate. Good luck.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
John,
I will make it a point to visit Whole Foods in NJ to show my support for your position and willingness to use your success and position to speak on behalf of the rest of us.
Don’t let the looney aggregator blogs scare you — YOU HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD!!!
I may even buy your stock!
Thank you,
August 14th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
John Mackey I support your position 1000%. I have a Whole Food 50 dollar gift certificate in my wallet at all times which I use when in Fairfax, VA . Please open a store, as I was led to believe was going to happen soon, near the Smith Haven Mall in Suffolk County, New York. God bless and I will continue to support Whole Food as long as I live,
August 14th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Speaking as a Canadian, I read Mr. Mackey’s op-ed piece and his comments about Canadian (and British) healthcare are, er…lies. Sorry folks, we are not waiting in long lines for treatment as Mr. Mackey dishonestly claims; nor are we being told where to go to get medical treatment by cold, uncaring socialist bureaucrats as Mr. Mackey also dishonestly depicts. Medication and drugs for treatment are much more affordable than in the USA its worth mentioning also. NOBODY ever died waiting for treatment here Mr. Mackey, that is a bald faced lie that is perpetuated by American health insurance companies to scare ignorant and mislead Americans from switching to a far more economical and effective healthcare delivery system: socialized, or nationalized medical care.
If the USAs privatized healthcare system is so great Mr. Mackey, why are 44 million Americans without healthcare? Why are there thousands of Americans dying every year, needlessly, because they are afraid to see a doctor because they know they cannot afford the $1,000-$25,000 treatment–a treatment which their health insurance company routinely refuses to pay out for–even if the claim is legitimate???
Further: Canada, Australia, France, Germany, England, Belgium, and the Czech Republic are only a few of the modern industrialized nations which have socialized medicine. NONE OF THEM want anything to do with the bureaucratic nightmare of for-profit healthcare that the USA has been struggling with for so many decades. Time and time again, economic studies have shown the USA’s healthcare system is the most expensive, least efficient, and least responsive healthcare delivery system when compared to socialized healthcare systems I’ve mentioned, such as Canada’s.
I will no longer shop at Whole Foods, as Mr. Mackey has dishonestly portrayed the healthcare system of my country, and made misleading false claims about it. I would expect more from a CEO of a franchise which claims to be working for humanity and the planet.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Mackey. Thank you for your thoughtful article filled with common sense. If you decide to run for office (like Senator from Washington State), you have my vote and support!! And, I’m off to Whole Foods right now….
August 14th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
I came to your blog hoping that the original article would redeem you. I’m sorry that it has not. Your ideas are excellent, but only serve a fraction of our population. You take care of you and yours and of course don’t let the insurance companies suffer for a minute. Step out of the box sir and look at the world we live in… there is more than exists in your neighborhood.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Thank you for clarifying the reasons why I will no longer be padding your pockets. I would prefer to support my local co-op anyway. Where people actually care about the welfare of others.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
By all means, keep my last comment in moderating limbo. Just gives me a reason to point it out all over the internet instead of simply leaving it as part of this discussion.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Well said!
I must admit I have not done much shopping at Whole Foods in the past, but I admire your bravery in publishing this piece and I’ve vowed to spend more of my money at Whole Foods in the future.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Hey, John;
Glad you’re getting so much new business out of your contributions to the madness, and hope that these fellows actually put their money where their mouths are, because I’m a real customer who’s really not coming back.
Good luck;
t.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Mr. Mackey,
I’ve been a Whole Foods customer for years. Your article makes it even easier for me to justify continuing as a customer. Thank you for voicing your PERSONAL thoughts on health care. Your offerings are well thought and far better than what our elected officials have concocted. Running for office any time soon?
Good on you for standing up for what you believe in AND voicing your thoughts, knowing they’d be contentious, but doing so because you’re convicted to. You have shown great character and integrity. That is uncommon these days. You won’t have trouble finding a job if Whole Foods decides to let you go. It would be their loss.
God Bless,
Chris Halverson
August 14th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
This article is so disturbing.
You’ve obviously been reading too much Ayn Rand and have forgotten about humanity, sympathy, AND REALITY.
I wish you would have (instead of saying “fix medicare” and “repeal taxes”) addressed REAL issues that can be dealt with such as “pre-existing conditions” that prevent people from accessing any kind of health insurance even if they could afford it. Or how insurance companies select what procedures, medicines, treatments, etc. they will cover and for whom regardless of a doctor’s opinion or the severity of their condition. That’s rationing. That’s careless, selfish, and blood-thirsty. If a corporate, for-profit, insurance company recognizes that denying someone treatment while they still pay for insurance works in their (heartless) favor…that’s what they’re going to do. And that’s what they’re doing. And it’s a crime.
To say we don’t have an intrinsic right to food & shelter also implies that our police force, fire department, public schools, national parks, hell even our military, should only exist for those wealthy enough to have stuff and have their own sense of entitlement to these services. Those who are rich enough and therefore worthy enough to live. That’s disgusting. to imply that one person has the right to be protected or to have access to food over another–why? because you sit in an office and run a grocery store? because that’s harder work than the strawberry pickers in california providing the produce that you mark up and profit off of? Oh right, they’re illegal immigrants they definitely don’t have a right to live.
Excuse my tangent.
It’s just mind boggling to me that the desire to preserve American lives with hard reform and sacrifice by all for the common good is not seen as patriotic. Your list of points is completely abstract and irrelevant and misleading to your supporters. All I read is “I have good health, lots of money, amazing insurance: that’s my right. You have no MS, no money, and no insurance: that’s not my problem.” What about your sense of entitlement? You speak as though only the wealthy have worked hard for what they have while millions upon millions or people struggle everyday to scrape by. And it’s this labor that you profit off of. Why not protect it? Do you really see the under/uninsured as expendable?
For a company that presents itself as so progressive, so full of sympathy and empathy, you sure do leave a lot of your shoppers confused and saddened.
You’ll be happy to note that I never really shopped at your store anyway since your prices are almost as bad as the cost of health insurance.
I know this is probably too liberal for you, but this NYTimes article might give you a glimpse at the people you wish to deny access to:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/health/13clinic.html?_r=1&ref=health
August 14th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
“I was asked to write an op/ed piece” Please!.. that bs may fly with your Texas golfingbuddies, but op/ed columns are submitted for consideration not ordered up like a shot of wheat grass. I’ve never heard of a newspaper requesting someone write an op/ed. It must be nice to feel that self-important.
That small detail aside, what were you thinking? Are you so dug into the red state way of life that it didn’t dawn on you that a big chunk of your customer base might take offense at your stating an opinion on such a volatile subject? Any way this played out, you were going to upset a whole bunch of customers. I bet you can’t wait for the next board meeting. If sales tank this weekend, the meeting may even get pushed up.
I just reread your opinion piece and agree that you have something to say on this subject. But not in the WSJ… or the LA or NY Times. Get invited to appear before one of the House or Senate committees. You’re a big, important guy. Your people could swing that invitation in a heartbeat. Guys like you can help our country the most by finding something you can support and then helping unify the disparate sides. If this doesn’t start
happening, we all lose. And if we all lose, organic tofu and free range octopus will be the least of our worries.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
I was a regular customer of Whole Foods, but no more. I’m not putting a penny in your pockets. If you really think your business can survive on right wing customers alone you’re sadly mistaken. See you in bankruptcy court.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
Excellent! I will go out of my way to shop at Whole Foods. Thanks for having the courage to speak out and tell the truth.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
I was a customer, but no more. This is straight out of the Heritage Foundation playbook, who if you haven’t seen them is running ads against health insurance reform.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
You sir, are as far from a Patriot as one can get. And you commenters who have called Mr. Mackey a Patriot have a lot to learn about what makes America great.
We. Care. About. Each. Other.
Yes, even the poor. Yes, even those who do not speak English. Yes, even the “shiftless.” Yes, even those in (gasp) UNIONS!!
Your views are rooted in nothing but greed, fear and ignorance. You don’t want YOUR money going to pay for SOMEONE ELSE to get treatment. Why not suggest we go to a for-profit police force? $9.99 for the first reported crime, $5.00 for each additional crime. If you want us to go after the man who robbed your house, that’s an extra $49.95 – but check for coupons in your ValPak!
What about a privately-owned Fire Department? Firefighting is $400/hr. (Fire trucks aren’t cheap!) If you can’t pay … well, there’s your garden hose, knock yourself out. And if the fire was due to ‘pre existing conditions’ like faulty wiring, then forget about it even if you do have the cash. Get the marshmallows and make the best of it.
Of course, real patriots can just pull themselves up by the bootstraps and buy their own private fire departments and police forces.
The ‘Every Man For Himself’ Reagan era had a good run, but it’s over now, Mr. Mackey. Real Americans now realize the value of caring for each other. But Mr. Mackey believes in the free market, and won’t listen unless you speak with your wallets.
Whole Foods is for Birthers.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Looks like Mr. Mackey has a few supporters on the blog. I hope you manage to sell organic food to non-liberals. Good luck with expanding the natural foods business with conservatives. LOL.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Dear Whole Foods,
I have spent tens of thousands of dollars at your stores in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Manhattan over the years.
I will never spend a nickel there again.
Thank you for making my life less complicated.
Sincerely,
Zack Anderson
August 14th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
I keep reading that you have NEW costumers now, Mr. Mackey. You have just done a great marketing job! Losing your actual and abundant target and getting a new and scarce one.
People who care about their health enough to pay a bit more for their goods are usually people who also care for everyone else’s well-being. Now you got yourself tons of greedy republicans who were not able, in the first place, to invest on their own healthy food. Lets see for how long will these new costumers be Whole Foods clients.
I will not buy again in Whole Foods. It’s not because you don’t have the right to speak up, it’s because your deceitful article confuses people.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
I’ve been shopping at the Lamar store at least twice a week because it’s on my commute. No more. I cannot and will not support a business whose CEO advocates against the little guy.
I should probably thank you, as this boycott will end up saving me money in the long run.
Also, those who strain to applaud Mr. Mackey would be well served to research WF employees’ actual plans. They do not get the amount of “health care dollars” Mr. Mackey states until they have worked for WF for a number of years. A plan with a $2500 deductible only encourages waiting until health problems are severe enough to pay more than a co-pay. This costs EVERYONE. Every day we put off comprehensive, compassionate health care reform is a day our country gets closer to the end of the debt and negative productivity plank.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Yes, while Americans are overweight and obese, this is supposedly a first world country and we should develop a more efficient and effective health system that covers all Americans, regardless of socio-economic status. As a loyal Whole Foods shopper, I am surprised that John Mackey would side with the forces for selfishness and greed, and that he not advocate for a modern health care systems like in the other highly developed countries.
“To whom much is given, much is expected.” Frankly, I expected more from Mr. Mackey and Whole Foods.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Sorry, Mr Mackey – a totally bogus response. Your quote at the beginning comparing health care reform to socialism says it all. If you had your way, insurance for the poor would only be there if we made a donation on our tax form. And people born with disabilities that no one wanted to insure? Your answer is eat more fruit from Whole Foods.
You lost me as a customer and your subterfuge in your response has me more resolved than ever to be in front of your Arlington VA store frequently, handing out copies of your editorial.
You are perfectly entitled to your opinion. However, I am also perfectly entitled to show my disagreement and take the dollars I spend at your store and spend them at Harris Teeter.
I hope your Board of Directors takes notice of this.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
My mother has a high-deductible insurance policy and here is how it works: she spends $300 per month on health insurance that she cannot use because all of her extra money is being spent on paying for the policy in the first place. She can’t afford a mammogram, for God’s sake. An HSA would help her how, exactly? You can’t save money you don’t have.
High-deductible insurance for someone with low income is nothing more than very expensive catastrophic coverage.
Thank you for your article in the WSJ, it has made me realize that my money is better spent elsewhere.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Your ideas are still more of the same old right wing free market bull.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Thank you for having the courage and conviction to come out publicly against this further power grab being pushed by the wildly out of touch Federal legislators. As a critical care professional I see daily how Americans abuse their bodies in spite of the fact that they have been counselled by doctors, nurses, PSA’s, etc. It is sickening to hear how our President is demonizing and slandering the dedicated physicians and surgeons whose hard work and devotion to quality patient care I witness every day at work. We will be shopping at Whole Foods more often. Please keep speaking out.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
You lost me with your opening Thatcher quote. It’s also somewhat disingenuous to state that you are not reflecting the views of Whole Foods Market because the truth is you are Whole Foods Market. I will no longer be shopping there. I should add I live in New York City. I guarantee you this has not played well here.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Thank you for being brave enough to express your opinion. Whether I agree with you or not, it takes guts, and I will be shopping at your store simply because you are not one of the silent majority. Silence is what gets us into messes in the first place.
You should not be condemned for voicing your opinion — is that not the right of all citizens of a free country? Those who won’t shop at your store are also exercising their rights, but it’s sad that they won’t — THEY are the reason so many people stay silent.
Fear of voicing opinion.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
The message I got from Mr. Mackey’s editorial is clear: health care should be rationed not according to need, but according to economic class status: the wealthy will never have to wait for health care, the middle class may or may not have access to it depending on the whims of the health care insurance company), and the working poor and destitute should get health care at the charitable whims of the super-rich (like CEOs of huge companies that need a charity tax write-off.)
I have never seen such ball-faced greed from someone who stands for something like the health food and environmental movement which has always been a concern of the left wing and ridiculed by the right wing. Apparently the old saying that power corrupts absolutely and the rich care only about their own is absolutely true.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
I wish I had a Whole Foods here in Knoxville, TN. I admire your willingness to share your views, despite the fact that you stand to lose money because of them. If I didn’t have to drive to Nashville to shop your stores, I would!
August 14th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Your description of the Canadian health care system is follows stereotypes and is totally inaccurate. Currently, I live in a country with “socialized” medicine (Japan). Their system works far better than ours, does not eliminate choice, and has long waiting periods only for elective surgery. When in the U.S., I’ve been a staunch customer of yours since the Austin days. I’m rethinking that. It seems you’ve lost touch with your roots. For a really well-balanced report on this, check out the Denver Post at http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci_12523427
August 14th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
Mr. Mackey,
First, I have no opinion yet on wether the current bill in congress is good or bad. Why? Because there is no way to believe what anyone says, including you.
I don’t know what the solution is, but one thing is simple to understand. Health care insurance companies exist to make a profit for themselves and their shareholders. After all the consolidation and merging and expense reduction, re-engineering, etc. etc. the only way left for these companies to grow and increase profits is to avoid paying claims–keeping the money.
How is this done? By denying claims, finding pre-existing conditions after the fact once you get sick and dropping you (My dad was somehow supposed to know he had cancer when he renewed his insurance this year even though it had only been diagnosed in July. Yes, he’s been dropped because they claim he knew.) Now, my brothers and I are paying for his treatment out of our savings. Looks like I’m going to have to get a loan for my daughters college education which begins 4 years from now.
Until a few years ago, I would have agreed that we have the best health care in the world. That’s because until a few years ago when I got the bug and started my own business, I worked for Fortune 100 companies where I received very good health insurance. Not once was a claim denied or unpaid. Not once did I have a concern about my health care.
Now, I have private insurance. But I’ve spent at least 50-60 hours on the phone with my insurance company, fighting over every single claim. They refuse the claim, every time. I have to resubmit, every time. My doctors don’t get paid for months and I’m losing well over a week of productivity.
My business is actually doing very well at the moment, but I’m losing work and sleep over my families health care. Worst part is, this is the same insurance company with almost the exact same plan that I had at my last corporate job. Seems that if you’re not on a giant corporate group plan, you don’t count.
As for those long lines in Canada and the UK, we’ve got a much longer one here in the U.S. It’s 40+ million uninsured who don’t have a line to stand on. I have insurance and I had to wait over six weeks to see a specialist last year- only to wait another 4 weeks to see another specialist and then wait for 2 months for surgery. That’s almost 5 months waiting. But, oh, I forgot. No one waits in America for health care.
One other area we agree on is that refined and processed foods are playing a tremendous role in the fattening of America. Are you saying we should go after big agriculture now? Are you? Really? Or is that just the marketing of your business you’re referring to?
And what about the fact that we can’t compete as well internationally in business because our major competitors all have socialist (or communist) health care programs-removing that major expense from the bottom line? Wasn’t it Toyota that built it’s last factory in Canada because the health care cost in the U.S. would have made the factory unprofitable?
So what is left? Most of what you suggest would barely make a dent in the problem. Where are the numbers to support what you say? As they say “Show me the money.”
August 14th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
Thank you for taking a stand! I will be doing my shopping from now on at my local Whole Foods store.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Honest,reasonable and logical. I am sorry some have attacked you for the position would take on the issue of health care. There are many Americans today who are being demonized and labeled because although they don’t like the bill on the table, their ideas of how to address this issue is much like yours. It’s unfortunate that someone who has learned through his business experience, what solutions are encouraging employees to take ownership of their health care decisions, should be attacked for such perceptions.
When I attend a townhall, I will keep in mind your sound solutions, along with other very reasonable ideas that encourage better health, personal freedom and less government intervention. I have an HSA myself and it has allowed me to make the same thoughtful decisions about my health and the health of my family. There is great support for you. Average, reasonable Americans have a lot in common. Some entities would rather we not get too friendly with one another or it will lessen their power over the American people.
Blessings.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Honestly, it blows me away that Mr. Mackey came out with an op-ed like this. Personal opinion is one thing, but does this man realize just exactly which kind of people shop at his stores?! This was a stupid and unnecessary move on his part. I am personally very offended by some of his comments on health care. I have loved whole foods for the past 5 years and shop there as often as possible, usually 2-3 times a month. I travel over 10 miles to get to WF, bypassing dozens of other supermarkets. I have been willing to pay the higher prices because I believed in the mission of WF. I was even a stockholder for a few years!
Well my friends, this was a dealbreaker. There is a Trader Joe’s and a Mrs Greenjeans much closer to me than WF. I will now be saving gas and traveling time, and shopping at these other chains.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Sorry, still not shopping at Whole Foods anymore.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
I appreciate Mr. Mackey’s stand in proposing an alternative to a complete government takeover of the healthcare industry. I have liked Whole Foods for years – I like them even more now and will shop there more in the future.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
I loved shopping at Whole Foods, but I can’t support a company run by a CEO who believes what you espoused in the WSJ. What you advocate would mean the government is flush and doctors will be wealthier, but millions of American people will either suffer and die for lack of health care and funds to pay for medicines, tests, and treatments OR they will end being bankrupted by health costs.
I’d love it if insurance companies were so cool they would work with what you’ve outlined. But they are greedy and do not care if we live or die. Apparently you don’t either.
We used to spend upwards of $500 a month at Whole Foods. Until you are no longer employed by the company we will not shop there.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
you think health care should be bought and sold like a personal computer? how do you put a price on life saving treatment? if a person cannot afford chemotherapy they should be allowed to die?
August 14th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Not much to say other than I can’t imagine what would compel me to set foot in a Whole Foods store again. I’m kind of ashamed of myself for what I’ve already spent there.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
I read your WSJ article, and also read that some folks are now boycotting the store. I have been driving over 120 miles roundtrip weekly to purchase all my groceries for over 15 years and I do not plan to cease that. In fact I am encouraged by your position and wanted to voice my support to you and your entire team at Whole Foods. In my opinion all you did was give some excellent alternatives to socialized health care. You expressed an informed opinion, which is still legal. Your arguments were reasonable and valid. I support your right to free speech and I also agree with your sentiments. Please do not let the naive naysayers bother you. Keep up the good work!
August 14th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
What perversion of sanity transmuted accessibility to medical care into a “right”? I can understand that one has the right to contract with a plumber to provide a service for a fee. I can understand that one has the right to buy groceries from whomever he chooses. I can understand that one has the right to offer his goods or services for a price that he considers appropriate, and that the person who desires those goods or services has the right to seek another source for those goods or services if he thinks the price is too high or the quality of the product is not satisfactory. Such is the nature of a free society; such is the nature of moral commerce between individuals.
When one man, by force, expropriates the goods or services provided by another man, we call him a thief. When one man is forced, either by a gun held to his head, or by government edict, to provide goods or services for less than they would be worth in a free society, we call him a slave. When thievery by one group of people, and enslavement of another group becomes the law of the land, is this not antithetical to all that America has stood for?
As a physician, I personally get a great deal of satisfaction out of taking care of someone who, through no fault of his own, cannot afford to pay the fee I would ordinarily expect to be paid. The “pay” I receive in these instances is, on the basis of my moral code, adequate, and it is something I’ve chosen to do. That patient is not a thief; I am not his slave.
Such would not be the case under House Bill 3200 (or any of the other bills that I’m aware of) now being considered in Congress. And just as my ability to contract with patients in a free-market fashion would be destroyed, so would patients’ rights to decide on what care they receive be terminated.
Do you really want a government bureaucrat deciding what level of care you receive? Do you really want someone who feels enslaved providing your medical care?
Thank you, Mr. Mackey, for, with your voice and your pen, standing up for America and all Americans (even though some seem not realize that’s what you are doing)
August 14th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
Absurd. A billionaire’s ‘I’ve got mine so you just need to endure’ vision of health care. The selective omission of what is subsidized (i.e., socialized) fully in this country and which allows corporations like WF to even function is cleverly — or stupidly — disregarded. History tends not to be charitable to Mackeys; he who hoped to be regarded as the Andrew Carnegie of Arugula must now contend with irrevocably alienating his primary (educated, affluent, mobile) customer base.
As for myself, I’ll be shopping locally & organically, patronizing small businesses that, with the aid of a just universal health care plan, will be WF’s uncrushable competition. Not even hiding under pseudonyms will protect WF’s CEO from that market freedom.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Mr. Mackey – You may have lost Cindy Lou, but you are gaining “Jenny Bou” and her family. My daughter is allergic to corn, so I find your store has the most options for us. After reading your Op/Ed, I stopped by the Buckhead location on my way home from work today and picked up dinner for my family. BTW- I love your Tuna Tartare. It is the best!
Keep fighting for Freedom! Moo wah!
August 14th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Another thought- if Canadians are so very unhappy with their health care system, please tell me why the man who created that system (Tommy Douglas)was named in 2004 as “The Greatest Canadian” of ALL TIME?? To put that in context, Wayne Gretzky only came in at #10.
They seem to have their priorities in order up there in Canada. No doubt there are some detractors, but no system is without its critics. At least the ones up there will live to criticize!
August 14th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
I rarely shopped at Whole Foods, but I will shop there regularly now. Thank you, Mr. Mackey, for showing the courage to speak up with honesty and intelligence.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
I “WHOLE” heartedly agree with you–please-please-please don’t buckle to the pressure from the left. I happily travel 30 miles to your store in Madison, NJ and will continue to do so. You founded your store on the principals that made this country great, and you have every right to voice your opinion. There are more who agree with you, than disagree; we are not as vocal because we have a JOB to go to every morning…..But I think the tide is turning…
August 14th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
You just lost another customer….Trader Joes rules unless their CEO writes moronic op-ed pieces like you.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Unfortunately, mainstream supermarkets are full of unhealthy, heavily marketed products.
It is unreasonable to blame people for buying what has been made most available to them by companies who prefer to keep consumers ignorant.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
That quote from Mrs. Thatcher is interesting.
Unfortunately you misquoted her.
Margaret Thatcher, in a TV interview for Thames TV This Week [[1]]on Feb. 5, 1976, Prime Minister Thatcher said, “…and Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They [socialists] always run out of other people’s money. It’s quite a characteristic of them.”
“The socialists ALWAYS run out of other people’s money”
But history has proven her wrong. The National Health system has been running for 61 years. They haven’t run out of money yet.
Good luck to you. You’ve neglected to build stores in strong conservative areas. Massachusetts alone has more stores than Utah, Missouri, Alabama, Arkanas, Louisiana and Kentucky combined. Mississippi and Alaska don’t even have one between them.
It’s gong to take you years to build stores in conservative areas like Charlotte NC, while the existing stores in liberal areas like the Triangle, NC will decline.
Bad business plan.
But you’ve sold your stock. You don’t care about the stock holders.
History will prove you wrong just like it did to Mrs Thatcher.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Mr. Mackey,
You start out by indirectly labeling the current proposal by the Dems ’socialism,’ framed by Thatcher’s quote. Fine. It’s also true that many of your workers and former employees have been kept alive by the good fortune of our nation’s medicare plan, which is pure socialism, as is social security. And you realize that many aspects of our current economic system are rooted in socialism, if not pure socialism such as social security. It’s fine that you’ve found a good fit for some of your employees–though I doubt that every employee, as you say, would agree with you.
It’s funny…where was this outrage when our nation was pissing away billions if not trillions when it’s all said and done on a war of lie in Iraq? At least the party in charge today is attempting to find a solution to a huge problem in America, which admittedly you agree with.
Half of the fools who are arguing against President Obama’s efforts benefit from social security and/or medicare at this very moment; the other half have no idea what they are speaking about and keep arguing that ‘Granny will die,’ which ironically already happens when bean counters get their hands on our private plans.
You’ve drawn a line in the sand, sir, and many of us will now do the same thing. You’ve traded a lot for a few, and let’s see how the right likes their arugala.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Firstly, I moved from Canada to the USA to be with my American wife. So I know exactly what the Canadian health care system is like. Stop the damned lies please.
Secondly, the American health care system sucks big time. When I moved here I was denied coverage by Kaiser Permanente in California for a physical disability because of a military accident in Canada. Isn’t it nice that you Americans can discriminate against people who have a disability?
Thirdly, if there is anything I’d like to keep from Canada it would have been my medical coverage. At least I did not have to worry about anything. The Canadian medical system is great. I could go to any doctor in any clinic or even to any emergency room (when necessary) for FREE. No going bankrupt for anything. How you Americans can be proud of your medical system is astounding. I would hang my head in shame.
Mr. Mackey… You are clueless when it comes to what goes on in Canada. Before you speak nonsense you should actually do some research.
BTW, Canada has a single payer medical system and it did not turn Canada into a socialist country. Jesus, you Americans make me sick with your “socialist” rants. You have “socialist” type medical systems in place with the military and Medicare for seniors. What’s the problem?
I don’t understand why the government doesn’t just extend Medicare to ALL citizens and permanent residents. It would be a very short bill to read in Congress instead of this ridiculous circus going on right now.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Your “plan,” Mr Mackey, fails to address corruption at insurance companies. The answer to our health care problems lies not in less regulation. Too many people are cheated by insurance companies that cancel policies and refuse services. I have received refusals of service from insurance companies which were only rectified when I threatened legal action. Tort reform will not help consumers.
You are wrong! And I am distressed to find out that you support a campaign against a public option for health insurance.
My family spends about $10,000 a year at Whole Foods Market and now we are looking for an alternative. Maybe this is not important to you, but I have no other way to vote against your plan and your campaign.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Appreciate your view and comments. My company subsidizes our HSA which really helps but we still must contribute to meet the deductible.
I don’t believe I should be required to pay for everyone else’s health care, especially non-citizens. I’m pretty sure I’m already contributing to their care through the medical costs I pay. Hospitals and doctors must cover non-payment of services somehow. I realize that some people really hit hard times and can’t pay their bills. I also realize that some people choose not to have insurance because they are young and healthy. Some are free-loading on the United States’ good graces. Our government should not be involved in health care and managing that system. They generally aren’t that great at managing business. Spending is currently out of control and they want to raise the deficit limit. It seems to me they’ve lost their minds and any common sense they may have had.
I haven’t shopped much at Whole Foods in the past because it is out of my way and more expensive. I’ll be making more of an effort to shop Whole Foods now.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Mr. Mackey, if one of your stores was robbed and your profits put in jeopardy, you would expect the law enforcement officials to respond to your pleas for help. That is what a compassionate society does for each other. Yet nowhere in the Constitution does it state that the gov’t must provide security to protect your profits. Why not just have the market prevail? Contract out all your security needs to companies such as Xe and pay them on a monthly retainer or on a ‘pay as you’re robbed’ basis. No need to have tax dollars go for law enforcement. I mean, are not income taxes socialism?
I will be taking the $500/mth I currently spend at WF elsewhere, to a company that actually believes in supporting the society that so greatly enriches its coffers.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Thank you John. It is time to speak the truth. See you tomorrow for sushi and some wine.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Your ideas about health care are typical of a rich, white Republican. You have no clue how it feels to be poor, self employed or have illness that prevent your getting health care. I will no longer shop at your store. Before you wrote this you should have thought about who buys your products.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Mr. Markey,
You’ve just lost a loyal, longtime customer of Whole Foods who goes dates back to the days of Fresh Fields. I will never shop in Whole Foods again and will watch with interest to see how your comments and idealogy impact your business. It’s unfortunate.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Hello All,
I want to make an important point regarding Mr. Mackey’s Wall Street Journal article: I just researched the Investors Business Daily article John Mackey cites for his quotes regarding healthcare in Canada and England–you know, the part about 830,000 people waiting for medical treatment, or the “1.8 million deep” British people waiting for treatment at the hands of the “heartless, cold and uncaring socialist bureaucrats”. So here is what I found out…
So who wrote this article for Investors Business Daily? Nobody: no author is even cited! And oh, yeah: the Heritage Foundation (an infamous right wing think tank that counts among its ilk Karl Rove and Dick Cheney) is quoted as one of the sources for the highly dubious claims of higher mortality in European countries with socialized healthcare. To quote the Heritage Foundation on anything is to quote an extremely biased, neo-conservative pro-corporate think tank with an agenda. Hardly a trustworthy source of objective, scientific data on healthcare outcomes, Mr. Mackey.
But there’s more: Not only is NO AUTHOR cited for the Investor Business Daily article Mr. Mackey quotes from, but further NO CITATIONS are given for the so-called long waiting lines in Canada and Europe! For all we know these long lists are just made up–by a phantom author no less.
Finally: can we trust Investor Business Daily–a stock market website–for objective, unbiased information on healthcare comparisons between USA and Canada/Europe? No, we can’t: they are cheerleaders for American health insurance corporations and their stock holders.
Mr. Mackey quotes bogus statistics without citations to verify, or quotes statistics from the militant right wink think tank Heritage Foundation–an article without an author! Little wonder Americans are so confused about healthcare reform: they are being fed lies and misinformation like Mr. Mackey is using in his Wall Street Journal article.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Thank you Mr. Mackey, I share your view and though there are no Whole Foods near me (wish there were), the next time I visit family in Chicago, I will frequent WF, as I always do. Your ideas are constructive and well thought out.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Mr. Mackey,
This formerly very loyal Whole Foods customer will not shop there again as long as Mr. Mackey opposes the Obama health care reform plan.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
personal attack Who do you have astroturfing your comments? Because they’re bad at it.
By the time you got to “The problem with socialism…” in terms of the health care debate, you were already off the deep edge where me and mine are concerned. Thatcher’s England HAD SOCIALIZED MEDICINE. All developed countries have socialized medicine, including ours (Medicare? Medicaid?). The WSJ didn’t edit the shortsightedness, knee-jerk conservatism, or brutal unwillingness to help the sick and needy into your op-ed — they just took out your boneheaded 1998 infographic.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
To the Board: Greetings from Colorado. Well, until today I have been a loyal WF customer for years and years, at three stores here in Denver Metro and at two in Northern California. But guess what? I am done. Isn’t it curious that a man whose firm is so health oriented is also opposed to public healthcare??
During the campaign of 2008, there were rumors circulating that WF was owned by Republicans who were in support of the McCain/Palin ticket. I asked a longtime clerk at the store and was told that such was not the case, whew! for me. But I guess it was too good to be true. Or at least, no matter what the political bent of Mr. Markey, he is not a very good citizen to his fellow Americans. ‘Bye.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
I spend about $6000 a year at Whole Foods between groceries and catering. I will never spend a dime with you again. This is not a ‘boycott’, it is a personal choice, and those who feel differently are free to make their choices. I wouldn’t want my money going to pay your salary, anymore than I would want to help Glenn Beck. I assure you there are many more people in Northwest DC and Silver Spring who feel as I do, than those who share your perspective.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
John,
You have earned LEGIONS of new Conservative shoppers through your excellent op-ed piece.
They have a lot of money to spend. If you continue to offer the the excellent Whole Foods experience, they will be yours for life.
Never, ever be afraid to speak your mind when speaking with integrity and honesty, for there are literally tens of millions who agree with you.
Do not let the “negative” press from the left-wing media cause to back down at all. For while articles may highlight “the bus rider who has gone to WF faithfully for years and will no longer”, there are thousands more of us to replace him.
I will be sure to make a note to head back over to WF very soon. Your rotisserie chicken is the best!
Keep up the great work in defending the free-market principles that made this nation what it is.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Unfortunately, those who are uninsured or underinsured, in most cases, cannot afford to shop in Whole Food, or live in the areas where Whole Food stores are located. Also, once again, facts about a bill is wrong. There are currently five bills in both houses (3 in Congress, 2 in Senate). There is still a lengthy process in conference in order to get them into one bill.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Pure, simple, selfish, shortsighted, dishonest balderdash.
I will never set foot in your University Avenue store again. I’m very glad you didn’t put a new store in the Hilldale Mall because it looks bad to have a new store die a quick death.
Who do you think your customers are? The deathers? Do you think the well-educated, liberal, community-oriented university crowd that has supported your store will take kindly to this?
August 14th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
A) I doubtThe Wall Street Journal “Twisted” Mr. Mackey’s words. Mr. Mackey was critical of the reform effort and called it “Socialism”. The WSJ is owned by Fox Newscorp and is sympathetic to this opinion. B) My dad was a business owner and was asked his political opinion all the time. He had many strong opinions. He kept them to himself, and shared them only with close friends. This is because he realized that as a business owner, his customers were Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, as well as liberals & conservatives. He understood that voicing his opinion could cost him customers. Mr. Mackey would have done well to keep out of the fray. He is entitled to his opinion, entitled to speak his mind as a citizen to his representatives in DC, but to have his opinion published was not a wise choice. He has alienated his base. Let’s face it. I am sure folks on both sides of the issue shop at Whole Foods, but I am willing to bet the lions share are Liberals who are most interested in the kind of products found at Whole Foods.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Yes, Mr. Mackey, you are able to offer your opinion about health care reform. People like you are highly influential given your power, (translation money). Your customers can tell you what they think about your opinion by shopping elsewhere which is the only influence that we have. You clearly don’t know much about the demographics of your core group of faithful customers. Your lack of support for a reform measure that will help so many will end up affecting your bottom line. You’ve made millions already and can buy the best coverage in terms of healthcare, so I guess it doesn’t matter to you anyway. It matters to me, my family and friends, and we will let you know this the best way we know how; with our wallets.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
I applaud Mr. Mackey for adding to the health care debate. I already shop at Whole Foods and will continue to do so to show my support.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
@ Tammie
Medical coverage should NOT be profit oriented. That is so incredibly WRONG.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
I, for one, will not be shopping for my organic foods at Whole Foods ever again. Thankfully, here in Akron, Ohio, we have the Mustard Seed Market, and I do not have to depend on Whole Foods for my organic needs. How sad that the CEO of a company that promotes good health also promotes the idea that everyone in this country should not have equal access to health insurance. Obviously, this is one CEO that is leeching off of those who desire to live a healthy lifestyle, rather than a CEO that actually BELIEVES in the product and the philosophy that he is selling. How disgusting.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
At last! A contribution to the healthcare debate from a bona fide Liberal!
Medical care will improve and become more affordable by maximizing personal choice, sharply curtailing third-party interference in the competitive free market, and eliminating “lawsuit lotto” legal actions.
I’m going to frequent Whole Foods a lot more often in the future.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
Sorry Mr. Mackey…too late. I will be joining the boycott.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
I agree with Laura –
I am an infrequent shopper of Whole Foods, but after reading your op-ed, and particularly after reading the attacks against you, I will be making a point of shopping at your store more often. Keep up the good fight!
And I would like to add that I LOVE my HSA! It has given me more freedom in my healthcare choices. Also, I would like to state that most HSA plans allow for a FREE yearly Physical and additional WELL CARE appointments. It is the best healthcare reform that this country has seen in decades!
August 14th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Thank you for posting your opinion. It is amazing how many people want the “MAN” to run their entire life for them. We need only look to MOST of rest of the world to see what Socialism will bring us. I loved the comment by our neighbor from the north that now lives here. Canada is certainly the model for public health care and NON-SOCIALIST country – PLEASE. Any way, thanks for speaking up. I just hope the silent, deadly silent majority of working America will FINALLY wake up and refuse to be led down the path to perdition that we are on. Trust me, Barack, Nancy, their crew, and the blind followers that believe they are on the yellow brick road to OZ do not have the answer to the proverbial question!!! Keep up the good fight, I am a fan now!
August 14th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
I, for one, will be a new customer because you have the courage to state your opinion. In America we still have free speech and you excersized it.
If we, as Americans, don’t stop the nonsense that is going on in Washington we will also lose freedom of speech. I wish more business people would speak out.
Jim Hoff
Glendale AZ
August 14th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Everyone should ask John why he went to an HDHP plan. Yes, it has the pre-tax HSA but I am guessing it was becuase his premiums were so high that he had no choice. Also, ask him what his employee’s out of pocket max limits are. Another example of how Americans continue to be under-insured while paying higher and higher premiums. More and more insurance companies are openly reporting that HDHP plans are not driving down healthcare cost, esp in the small business arena. And to the bigger question for you and your board – why did you write this? Stick to overpriced fruits and veggies.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
You know I am amazed at all of this. I work as an health insurance agent and I cannot tell you all how many people I meet in my travels that do not have any health insurance and are suffering. I wish they would have a public option to help the people I meet because the company I work for would rather be a part of the problem than be apart of the solution. Thank goodness, I have socialized medicine at the VA because I would not be able to afford any health.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
@ Mr. Mackey
You sir are so wrong. Canada has what is called the “Canada Health Act.”
The Canada Health Act states in the preamble that the objective of Canadian Health Care policy is “that continued access to quality health care without financial or other barriers will be critical to maintaining and improving the health and well-being of Canadians.The primary objective of the Act is “to protect, promote and restore the physical and mental well-being of residents of Canada and to facilitate reasonable access to health services without financial or other barriers.” (Section 3).
As you can see, Canadians do have a LEGAL right to health care coverage regardless of their financial status. Where I come from (Manitoba) you have basic coverage for all. That is free. If you want to get extended coverage for things like having your own hospital room, cable tv, etc., you get Blue Cross, etc. extended coverage. Simple and that is the way it should be in the United States.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
Dear Mr. Mackey,
Thanks you for speaking up, just like Alam Miller did of Universal Health Services.
We need more businessmen like you to speak out against socialized medicine and for individual health care insurance.
Of course I will be thanking you as well by buying more frequently at your stores, especially now that one opens in Dedham.
Just one request: Please bring the plastic bags back as the paper bags fall apart in rain and snow and cannot be bound tight. I know it is tough on you in the current ‘green mania’, but a good example by you in that area my mean a lot of relief for your buyers.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
You have done nothing wrong, Mr. Mackey. Some people believe that if you have a differing opinion, you must be silenced. Reasonable Americans believe otherwise.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Mr. Mackey:
-Thank you for making your opinions known, because I could not (in good conscience) support a store like Whole Foods, knowing that their leadership is so bereft of common sense. I will NEVER step foot in one of your stores ever again.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Wow. What a shame that I have to stop shopping at Whole Foods. I refuse to spend my money to support a person with your views. I am going to pass the word in my “liberal” community as well. I was in Whole Foods today. Who would have guessed that it would have been my last time?
August 14th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
I’m sure the loss of our business won’t impact your company adversely but my wife and I cannot in good conscience continue to shop at Whole Foods.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
Mr. Markey
It is so unfortunate that you are so far out of touch with your customer base. Who did you think were the prime consumers of your organic products??? The conservatives that want to drill for oil within the National Parks system?? I would never think about spending another dime at Whole Foods under your management.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
Bye, bye John, we are now shopping at the Fresh Market. To our surprise, it is better than WholeFoods
August 14th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
You’ll loose me. I’ve been talking to my friends WFM was a wonderful place to shop. But now it won’t be like that anymore.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Thank you for contributing something of substance to the national debate.
I’m puzzled at the reactionary response you’ve received from some, but emotion seems to override reason all too quickly these days. Would that your critics would disagree with what you say yet be willing to fight to the death for your right to say it. Considering their seeming willingness to cash in their liberty for a piece of “security,” it should come as no surprise what a low value they place on a fellow concerned citizen’s freedom of speech.
My wife and I have never really been “Whole Foods shoppers.” I can assure you (and your detractors) that we are now.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
first things first…I WILL BE SHOPPING MORE AT WHOLE FOODS FROM NOW ON!!!!! High 5 & fist bump to mr. mackey!!!!!
i find it interesting that for every “i heart Canadian health care” story, i have heard 10 distressing stories of the Canadian system. Not good…and just as mr. mackey points out…we have quite a larger population than Canada or the UK. it is an administrative nightmare, not to mention how well our government runs things…oh, and let’s not forget the corruption that is synonymous with washington dc…
why we would hand over the reigns to one governmental body with greedy/corrupted intentions…which, btw, cannot be sued by you…scary! and…if health care is a “right”, then why on god’s green earth would there be the inevitable rationing that will come down the pike. the government then cannot deny me whatever procedure i want…right? LOL!!!!!
i will end with a big THANK YOU to this courageous and thoughtful article…go get’em tiger!!!
August 14th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Dear Mr. Mackey,
I’m certainly pleased to know what you think regarding the intrinsic “right” to food clothing and health care. It’s good to know that this is the mentality behind Whole Foods. I can assure you I will no longer be shopping at my local Whole Foods here in Tucson. I will also be lending as much syupport as I can to the soon to be announced national boycott of Whole Foods.
We should be helping each other sir, not turning our backs on those fellow citizens in need, like the 20,000 or so Americans who die each year because of lack of accessable and affordable quality healthcare.
You should be ashamed….your views are not patriotic, not in the least.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
I think your ideas for health care “reform” are just plain insulting to a man who has 2 jobs and still can’t afford to get insurance.
Maybe I’m just too poor for your store, I’ll have to shop somewhere else.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Here’s the email I sent to Whole Foods this morning. Nothing Mr. Mackey has written subsequently has changed my mind (equating health care reform with that fear-mongering word “socialism” is particularly egregious):
“I will no longer shop at Whole foods. Here is why. While the company–in part through its moniker “whole” and its claim to value community–implies that it is more about selling commodities, John Mackey’s WSJ editorial shows that the store is really just about the market. If you can sell healthy food, great. If you can afford health insurance (like healthy food) that the market provides, great. Apparently, you can make a profit selling healthy food. You can also make a profit selling insurance, but not everyone will be able to afford it. Being satisfied with that is not looking at the “whole” picture, but only at the bottom line. Shame on your CEO.”
August 14th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
I am dismayed by this article, in both versions. It starts out as a reasonable enough set of suggestions (though I don’t agree with all of them), but then takes a very disturbing turn, and there are three points I think need addressing:
1) For all the limitations of the NHS, it still provides a basic safety net for every person in Britain. Yes, those that can afford to typically “top up” with private insurance, but those that can’t still have access to doctors and hospitals and preventative care, instead of having to wait till a problem becomes critical to get any care at all, and then risk being bankrupted by it. To focus on the shortcomings only misrepresents the system horribly, and misses how much more civilised it is than a wholly private healthcare “system”.
2) I’m deeply disgusted by your victim-blaming. Yes, many health problems are avoidable, and good public health policy is a much cheaper (and in the long term, more effective) way to tackle those. But many illnesses–not to mention injuries–are not caused by any circumstance under the individual’s control. Be it inheritance, sheer bad luck, or subtler social problems like the extreme difficulty of actually getting healthy food in the poorest district of pretty much any American city (hrm… there’s something constructive Whole Foods could actually help with if you’re so inclined), many people are sick through circumstances entirely beyond their control. Your proposal would do nothing to help them, and merely rubs salt into the wound with a dose of blame for their misfortune.
I take this part personally because I am one of these people. In my 20s, while in fine health–not only eating well but training hard at martial arts and doing just about everything right–I was struck by a chronic illness for which the only known risk factor is that it’s more common in richer countries than poorer ones. Thank heavens I lived in Britain at the time and had the NHS available to treat me. And thank heavens that since moving to the US, I’ve been one of the privileged people with access to an employer health plan that is forced by law to accept pre-existing conditions. If I lose that privilege, whether through unemployment or through a change in the law, I will have to move back to Britain because there’s no way I (as half of a household earning well above the US median household income, with no dependents) can afford my maintenance medications without insurance cover. And that still makes me a relatively privileged person, because at least I have the option of moving back to a country with a civilised health care system – without that, the expected outcome would be death from complications of a condition that is perfectly manageable, _to those who can afford the enormous cost of the meds_. I hope you understand the gravity of this point: adequate health care is not some piffling luxury for a person in my position, but the difference between dying young and being able to live a full life, with a chronic illness that is fully under control most of the time.
3) In a way this is the most disappointing of all, given that it seems so inconsistent with how you run your company and treat your employees: I’m saddened by the lack of ambition revealed by suggesting that only things spelled out in the Constitution and Declaration of Independence count as rights. Do you really mean to suggest that we should aspire for nothing more for our fellow human beings than could have been imagined centuries ago, when slavery was a social norm, no-one had indoor plumbing or electricity, and there was no such thing as evidence-based medicine? Why should poverty shut people out of the immense gains we have had from a century of medical science? And do you think we’d even have anything like the Constitution or Declaration of Independence if the founding fathers had allowed themselves to be similarly unambitious?
There’s a lot of hotheaded talk about boycotting Whole Foods among my social circle right now (many of whom, including myself, have been very loyal customers of yours for as long as we’ve been able to afford your prices). I’m not sure whether I’m going to join that or not, but I can tell you that you’ve lost a few of my friends’ business already, and I’m wavering. For me it really hinges upon how much I believe that the association with the Whole Foods brand was the work of some dastardly editor at News Corporation, as opposed to your original intent from which you’re just trying to climb down to save face. I don’t have to agree with or like the CEO of a company to shop there, but if I feel that their brand is being used to advance an agenda that endangers my welfare, then I certainly don’t want any of my money going to support that.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Mr. Mackey:
I will no longer shop in a store whose CEO has such a pompous, self righteous and erroneous view of the health care crisis in the US or the National Health system in the UK. Sitting where you are, Mr. Mackey I can guarantee you have excellent health care coverage. Do your employees, as well? As an RN who works with patients in the end stages of life, I can tell you from my experience that health care is a RIGHT of all citizens, and not for those fortunate enough to have a job. Take a look at other people’s struggles, Mr. Mackey and cultivate something you lack…empathy and compassion.
J. Fields, RN
August 14th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
THANK YOU!!! I have never shopped at Whole Foods, but will make it a point to try to shop at your store from now on…. just to make sure I cancel out someone who is boycotting a store just because someone voiced some alternatives to health care policy. Re-read this people… he is NOT putting anyone down!!! How can people be getting upset over this!
August 14th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
” Those lawsuits are the reason our food supply is safe. ”
Not even close.
The reason our food supply is safe, is because selling unsafe food is a disaster for any business. Look how much Jack-in-the-box lost a couple of years ago when they had that food poisoning incident. The market deals far more damage to a slipshod operation that lets contaminated food get through, than they would ever lose in court.
-jcr
August 14th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
I have a very good friend who died of kidney cancer without the benefit of health insurance or care.
In her honor I promise to tell at least one person every day NOT to shop in your stores. I am perfectly capable of losing you seven long time customers in your Montclair store today.
It’s a bit of a hardship for me but the new Fairway looks great. I’ll be giving them a rave review and trashing your “organic” fare. I sincerely hope that your company tanks.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
I am sure any business you lose will be gained by those that agree with you or are opened minded and will at least listen to reason and discuss compromises.
Your store in Richmond is 20 miles from me but I will gladly drive that far and just stock up when I am there. I will encourage my like friends who also oppose this government takeover to do the same.
Thank you for standing up for what is right for this country and its people.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
John Mackey, Your store has received the last dollar from my family. I want to thank you for showing your true opinion of humanity. You are out of touch with many of your customers, and do not deserve the position you hold.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Dear John Mackey
My wife and I have been advocates of single payer since 1992-when we met Paul Wellstone at the Democratic National Convention. Since then, we have been active in The Pennsylvania 4 Progress Bills now in the State House of Pennsylvania- P4P.
This bill is funded by a 10 percent tax on all businesses, and a 3 percent tax on all state residents. It includes alternative medicine, as well as long term care, dental, and eyewear. It has great bi-partisan support in both houses of the Pa. Legislation.
It is not tied in to your place of employment. Employers will save money and have great coverage. Citizens will be able to make health car choices, and the federal government will not go bankrupt.
I would welcome your investigation into our plan, and your feed-back would be appreciated. I would also like to encourage corporate support for alternative therapies within the bill.
The health insurance industry has dictated our health care policy for generations-suppressing healthy living issues, and alternative modalities-while rationing and depriving care to millions of citizens.
99 percent of Canadians would not trade their health coverage for ours-I noticed that you did not use Canada as an example in your blog. The Pa. plan-more closely resembles this plan than the European Plans.
Whole Foods and Whole Health are intricately woven. Affordability is a factor in both cases. When accessibility is 100 percent-education in right living can have a paradigm shifting impact. When uncovered and denied benefits are not bankrupting families, they can afford to eat better and live better.
I appreciate your good work and corporate responsibility.
Tom Harner
August 14th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Bravo Mackey.
Yours is a voice of courage and integrity.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Mr. Mackey, people who shop at Whole Foods are overwhelmingly supporters of health care reform. We feel betrayed by your opposition to this urgently needed legislation and you will lose our business.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
I’ve been shopping at Whole Foods ever since they opened in Palatine, IL. I’d rather buy less and get higher quality, particularly with fruits, meats and fish. But as a healthcare worker for 36 years I’ve watched it evolve from a not for profit system to our current system of big business and corporate greed. It is a system that has run many physicians into early retirement, because the fatigue of dealing with insurance companies takes its toll. I believe that everyone who pays taxes in this country deserves to have basic healthcare. My only argument with Obama is that the only way to get special interests out of my doctor’s office is to run a single payer public system. We currently have a system where there is no incentive for an insurance company to pay OUT…and the harder they make it, the more likely people will give up and pay it themselves or not have a test they need. Medicare already is the single decider for tests being approved. It has to pass muster with medicare before an indication and a test are ok’d by an insurance company. So, given a choice, would I rather have the so-called government doing what they already do….decide if a test is necessary… or a $9 an hour clerk working for an insurance company, telling my doctors office that they won’t approve something that should have been approved. The best way the system would save money is to take all of these middlemen out of it- integrate medicare and medicaid and provide equal access to all and make it the not for profit system it should be. It amazes me when the money men talk…when money stands in the way of what is the right thing to do.
Well…MY money will go to Trader Joes’ now–at least until their CEO shows his true colors and his insensitivity to his customer base.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
You really have no idea what your saying regarding health care. You simply do not understand the economics of it. I’ve been shopping at Whole Foods Stores for fifteen years and currently spend $1200-$1500/mo at the two Phoenix stores nearby. I cannot continue to do so. You are no better than those like thye Limbaughs of the world who would rip this country apart because of ignorance, stupidity and/or greed.
L.A.W.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Mr. Mackey, I have tried to post a message opposing your stand on health-care reform but you apparently will not accept any more posts expressing my viewpoint, no matter how moderately worded. This is very disappointing.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
The words ignorant and pathetic are appropriate for Mr. Mackey’s article. I must comment before i withdraw my support to whole foods, saving a public retraction by Mr.Mackey. I migrated from a poor 3rd world country in South America (Guyana). The average salary is $150.00 US per month. People have to save for months to buy a new shoe. Yet still that poor country provides health care for all its citizens. There are also private options if people so choose. This system works very well, no rationing or denial of care. You and all those fear mongers need to get educated and learn to love your fellow citizens and give people a choice.
I will ask my friends on Facebook, Hi5 and Myspace to boycott Whole Foods if this is where the company stands with regards to Health Care Reform.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Mr. Mackey:
You have made your choice concerning health care reform and you have chosen to bring Whole Foods as a company into the discussion. As a result of your choices we will not be purchasing any further food at Whole Foods. Our choice is based on a belief that we need health care reform, that any business that chooses to take a stand in politics has brought politics to the company.
I hope that you understand what you have done and that many people make the choice to stop purchasing from Whole Foods.
Hal Nees
August 14th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
I support your opinion, but as CEO of a company that strongly states it support for communities, you are reckless. I agree with a previous comment…The Whole Foods Board of Directors needs to fire you and move on.
In addition, your follow-up comments used typical lame tactics.
Typical tactic #1…BLAME SOMEONE ELSE, in this case the WSJ. Even this lame excuse does not change the ignorance of your bitter comments.
Typical tactic #2…Ask for CIVILILITY, sounds like another anti-healthcare person who throws red meat to the masses than let others fight.
Your reckless comments about not supporting healthcare is harmful to all Americans, even people with insurance who are held hostage by yearly price hikes, more co-pays and rationing of services. People in this country should not be going to Mexico or health fairs to get health services. I will actively shop at other places that support communities such as my local co-op, Trader Joe’s, Meijer’s, Busch’s, Krogers etc.
Most importantly I urge everyone to shop at Walmart which I am surprise to say is a supporter of health
care reform.
You sir, don’t deserve to call yourself CEO of Whole Foods. I hope the WF Board of Directors, have more concern for the people and communities than you. Please Board of Directors, walk the talk of your company and fire this reckless person.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Mr. Mackey, I have spent untold gold shopping at the store and have encouraged others to do so. I am disappointed by your views on health care reform but I’m glad that they are made public now. I had wrongly assumed that Whole Foods Market’s progressive quality went beyond its products. I am a healer practitioner and I am well aware of the importance of good nutrition for physical well-being. However, Whole Food Market is not the only (or most cost-effective) supplier of sound food. I have joined the boycott of Whole Foods Market.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Mr. Mackey,
I just want to say Thank You!
We shop at your store twice a week for all, and I mean all of our groceries and it is rarely under $250 each trip because there are 5 of us. We are not in favor of government run anything and to hear you say this will help us sleep better knowing the money is not going to support a bunch of “useful idiots”.
I have Crohn’s disease and your store provides everything I need to keep it in remission (I do not take any pharmaceutical drugs). I consider our food and supplement bill as our health insurance.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
As dedicated Whole Foods customers for many years, we would like to personally thank John Mackey for his courage in standing up as an American citizen to say what he feels about a subject that’s going to affect all of us for years to come. My wife and I have spent many thousands of dollars with Whole Foods through the years, and when we see someone whose supposed to go along with the hackneyed cliches and politically correct program actually have the courage to speak his mind, we’re impressed and relieved. Thank you, John Mackey. My wife and I hope to see you at Whole Foods Buckhead, soon, and shake your hand.
Ralph Barnes
Atlanta, Ga.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Wow….you’re unbelievable. You’ve just lost me as a customer and my entire my family. I’ll be going to Sprouts here in Dallas now.
Do you even know who your loyal customers really are???? Obviously not.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Only in America would a people politicize a supermarket. Did our parents and grandparents do this kind of stuff. It’s shameful that some people are so nasty, but as the saying goes, “When one door closes, another opens”.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
I will miss shopping at Whole Foods, but I will not watch my hard earned money be used to support this sort of far right-wing crap. At least your customers (or former customers) finally can see what kind of person is behind this company.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Thank you, Mr. Mackey, for speaking out against Obama’s health care takeover. Don’t worry about the people who are threatening boycotts – there are tons of us who agree with you and will continue shopping at Whole Foods (by the way, your Vegan Chocolate Mousse is out of this world!). Keep up the good work and thanks again for speaking out in a big way.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
You, sir, have gained a new customer. I have never really shopped at whole foods but will now make an effort to increase my traffic. Thank you for having the courage to stand up and say NO to the thugs in Washington. You have set a fine example for all Americans afraid to stand up and speak. Thank you. God bless.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
I find that your article is short sighted when you encourage deregulation of the industry. When my wife was employed full time and received a very nice health care plan, we felt forced to continue paying for her individual policy that she had had since college. Since she had a pre-existing condition (Lupus) we were certain that if she left her new job she would not receive coverage again. While I agree with some of your points (tort reform in particular), I feel like we need to remove most of the profit motive from the insurance system since it has clearly been abused for so long.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Dear CEO Mackey:
You are, of course, entitled to your opinion, and I am entitled to mine. I did not know what kind of a person I was supporting with my shopping dollars, but you have now shown me I am shopping at the wrong store.
I have read both your WSJ Article and now your blog. I must confess I was surprised to learn that I was supporting a person and, apparently, a company whole ideals are so much at odds with what I believe. It is easy for you, a weathly man to call Obama’s health care plan Socialism, but many seniors, the military and all federal employees have access to “socialism” health care. I know that the loss of my family’s business will not cause you any financial pain, as rich as you are, but in good conscience I cannot and will not shop at a store that benefits a many with views such as yours. I used to associate Whole Foods with healthy, but now I understand its all about money for you – those without health care be damned. As a small business man, when I first started out my largest expense was health coverage that did not cover anything until I had spent $5,000 each year, but still cost me $800/ month for my wife and I. Therefore, each year, before I had any health care coverage, I had to spend $14,600. Try starting a small business with that hanging over your head. But then, you are rich and nearly $15,000 is nothing to you. Thank you for letting me know just what you stand for so that I can vote with my dollars and spend them at another store.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Thank you for speaking out on this issue. I find myself in general agreement with you. I wish that you would speak out more. I wish you would run for office. We need a progressive libertarian in the White House, instead of the authoritarians we have had in recent years.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Sorry if this is too lengthy, but, I’d like to briefly address your 8 points:
1) High Deductible/HSA’s – Neither of these does anything to lower the rising cost of premiums. People have a hard enough time saving for a home, car, education, retirement, etc. which I guess could be, but, shouldn’t be considered a luxury, however, saving for an unknown illness, I don’t think that’s even a viable option for most people.
2) Tax Benefits- This also does nothing to prevent the sky rocketing cost of premiums. So what if it’s deductible, that’s just more incentive to up the cost & we all pay in the end anyway.
3) Repeal State Laws – Insurance companies must be licensed in each state that they write business in. The state insurance department regulates & audits them, therefore, there is consumer protection & they can assist with any complaints. Companies are also assessed annually based on the premium they collect & pay into the states Guaranty Fund. In the event that they go bankrupt, the benefits of their claimants will be honored. Check with any state insurance department or do a google search, you may be shocked to find just how much insurance companies pay in fines, millions. Even more is spent on their CEO’s, legal teams, marketing, & oh, their medical director & team of death panelists. Does it occur to anyone where all the money that insurance companies spend comes from?
4) Government Mandates – Just what are the current government mandates…mammograms, chiropractors, physician assistants, midwives, etc…I don’t see how this ties into more costs than would be otherwise undertaken.
5) Tort Reform – This is a tremendous myth, perpetrated on a misinformed public because apparently, it works. Studies have proven that these costs are minuscule in the whole scheme of things. I don’t know what you’d consider “ruinous lawsuits” however, it is difficult at best to even file a malpractice suit, with the up front costs & getting a provider to admit that one of their own is responsible for anything is next to impossible. I think that if you were truly victim of malpractice you wouldn’t think twice about seeking compensation. There are some extremely questionable providers out there with complaint after complaint & well, just aren’t qualified to practice. How about the AMA & nursing boards reigning them in instead of letting them go with a slap on the wrist. Simply put, malpractice premiums are high because of supply & demand…Those with the supply can demand what they want.
6) Health Care Costs Transparency- Please forgive me for not quite understanding this point. I certainly know what my last doctor visit cost & haven’t had any problems when requesting this information.
7) Enact Medicare Reform – Not sure what you mean by “patient empowerment and responsibility” or how this reforms Medicare. Stop raiding the social security trust, that’s a start.
I have been in the insurance industry for over 30 years & have seen many changes. An awful lot of time & money is spent on getting out of benefit payments. They are after all, not only in the healthcare business, but, in business for profit. When they make bad investments, need another lobbyist, a new plane, another fancy high rise, whatever, the loss has to be shifted somewhere, unfortunately, it’s all too often at our expense, in high premiums, denial of benefits & recision of coverage.
Considering that I am employed with a large insurer, one might think that I have exceptional health coverage, but, the fact is I passed on the sub standard policy that was offered & chose to be covered under my husband’s policy even though his isn’t that great either.
Be open minded, do not believe the talking heads that are only doing the bidding of their corporate masters. Do you honestly believe that they are looking out for YOUR best interests? Do your own research, the more FACTS that you know, the better you are to make an actual informed decision. Before you get hoodwinked by the “Socialism” buzz word, please know that if you ever went to a public school, used a public library, swam in a public pool, had a picnic in a public park, used public transportation, drank or used public water, hunted or fished on public land, care about clean air, clean water, food safety, had to call 911, or the police or fire department, then know that these all fit into the scary “Socialism” category.
There are no easy answers, however, there must be an honest civilized dialogue & desire to see real change that affects real people. There should not be a profit at the expense of sickness. Too many of us are only one sickness away from bankruptcy. We cannot wait until it happens to us before we can feel the real pain of others.
One last point…I drive to Whole Foods on a public road!
August 14th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Mr. Mackey;
While I welcome your invitation to continue the debate on health care in a civil maner, as our comander in chief has invited us to do, I would like to tell you that I have been a loyal costumer of your W 24th street store in Manhattan until yesterday, but no longer or ever again. The main reason for my anger about your op-ed was not the title but the content, which uses a quote of Margaret Tatcher that is out of date and offensive. Your sugestions for a health care reform are not better than the ones currently proposed by our government, but actually much worse. I have made a vow never to set food in your business and I will continue suporting the boycott, because I don’t thing your views are contributing to a more civil discussion on health care, I found them -to the contrary- misleading to people trying to understand what this debate is all about. I hope this oportunity allow for more healthy food oriented business to flourish in New York City.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
From now on it’s Vitamin Cottage, Safeway, King Soopers – not one more dime for Whole Foods.
“… the last thing our country needs is a massive new health care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and moves us much closer to a complete governmental takeover of our health care system.”
The last thing I need to do is spend my money at a store that promotes this kind of idiocy, and then tries to weasel out of it.
I’m guessing Mr. Mackey has excellent health insurance and/or enough money to provide his family with everything they need. I doubt all of his employees can say the same – I know I can’t.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Whole Foods will no longer receive my services. Good fortunes for Trader Joe’s.
Too bad, I really liked the place.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Thank you for speaking out on this issue. I have only been to your store a few times, but now I plan on becoming a regular and will drive out of my way to do so. I will be heading to our local Whole Foods to pick up supplies for my husbands hiking trip. Keep on fighting for what is right.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
I will vote with my dollars and no longer shop at whole foods. I have other choices and am happy that you have clarified your position on health care reform. I don’t find your ideas particularly repulsive just non-progressive. I prefer to support those with ideas more in line with mine and the organic farmers who supply my food.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
I am proud to work for a company where a CEO stands up for what he believes in. Way to go John!
August 14th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
John Mackey cannot possibly believe that his views on health care are compatible with green or any sense of social responsibility. Rather my family and I feel that as a loyal customers of both Whole Foods and Wild Oats we have just discovered that our local green market was really bought out by Rupert Murdoch, and John Mackey installed as Whole Food’s version of Roger Ayles.
Fortunately Long Beach also has Bristol Farms to serve our family of five. Shame on Whole Foods management for the phony social responsibility that Mr. Mackey’s cynical WSJ comments bring clearly into focus.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
Mr Mackey,
I was so surprised to hear your position on health care. I disagree with you and am shocked to find that the CEO of the company I give so many of my grocery dollars to is joining the fight against true health care reform. Shame on you. I will be taking my shopping dollars elsewhere, perhaps Trader Joe.
Lynn in Summit, NJ
August 14th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
I was going to go shopping at your Fairfax/West Hollywood location tonight. Now I’ll go to Ralph’s and Trader Joe’s instead.
If you want to inject yourself into an already dishonest debate, you can do it with someone else’s money.
On a human level, you really should be ashamed of yourself. Either you really believe the nonsense you wrote, which is ethically bankrupt and intellectually weak, or you are purposefully lying to persuade the easily swayed. Either is pretty sad.
If you don’t have the self-awareness to be ashamed of yourself, I will be ashamed of you for you. I’ll be ashamed of you the whole time I am shopping at Ralph’s.
An Ex Customer.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
I agree with your discussion about the relationship between diet and health–the part that was mostly deleted by the WSJ.
I am more familiar than most people with HSA plans and I can agree that a properly designed HSA/High Deductible Health Plan (where the employer funds the insurance as well as well as a large portion of the HSA account)can control medical costs and increase employee satsifaction. Unfortunately most employers respond to this environment by contributing little or nothing to the HSA account. The concept can work in theory but in practice for many employees is a disaster.
The rest of your article is right wing garbage—I don’t necessarily agree with a large part of what the house and senate have already passed, and I agree we need to find a way to get to universal coverage at a lower cost than then the CBO projections. But regurgitated right wing talking points that will make the situation worse are not an answer.
What I find most amazing is that you would publish this position knowing that a majority of your consumers tend to be liberal and are likely to support a government run plan or even a single payer system. By taking such a hard right “reactionary” position to the healthcare debate, you have effectively blown off a number of your best customers. For that you should be fired.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
If you don’t speak for your company, then why put “CEO of WholeFoods” in the Byline?
August 14th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
As an individual you certainly have the right to speak your mind. As the president of a company you must also know that giving your opinion will also have an impact on your business.
Your support of big insurance companies clearly identifies your view of how you think our country should be run and it couldn’t be any more different from my view. I’ve worked at the same company for over 20 years and each and every year my premiums have increased more than 20%.
My hard earned money will, unfortunately, continue to be spent paying my insurance premiums. It will no longer be spent purchasing items in your store. I have been a weekly customer of the store for many years but that ends now.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Thank you for your article. I think that in order to have true health care reform, we need to hear many ideas and debate our options. I personally agree with many of the ideas you listed and I look forward to hearing what else can be done to improve health care in America. This is certainly a sensitive issue and we will never find a one size fits all approach to it. However, when we shut down all sides of the agrument, we will never find a compromise.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Mr. Mackay,
Kudos. Now if I had a Whole Foods near me I certainly would be shopping there. As a matter of fact, all of my friends would also. I live 20 miles south of Albany NY; When are you coming here? We’ve waited so long!
August 14th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Thank you for a thoughtful and intelligent take on the healthcare issue.
I am a Whole Foods customer (and I travel 45 minutes for the privilege!) and will continue, proudly, to be one. I am also a conservative who is disgusted with the changes being forced on our country.
Keep the faith!
August 14th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
This is one insurance industry conservative who will be shopping more at Whole Foods. I love your store and agree with you.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
I can guarantee that all the folks here who agree with you — ARE NOT WHOLE FOODS SHOPPERS.
I also think you can see how the progressives perceive your 2nd “statement” by all the “Anti-Obama” people who are telling you what a great guy you are.
What will matter will be the bottom line, however. And that will be known over the next few months. We’ll see how many of the folks telling you how wonderful you are here will pay $12 for a bottle of olive oil and $5 for French 84% butterfat French butter.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Mr. Mackey, you certainly have a right to your opinion and to voice it, however I will no longer be supporting your store, which is my right as well. We desperately need true health care reform (coverage for everyone, no exceptions, cost regulation, no denial of service) and since you can’t see this yourself, I would prefer to support other businesses that have a greater sense of social responsibilty than you do.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Hello Sir,
Just wanted to let you know that although I have never shopped at a Whole Foods store before, you have found a new patron in me! Enjoyed the article, thanks for expressing your opinion.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
Well written reform that should be considered by the “czars” of health care. It is the line of thinking to most normal American’s on this whole business of unnecessary control by the government. They really should reform the problem, not re-form another problem.
If you had a Whole Foods Market closer than 300 miles from me, I would support your enterprise. pita out!
August 14th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
Thank you for some very interesting ideas to consider regarding health care reform. As a political independent, I’m a bit shocked by some of the knee-jerk, fascistic responses by those who cannot tolerate differing opinions and honest debate. My family will be doing extra shopping at Whole Foods this month! Don’t ever be intimidated by closed-minded political extremists and please continue to express your views freely.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
John – you are insensitive and out of touch. You are entitled to your opinion, but you came out as a representative of Whole Foods and are seeking to stop health reform that we all need – even those that don’t realize it yet.
Remember, anyone can get laid off and lose affordable coverage. Maybe you should experience this and walk several miles in other people’s shoes. Imagine that you cannot afford your store prices and have no job or health insurance. What’s your “corporate” position then?
I’m glad to be a vegetarian in favor of raw foods, but I will also boycott Whole Foods in Seattle, Bellevue, and Redmond, WA until you retract or resign. I’m also spreading the word to everyone I know in CA, FL, IL, MD, TX, etc. to boycott and tell more friends, and so on . . . .
August 14th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Bravo Mr. Mackey! People need to take a closer look at themselves and realize that they are in control of their health. Their decisions on what they eat affect their health. We spent the day today at a water and theme park – Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana – and could not believe the number of obese parents and (sadly) children. This used to not be acceptable, but today you can parade around a theme park in bathing suits and not be accountable for what you eat and how you look. I applaud the fact that that you have suggested people be accountable for their decisions instead of expecting for government to bail them out. I do not have a Whole Foods in Evansville, Indiana but hope you consider locating here and will continue to drive 90 minutes to shop in Louisville, KY.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
I read your article in the WSJ and find that in general I am in agreement with you. I have just spent the last 8 years living in a country with a single payer public system- Canada. A single payer system is great as long as you are in general good health. It is true, waits are long, general practioners are in short supply as are specialists. Who wants to wait four months to have a cancerous kidney removed, be sent home and then come back to the hospital two weeks later because an organ transplant came in and the transplant got priority. You see the operating room shut down at 4:30pm. Or, have your child diagnosed with cancer by your family physican and then go on the waiting list for treatment. The waiting list is at least 3 months long and in some cases longer. Manny parents just go to the emergency room and have their child admitted because once diagnosed (again) at the hospital, the child goes to the head of the list. Be admitted to the hospital for testing, be told the machine is broken and if you go home it will be at least three months until you can get an appointment. Stay overnight and the test can be completed sometime the next day. The income taxes are high, a few years ago an “insurance premium” was added based on income and sales taxes run 15%. Not to long ago the provencial govts. were warned by Ottawa that the hospitals run in the black or close their doors. No more bail outs. SARS created chaos among the nurses because private nurses were paid more than public nurses. The govt. had to anty up with big temporary salaries for nurses dealing with SARS patients or face a boycott. The answers won’t come quickly or easily. Rather than rushing, Washington needs to get this right and you have some great solutions. Thanks for speaking up.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Well said. You have the right as any American does, to express your views without the fear of retribution. The Left is quick to judge, sentence and execute those that do not share their views. I am a Whole Foods customer and will continue shopping despite what the CEO may feel is the right direction for health care. Why should we punish anyone for differing with our own views….that would be the ultimate un-American act.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
As a politically moderate conservative, lower middle income person I find your views on Health Care reform very out of touch with the needs of ordinary people. The only things in your article that I can can agree with are the need for tort reform and that a healthy diet will help people be more healthy. My more healthy diet will come from a different store from now on.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
For the single payer big government folks…
Even if a single payer government controlled health care system worked it would still be wrong in a U.S.constitution republic. The American enterprise is more about liberty than security. A greater free market in health care, plus much less government control, will lead to considerably lower health care costs. Then health care would be affordable. Government is ultimately about applied violence to enforce social arrangements. The less the better. Everyone is free to help his neighbor as much as he wants including forming voluntary health co-ops, helping to pay medical bills, etc. Personal sacrifice is a key aspect of true love. Why do you need government to take from someone else to fulfill your responsibility to care for others? Theft through the ballot box to finance “collective compassion” is wrong and outside the constitutional limits placed on the Federal government. Every new government mandate is another gun pointed at our heads.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Thank you! It’s about time someone spoke up with
some common sense solutions. Tort reform/lawsuit limits must be part of any serious program to address the cost of healthcare. I want to support a business that deals in facts rather than hyperbole. Would you consider siting a store in the 08865 zip code?
August 14th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Dear John: (this is a for real dear john letter)
You are so very misinformed or just plain dumb. My wife had a serious illness which was made worse by an hospital caused infection. But the worse part was the difficulty in getting the insurance co. to pay the bills, although they were able to pay their ceo his $1.5 billion retirement package. Now for my experience with national healthcare. Last year we were visiting relatives in Scandanavia. My wife took ill and her cousin called for an appt. She saw the Dr 2 hrs later (not a NP) and it cost all of 10 euros $15.00). So much for long waits and poor care.
As to the point made by someone who described himself as a doctor, insurance companies already interfere in medical care decisions.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Mr. Mackey,
I’m not even going to try and argue the merits of health care reform. I concede the point that you have a right to your views, but seriously, how stupid are you? What did you possibly hope to gain by regurgitating right-wing talking points in the Wall Street Journal while at the helm of a company that makes its living on a socially progressive image? What did you think would happen? If I were a WFMI shareholder right now, I’d be fuming.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
John,
Don’t cave and don’t back down. I don’t even have to state whether I agree with you or not but I will fight for your right to free speech. (that one is in the constitution). I spent fifty dollars at WF tonight to
show my support. It’s becoming the American way for some to attack those they don’t agree with in order to shut them down, because they can’t counter their position with reason.
Sad
August 14th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
I was flabbergasted to read this unworkable libertarian answer to health care reform coming from what I thought was a socially responsible entity, which I support with large amounts of shopping. It is about as reasonable as the libertarian financial system we just had to save from total ruin with taxpayer funds. Maybe on some island somewhere we can all make this thing work, and sing songs at the luau about individuals liberating the universe ala John Galt.
But you clearly have no workable idea for how to address this problem, especially given your young and footloose staff. The rest of us live in the real world
You ideas for fixing this would be one thing, but to savage decent efforts by other people as socialism and dangerous is reprehensible, ideological and deeply alienating for your customers. I spend about $10,000 a year there, and have for years. Now you can take that out of your till. I won’t set foot in your store again and I am going to stop by and tell the manager, who I know well, why they won’t be seeing me again.
As if health care was just another derivative or commodity to manipulate. Atrocious.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
I must say, after reading your thoughts, I am now very inclined to seek out a whole foods store. I have a whole new perspective of Whole Foods. I would love to see one in my town of Ft. Smith, AR. Thank you for calling a spade a spade.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Mr. Mackey,
Great job on this.
Hang in there, and please don’t back away from what you wrote. I think it’s a shame that Whole Foods Corporation has recused itself from this debate and doesn’t take an official position on this important issue. I’m a long time customer of yours, and have spent thousands of dollars in your stores. I have also spent time standing in front of your bulletin board and read your core values waiting for one or more of my kids to finish using your bathroom.
Please, tell me which one of Whole Foods’ core values the positions you espoused conflict with?
• Selling the highest quality natural and organic products available
• Satisfying and delighting our customers
• Supporting team member happiness and excellence
• Creating wealth through profits & growth
• Caring about our communities & our environment
• Creating ongoing win-win partnerships with our suppliers
• Promoting the health of our stakeholders through healthy eating education
It seems to me that given the fact that the grocery business is extremely labor intensive, and you probably spend more money on healthcare every year than you do on fresh produce (I’ll bet it’s close, right?), having a sustainable and cost effective national health care policy such as the one you spelled out would seem to be completely in line with these values. This would let you lower your prices, which I would find delightful. It puts more money in your employees’ pockets. It ensures that no one in this country would be denied healthcare because of poverty (by the way, that’s a privilege that already exists in the form of Medicaid.) And, lowering the cost of healthcare for EVERYONE which your plan would do is certainly about the best thing anyone could do to help our communities.
As a long time customer of your store, I know that many of the folks on your team and walking down the aisles pushing shopping carts aren’t big fans of this whole capitalism thing. Still, it’s surprising to me that your idea of putting the first $2,500 of everyone’s health expenditures into their hands instead of some anonymous third party payer isn’t more appealing to them. To me, that tactic is the ultimate transfer of power. Finally, we all have a chance to stick it to the man and spend our healthcare dollars as we see fit, even if that’s on the supplement aisle at Whole Foods instead of at the pharmacy (yet another reason Whole Food’s Corporate should be on the Mackey bandwagon.)
I implore you again, don’t back down. The apologetic, context- providing blog post is the wrong way to go. You and your brand have a great relationship with the people who are digging the 1000 page option. It’s okay to spend some of the goodwill you enjoy engaging them in the conversation. It’s not surprising they are reacting so angrily… No one has articulated the opposing view as cogently and thoughtfully as you have. It will take a while for the logic of it to sink in. Keep doing it. Please!
As for all of the foot stomping that’s going on about “I’ll never shop there again…” I would let your cash register tally be the barometer of how valid those threats are. You have wonderful stores, and this is just a bump in the road. It will be hard to stay mad at you.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
I’m joining the thousands and thousands of others who will never again set foot in a WF store until the folks who run and profit from the business are demonstrably compassionate and supportive of, in Ronald Reagan’s words “a hand UP” by supporting REAL reform in health care. I can now finally ethically and morally justify using more gas to drive to my Organic Market, much farther away, to benefit from not only a much better selection and far lower prices but from the knowledge that my $500+ a week food tab is enhancing the lives of the truly decent folks who own and run the company.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
The opening quote from Thatcher. Awesome. Leading with that accusation and then making a limp attempt at making the WSJ editors look like minor villains for retitling the piece and antagonizing certain people? Hah. While there are some really good points and directions outlined in the piece, submitting work to the WSJ and expecting it to become anything other than fuel for right wing paranoia is either incredibly naive or a completely disingenuous statement. It reinforces that the Whole Foods corporate culture’s lack of awareness of families not making six-figure incomes starts at the top. There’s apparently more than one good reason the “Whole Paycheck” nickname sticks.
FWIW – the socialism is already here, it has been in place for nearly a century, it is just being misappropriated toward the top earners and is a malfunctioning old -ism.
disclosure – WF stores are really great and mostly set a fantastic example. I wish there was an equivalent option for people who cannot afford the premium prices. WalMart isn’t cutting it. Lets see some action out in the places beyond the Hybrid populated parking lots instead of paying them lip service.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
I do appreciate your honesty in how you and the company feel about health care reform. However, I do not agree with your way of thinking and do not beleive that the majority of your customers agree with these right wing talking points. You have lost my business and I encourage others to also shop elsewhere. Obviously you do not understand your customer base or comprehend how they think.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
having come from cuba…hmmm…mr. mackey, Bravo! you will see me @ whole foods a whole lot more!!!!
don’t even get me started on the utopian universal jargon out there!! so many of the ‘enlightened’ folks boycotting your stores don’t have a clue…they live in the most exceptional country this world has ever known…being able to shop where they please…they reject what the founding fathers risked to preserve for them…they are slowly giving up their lives and freedom to the government as if they still need a parent to make their decisions…WE the people help our communities…NOT the government…that is not their job…quit shrugging your responsibilities on to them…have you noticed how eagerly they take power from you, always wrapped in bleeding heart/sensible motives…as the government grows bigger, so does their lust for more…insatiable desire for power. they seldom live by the rules/laws they set for you…no, they do not want boundaries set on them…they are the demi-gods worthy of praise and honor…they are the privileged elites and will utter the words, ‘let them eat cake’…then, just try to take their freedom/power…you wouldn’t last long.
please listen & wake up before it is too late…the short term may seem dandy…but the long term is the problem…i really have a difficult time believing the politicians pushing this insane 1000+ page piece of legislation are being altruistic…call me a cynic, but then again…i’ve lived and have watched my family live through the horrors of 5 decades of big government in the once beautiful island of cuba. don’t think yourselves better than the people of cuba when they, too, believed in hope and change as offered by a talented young provocative and exceptional lawyer/community organizer/speaker, fidel castro.
in the words of dylan thomas:
“Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night…
…Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
August 14th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
You have a new customer. I’ve never shopped at your store because it’s WAY on the other side of town. But you can be sure I’ll be making the drive to your store now. THANK YOU for such a fantastic Op Ed, and for not being intimidated by our rogue media or this rogue Administration.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
I was planning on going to Whole Foods tomorrow to purchase a whole salmon and other dishes for a family barbeque. My plans have changed. I can not support a store whose owner has such an uninformed and repressive view on important social issues. Anyone who has listened to the anguish of low-income people, average citizens and successful professionals who have experienced first-hand the denial of benefits we all should have access to is someone who I can not pratonize in good conscience. My next step on the net is to “search” for the nearest New Seasons store.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
Hello Mr. Mackey –
Thank you for telling us all exactly where you stand on this issue of health care. Thank you for telling us in a Murdoch-owned newspaper — great company you’re keeping. And: thank you for trying — so gracelessly, so dishonestly — to back-step now that it’s clear that you’ve set off something larger than you imagined; this smarmy back-stepping enables us to see into the character of your organization, regardless its stated lofty ideals.
I wonder how many of these glowing comments here on this site are yours, or your employees. Yes, John, many of us do know that you — personally — posted anonymously on other internet boards to get your way in an unethical fashion, so we have to assume you’re doing so again.
Too bad for me, this whole thing — I did love to shop in your stores. Though expensive, I felt it a good use of my money, I love that your organization does take care to choose mostly good food, has mostly ethical practices with regard to animals. But I won’t shop in your stores again. And, like others, I am absolutely passing the word on, both online and in person.
I will come back into the store to say goodbye to your employees, many of whom I’ve known for years, who I really like, and who I will miss. I will of course tell them why I am leaving. And, given what I’ve learned in these past two days about your employee relations / business practices, I will wish for them a different job, with a better employer, one who will perhaps stand behind those who help them earn their money.
I won’t spend a dime while I’m in your store saying my goodbyes.
Smooth move on taking down the comments from earlier today — now that is corporate clarity there. You take a public stand on an extremely important issue, many of your shoppers come to your forums to take issue with your stand, and you delete their comments. Sweet.
I shopped another store last night, began to find my way around it — where is this, where is that? Sadly, I could not find the eggs I’ve bought from you these past years, I’ll have to settle for less. I did. I will. I vote with my dollars. You’ve lost my vote.
Thanks for the great food all these years.
I wish you peace.
Stephen Nielsen
Austin Texas
August 14th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
Thanks for your (group) reply. I understand that Mr. Mackey was expressing his own opinion and not the official position of WFM, but he was offering up your market as a model and solution, as you mentioned. Therefore, it is fair game for criticism. If he (and you, as you also mention below) feel that it is important for all of your employees to have proper health insurance (and I applaud that ethic), why does he not wish the same for all Americans through some sort of public option? I’d be fine with a WFM model or many of the other ideas if a third of the country didn’t have to depend on people’s underwhelming charitable sense while paying taxes each April. To be for taking care of your employees on the corporate level but against extending benefits to all in need on a government level creates a double standard and against your company’s own goals of stressing community.
Also, when your CEO starts off his Op-ED with a zombie lie (sorry, but what else can it be? Either Mr. Mackey is ill informed or not telling the truth and I’d be interested to know which it is) that Social Security is an unfunded entitlement program, it reflects badly on you the company. As does his understanding of NHS or the Canadian system. Where did he get his information? The myths, fears and hysteria are simply untrue – listen to the people writing in these comments who live there! While I would normally pay little attention to the political activities and opinions of any of the CEOs of the businesses I patronize (it’s normally none of my business), what to do about a company that has a CEO that publicly advocates the throwing of pennies to the poor for their mammograms while admonishing them to make better choices about their eating as he clears his throat and points to his unaffordable (for many) food?
We have a real chance to get every citizen insured and backstopped against medical and financial ruin in the event of health problem. This costs a lot but is worth every cent for real and tangible reasons. WFM should be supporting this as, to put it in the most base terms, people with reasonable premiums and not in medical bankruptcies are more likely to buy organic an shop in your stores. Unless you plan on selling fewer Americans more food (running counter to Mr. Mackey’s philosophy), I’d think you would go with expanding your base group of customers. While your apology is a step in the right direction, Mr. Mackey seems to be driving potential and current (at least me) customers from you.
I urge you to look at the bigger picture.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Thank you John.
I can’t conceive of what is repulsive and non- progressive regarding your point of view. You believe in the intrinsic power and dignity of the individual and in individual choice. I didn’t know you subscribed to libertarian beliefs. Your thinking is in line with what I read at the Cato Institute. I’m new to that system of thought, but I like it. Thank you.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
I am deeply saddened to learn Mackey’s views on health care. Others above have stated very capably how wrongheaded your approach is, and how disingenuous your cover ‘they edited me’ was. I won’t cover that ground again.
I am especially saddened because I have been a faithful shopper at Whole Foods for fifteen years. I’m in our local store 3-4 times a week, dropping, at a minimum, between $200-$300 per week on our family’s needs. Now I will, regretfully, no longer shop at Whole Foods. It’ll be a huge lifestyle change, actually, but I can’t support the company with my money after this Op-Ed. Perhaps if Mackey were to step down in the future (though I’m sure he won’t do so over this one article) i would consider returning, depending on who replaces him.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
I was extremely disappointed to see your Op/Ed piece that was published in the Wall Street Journal. As someone that works in a low income minority community in Chicago, I find that the positions that you have taken (and tied to your company) to be cruel, unrealistic and offensive. This model of health care does not address the very real problems of deniability by insurance companies, portability with job change or loss, cancellation with serious illness or protection for the under or underinsured. In addition, asking for the insurance companies to be released from mandated coverages will return us to the time (just a couple of years ago) when companies routinely did things like denying women coverage for birth control, while offering viagra for their male clients.
But perhaps worst of all I also found the constitutional lecture to be highly insulting. The 9th amendment (ratified in 1791) clearly states: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people”. Our founding fathers were clear that no one should ever think that because something is not specifically spelled out in the Document that it did not exist. They left that up for later generations to decide. Your statement that “A careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter. That’s because there isn’t any. This ‘right’ has never existed in America,” shows an blatant disregard for the truth about our most important civic document. As a representative of a company that claims to value education and a free exchange of ideas by an informed citizenry, you should make sure that you actually read the US Constitution before you choose to twist it to fit political viewpoints. This critical debate deserves much better that the shoddy superficial logic shown in the Op/Ed piece.
I accept that many of those that I do business with hold different views than I do. However I can not accept this kind of glib, condescending, simplistic manipulation of the debate. I am sad to say that I will be spending my food dollars elsewhere now.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
I agree with many others comments, well the one’s that WERE posted when I started to write this!!! I see now that the posts I saw one hour ago (VERY negative)have either been removed or moved to the VERY bottom of the barrel and I also see the posts are now mostly favorably OR have been changed to YOUR benefit now.. I also wonder if I’ll even see mine post: GOOD TRY!!
You’ve lost me too as a LOYAL customer. My husband and I were once a week customer’s and gladly bragged to everyone about how awesome your store WAS… It’s SO obvious that what you’re most concerned about is YOUR bottom line..and YOUR MONEY… not other’s well-being, no matter what.. What if a person can’t get health care because of a pre-existing condition, what about them? Let them get insurance on their own? Yea, like anyone would cover or accept them? That’s horrendously creepy to think that anyone could conveniently forget about the less fortunate and or what’s worse, a person that has a true health problem, such as M.S., Cancer, Diabetes, etc.I believe what you’re most concerned about it is, paying the least amount of money for your employees health care policies, by choosing the $2500.00 deductible plan… THEN trying to convey it’s set up that way so your employees will “watch how they choose or make their appointments to get to that $2500.00… which they most likely won’t ever get to (unless, of course, there are major health problems)… hence, saving your company money… Yea, that’s good for them isn’t it? NOT!!!!!!!!!
In your 2nd attempt to correct or overturn the damage done, you say you’re in favor of Obama’s Health Care Reform Plan…
This country has NEVER taken care of it’s own and Obama (with the help of other courageous American’s) strived to become President so he CAN help the middle of the road American’s achieve the most basic rights a human being has… which is a FAIR health care system (with government option welcomed, forcing the HUGE insurance companies to play fair) and to live their lives with the dignity and respect EVERY human being deserves….
I’ve never been afraid of the shape our country is in and it’s because of people thinking that WE all aren’t in this world together…
We’ve been LONG time Whole Foods customer’s as I said and with the horrible economy, we stopped going once a week for just a few months.. BUT as soon as things started getting better, we were ecstatic to be going back to our Whole Foods store once a week again.. until now, our heart’s and conscience will NOT ALLOW us to walk into your store again.. You should learn that you shouldn’t post your view’s as you did, especially when you’re one of the one’s that are IN the top percentile of people that make the most money are AFRAID that some of your pennies might go to help people that aren’t as fortunate as you…. I also see that you’ve changed your posts, as well as other people’s post and they’re most, quite suspiciously, in your favor now..hhhmmmnnn, another spin, maybe?
August 14th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
As soon as you recommend improving diets and reducing obesity and its attending illnesses in order to bring down health care costs for everyone, liberals will complain (and they have in the forums), “Bu-bu-but, I knew a vegan once who got cancer!!1!”
Liberals don’t want to give you or the facts a fair shake, John.
They just want the gov’t to subsidize their self-abuse.
Thanks for your recently stated commitment to going back to Whole Food’s healthy food beginnings and getting out of the gourmet junk food biz.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
Your op ed and your response to it have inspired me to no longer shop at your store. If Whole Foods ever gets rid of you, I will happily return.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
As soon as you recommend improving diets and reducing obesity and its attending illnesses in order to bring down health care costs for everyone, liberals will complain (and they have in the forums), “Bu-bu-but, I knew a vegan once who got cancer!!1!”
Liberals don’t want to give you or the facts a fair shake, John.
They simply want the gov’t to subsidize their self-abuse.
Thanks for your recently stated commitment to going back to Whole Food’s healthy food beginnings and getting out of the gourmet junk food biz.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Dear John,
I appreciate your direct posting, while I disagree with your opinion. I have shopped at WF since 1990, driving from Arlington to the Greenville Ave. store. Then, while getting my graduate degree, shopping exclusively at the Arlington Store when it opened even weathering a rough tornado day in the back room by the walk-in. Today, I am considering whether to shop at the 97th Street store due open just a few days from now a mere five blocks from my house in Manhattan. I do not feel comfortable continuing to spend my money there. I have other options..I have easily spent high 5 figures over 18 years – I know and respect that you are entitled to your opinion, and think that using your founders status to WF to sway others really disappoints me. If Steve Jobs did something as this I would feel the same about an iphone. If the Bancrofts still owned the WSJ..well, you know, things change. You aren’t a little grocer in an old Safeway store anymore either. Also, please work harder to utilize local NY State Farmers, I have heard they have a hard time working with you guys from an upstate livestock producer. He said he felt WF was insincere. Perhaps, sadly he was correct.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
John, thank you for having the guts to stand up and be counted in this ongoing debate. As the CEO of a major company, you understand the necessity of seeing the complete picture, especially when you sign the “front” of the check. I have been a regular customer of Whole Foods for several years and will continue to be, despite the protestations of those who obviously do not understand the importance of how this type of government intervention can destroy this nation.Thanks for providing an outlet for all of us to be able to purchase quality foods.By the way – I am in management and have a copy of your business “Virtuous Circle” posted in my office for all to read and follow.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
I’ve been shopping at Whole Foods for many years and continue to do so. After seeing the WSJ editorial, and the full version above, I am heartened by the CEO’s stance and vow to shop at Whole Foods even more.
I began managing health food stores 37 years ago and subscribe to a healthy lifestyle. I refuse to subscribe to any pre-packaged set of political/social/economic views just so I can think of myself as “progressive-minded.”
August 14th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Very courageous stand in opposition to the heartfelt desire of many of your customers.
I may disagree with your opinion , but I will defend your right to cost you my business by publishing self serving conservative viewpoints in a national newspaper.
I say Huzzah! to you, brave sir, and I eagerly await the vegetables from my new coop and the satisfaction of getting healthy organic foods from someone else.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
My family has been weekly shoppers at Whole Foods from the beginning. Sad to say, never again. After reading the editorial, I did a little more research on Mr. Mackey and his policies. NOT FOR ME. Bye Bye!
August 14th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Your weak excuses do nothing to change the reprehensible policies you advocated in WSJ. I will not spend another dollar in Whole Foods.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
WOW!!! Very eye opening article. I’m sure Fresh Market and Trader Joes THANK YOU for the new customers.
So let’s see..socialism..o.k. guess that means we’ve been a socialist country since the age of Medicare and increased during the Reagan tax cut years….time to burn those Medicare cards in protest…and people are responsible for what they eat and how they exercise..ok..I buy that…but NOT ONE WORD about the obscene profit margins of insurance companies and their devious methods to achieve such at the expense and DEATH of citizens? …Oh well…guess I just need to move on….as others have stated, I certainly will not contribute another dollar in any of your stores.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
This op-ed has made me embarrassed to work for Whole Foods, and angry that I answer (however distantly) to a man who has no concept of the word “intrinsic.” How dare you even begin to suggest that the right to food, shelter, and clothing–in fact, the right to LIFE–doesn’t exist because it’s not outlined in some political document?
It’s interesting to me how you are so quick to speak out against government control of money, yet so willing to rely on government documents to support your shoddy ethics, as though the Constitution is the be all end all of human rights.
It’s my hope that customers approach me with complaints about your op-ed, so that I might high five them and agree: you are absurd, out of touch, and driven by greed.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
It is funny how many people play the “socialism” card when they feel threatened, though I’ll never understand why. As a previous poster pointed out, many of the things we take for granted from the highway system to libraries to 911 could easily be considered socialist.
Honestly, I didn’t realize it all came down to eating more fiber and leafy green vegetables.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Hi John,
While I disagree with your editorial, I wasn’t surprised by your opinion: I have plenty of 20-something friends who work for Whole Foods (and partake in the high deductible + HSA insurance that is offered there, so I’m familiar with how it works in practice – great if you want to see an acupuncturist a few times a year, and decidedly not great if you are struck with a high-cost chronic illness that suddenly wipes your account out).
Anyways, I have a few questions, though I’m not sure if you even read these comments:
1) What is your health insurance like?
2) What are the millions of uninsured, people with pre-existing conditions that render them un-insurable through private companies, or the people who pay increasingly high private insurance rates because they are self-employed supposed to do??
3) Have you ever looked at how much, per employee, Whole Foods spends on health care related costs for its UK and Canadian work force compared to the US work force? I’m assuming you’d have to take into account the HSA’s set up for everyone employed overseas, and the percentage of everyone’s tax dollars, approximately, that probably go towards the universal coverage in those countries. Then you’d have to compare that to the US employees: their HSA accounts, the premium prices paid (pre-tax), and then add their deductible (because, we’re going for worst-case scenario, what someone may have to spend if they get very ill). I’m *really* curious as to which number is smaller. I’m also thinking there’s a good chance that the UK and Canadian systems are far more efficient (covering whole countries at a lesser cost) than the system you currently offer your US employees. Why wouldn’t you be pushing for some kind of basic universal coverage (maybe not ’socialized’ in the UK sense, but a hybrid as-in-France) in the US? It would make far better business sense for your company.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
Whole foods will never get another dime of my money, ever again. Enjoy your Wealth, and power John Makey, I have joined the Nation wide boycott agains Whole foods.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
I am boycotting Whole Foods. This is outrageous. The United States of America has the most inefficient health care system in the modern world and opposing reform will hurt millions of uninsured Americans.
The truth is that Medicare, which is “government run” health care, only has %4 overhead costs while private insurance has 20%. The fact that America is drowning in debt is EXACTLY WHY we need to pass Obama’s health care reform now in order to make our system more efficient and save money over the long run.
John Mackey should apologize for this article.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
My wife and I have never been big fans of Whole Foods: too expensive for our tastes. But we are making a change. You stood up and said what needed to be said. Let all the socialists who are going to boycott your stores go. People like us will more than make up for their loss. Well done. Thank you from two people who need people like you to stand up for free enterprise. By the way, I posted a video about the people in Congress behind health care reform. It scares me every time I watch it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBZiDhlaCdc
August 14th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
dear mr. mackey,
i agree whole-heartedly that americans should be responsible for their own health and well-being. our society definitely has a lazy attitude when it comes to change, and they have no accountability when it comes to diet because they know they can just get a pill or a doctor visit to fix their problems. but the way things are right now, unless one lives in a place where they can grow their own food, healthy food really is only accessible to those who have the money to buy it. i’ve struggled with this for many years while being on a strict budget. i want to teach my 4 children to take good care of their bodies and not put things in them such as artificial dyes and preservatives. but let’s face it…the junky fake food at the grocery store is much cheaper than the healthy food that you sell in your stores. because i care more about what my kids eat than being in debt, i choose to shop at your stores and others like them. but not everyone with a strict grocery budget would make the same choice. therefore, what would you suggest as a solution? how do we make healthy food accessible to those that are poor? how do we educate those who don’t know how to choose the ‘good’ foods when they go shopping? if we are to expect americans to be responsible for their own health and change the need for high health care costs, how do we make sure that it’s not just the wealthy americans making these changes?
August 14th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Of course you have every right to state your opinion on this important public policy.
And I have every right to take this into consideration when I choose where to shop. It will not longer be Whole Foods.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Thank you! Yes! Yes! And yes!
August 14th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
Find the United States just below Costa Rica and above Cuba…
The World Health Organization’s ranking
of the world’s health systems.
Source: WHO World Health Report – See also Spreadsheet Details (731kb)
The World Health Organization’s ranking of the world’s health systems was last produced in 2000, and the WHO no longer produces such a ranking table, because of the complexity of the task.
See also: Healthy Life Expectancy By Country
See also: Health Performance Rank By Country
See also: Total Health Expenditure as % of GDP (2000-2005)
See also: Main Country Ranks Page
Rank CountryView this list in alphabetic order View this list in alphabetic order View this list in alphabetic order
1 France
2 Italy
3 San Marino
4 Andorra
5 Malta
6 Singapore
7 Spain
8 Oman
9 Austria
10 Japan
11 Norway
12 Portugal
13 Monaco
14 Greece
15 Iceland
16 Luxembourg
17 Netherlands
18 United Kingdom
19 Ireland
20 Switzerland
21 Belgium
22 Colombia
23 Sweden
24 Cyprus
25 Germany
26 Saudi Arabia
27 United Arab Emirates
28 Israel
29 Morocco
30 Canada
31 Finland
32 Australia
33 Chile
34 Denmark
35 Dominica
36 Costa Rica
37 United States of America
38 Slovenia
39 Cuba
40 Brunei
41 New Zealand
42 Bahrain
43 Croatia
44 Qatar
45 Kuwait
46 Barbados
47 Thailand
48 Czech Republic
49 Malaysia
50 Poland
51 Dominican Republic
52 Tunisia
53 Jamaica
54 Venezuela
55 Albania
56 Seychelles
57 Paraguay
58 South Korea
59 Senegal
60 Philippines
61 Mexico
62 Slovakia
63 Egypt
64 Kazakhstan
65 Uruguay
66 Hungary
67 Trinidad and Tobago
68 Saint Lucia
69 Belize
70 Turkey
71 Nicaragua
72 Belarus
73 Lithuania
74 Saint Vincent
August 14th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Mr. Mackey,
I’ve never shopped at one of your stores in my life (49 years old) but you just got one more new customer based on your article. Well done! I will be going this weekend for the first time.
Thank you for bravely sharing your opinion.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Dear Mr. Mackey,
You timing is a bit plucky and it sure helps the debate. This is a month that matters in the health care debate. Bravo!
John S. Kutscher
Seattle Washington 98109
P.S. I will try Whole Foods for the first time.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Do you think or 37th ranking in World Health is the greatest system?
August 14th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Sadly, Mr. Mackey, your comments are classic “CEO-esque”. I expected more from Whole Foods. Though there are some points that i agree are worth considering in any health care reform legislation, the overall tone of your comments missed the boat entirely. Interesting that you had many suggestions that would increase potential liabilities/risks for individuals but nothing for big business, record-profit-making insurance companies!! And tort reform?? That sounds great (for big businesses and physicians) but what about the loved one killed or maimed because of malpractice? Any guess on how much it costs to care for an individual suffering permanent mental and physical injuries at childbirth due to a physician’s gross negligence and incompetence? And no government rules about what must be in health care policies?? Are you serious? We are just beginning to have mental health parity and you want to take a step back into the dark ages? Sadly, without government mandates, we would have no seat belts, no motorcycle helmets, no safety in our foods, no food labeling, no safety with toys and cribs, etc, etc. Oh—and we would most likely still have “separate but equal” education. In a country as wonderful as ours, every person should have health care –not just you and me. Perhaps if the insurance companies had some healthy competition, their record profits would decrease just a tad and health care for all would become a reality.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
I see on your sight an icon about values and “creating profit and growth” is one of them. I actually own a few shares of the company. While I actually believe it is an excellent mission statement, I don’t think it reflects “values”. Unfortunately, I now believe you support the profits of insurance companies over the good health of your customers and others. The health care industry is an unsubstainable mess. And your article is clearly not in line with what must be a majority of your customers (I WAS one).
August 14th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
We shall be moving on.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Bravo, Mr. Mackey, on contributing such a well-reasoned opinion on this very big and complicated issue. You just got yourself a new customer…
August 14th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
This is to advise I will not shop at and will encourage all my friends not to shop at Whole Foods any longer as a result of Whole Foods’ corporate campaign to defeat healthcare insurance reform.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
I’m all for and indeed, follow, a “healthy living” lifestyle. Avoiding high fructose corn syrup, hyrdrogenated vegetable oils, eating a “clean” diet full of lean protein choices, colorful vegetables, etc. I exercise, meditate, take supplements. And while I feel fortified and somewhat protected by doing this,but an important point to consider is that not everyone can afford fresh fruit, vegetable, fish oil supplements. Stagnating wages, unemployment contribute to shrinking food budgets. Taking responsibility for one’s health is dependent on having work and an income too. I also know that if my appendix should happen to rupture, I will need immediate and skilled medical care. Depending on the insurance that my employer chooses to offer me–emphasis on employer’s choice here–I may have a high deductible policy and still be left with several hundred dollars worth of unpaid medical bills. I am certainly willing to pay my “fair share” but how can I even know this when what is “reasonable and customary” differs depending on what kind of insurance policy I have, what the insurance co has negotiated with the hospital, doctors, etc. I’m much more willing to trash the whole broken health care delivery system we have now and start fresh. I’d much rather pay into a new system by way of a 4% income tax increase and know that I paid up front for an array of guaranteed services (with a set price!) And by the way, those health savings plans are only good if you have earn enough money to have it withdrawn in the first place. I used the employer supplied work sheet to figure our so-called savings from using one of these plans, and it was by far more inconvenient and costly for us upfront. The tax savings were minimal and not much of an incentive. If the CBO would score H.R. 676, it would show the savings to business and the individual and city and county governments.
Personally, I do not want any kind of mandated insurance (like the disastrous Massachusetts plan). Government as health insurer with “premiums” in the form of a modest tax increase and an increased risk pool that would offer all Americans access to basic preventative and catastrophic medical care is the only way to go. How we get there, either incrementally, or all at once with a true “overhaul” doesn’t matter, as long as we get there.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
Well Said! Finally A CEO who is a leader! Keep up the great work! I for one will be sure to shop at Whole Foods!
August 14th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
I purchased my groceries at Whole Foods since it opened its Franklin Street store in San Francisco. I write to let the Board of Directors know that my most recent purchase is my last. John Mackey placed Whole Foods into this political debate by engaging in commentary in his capacity as CEO (as opposed to his personal capacity). By stating not only his name, but that he is the CEO of Whole Foods in the byline, Mr. Mackey no doubt intended to give his opinion more weight. As a consequence, it was no longer just the short-sited opinion of one man that the Wall Street Journal touted, but the opinion of what (until now) many considered to be one of the most progressive and forward-thinking companies in the nation. Only by acting with our wallets can the American people express our displeasure with Mr. Mackey’s use of fiscal scare tactics to advance the notion that this great nation cannot provide universal health care to its citizens. Telling parents whose children suffer from diseases for which they desperately need medical treatment that they do not need universal health care because eating more fruit and vegetables will cure all their problems is not just simplistic but reprehensible. Just because, as of today, the lobby for the health insurance companies assured that all citizens do not have an intrinsic right to health care, does not mean that this is the way it should be.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
Common sense isn’t so common any more. But thank you for demonstrating some!
Even though the nearest Whole Foods is 30 minutes away, I’ll be sure to shop your store more often. Thank you for an excellent commentary.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
Easy for a rich guy like you to tell everyone we all must take care of ourselves. I can’t stand you and I will never shop at your store again. I spend probably 250-300 dollers per week at your store and it’s over. the crap message you put out about health and goodness is just that. I’m stunned you wrote that. At a time when we need socialized medicine you come out with a right wing stance in a left wing industry. I know the people who work for you. I will inform them why I won’t be back; they’re good,you’re bad. and will spread the article you wrote near and far.
a pox on your house
Lynn R
August 14th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Are you kidding me ? For years I’ve traveled over an hour to shop at Whole Foods in Winston Salem, NC.
NO MORE !!!!
NEVER AGAIN will I shop in your store.
Marjorie Bryant
August 14th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Dear Mr. Mackey:
I am not going to be shopping at Whole Foods any time soon. You are entitled to your opinion about health care reform… but I do believe that even if proper health care for all Americans is not written into the constitution, it is something which the government ought to do its best to provide. If Whole Foods is against a Medicare type system for all Americans, I will shop elsewhere. If Whole Foods were neutral on the subject, I would probably still shop at your stores. But you seem to have decided to inject yourself into this debate and put the influence of the company you run, its shareholders, board of directors and even its customers behind your personal beliefs.
Sincerely,
Tom Benedek
“Many promoters of health care reform believe that people have an intrinsic ethical right to health care-to universal and equal access to doctors, medicines, and hospitals. While all of us can empathize with those who are sick, how can we say that all people have any more of an intrinsic right to health care than they have an intrinsic right to food, clothing, owning their own homes, a car or a personal computer? Health care is a service which we all need at some point in our lives, but just like food, clothing, and shelter it is best provided through voluntary and mutually-beneficial market exchanges rather than through government mandates. A careful reading of both The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter, because there isn’t any. This “right” has never existed in America.”
August 14th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
I will never shop at WFM again. Your views are elitist and condescending. Moreover, they do not show any kind of compassion.
Eating a diet of WFM would involve cheese, pizza and deli items that are full of fat. You have no idea what you even sell, unless of course you truly believe you sell junk as you were recently quoted.
I’ll return to my farmer’s market and local conv. shop. You’re out of touch.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
You know, I am absolutely amazed at how you can mention “Governmental takeover”, when that is what the private sector has done; taken over. I watched a clip of a woman on Youtube discuss how BCBS cancelled her insurance the day before she was to have a double mastectomy due to agressive cancer. Who was it that took over her life? It wasn’t the government. It was “free enterprise”. People like yourself think only of yourselves. You don’t care about regular, average, working Americans. You post this “Proposal” as if the ‘little man’ has a chance to live by it. Multiple Sclerosis can happen to anyone. To hear a one of your supporters say, “people should eat healthy and take better care of themselves” reflects ignorance. I am saddened by your stance. I have fallen in love with Whole Foods and I have believed the company to be natural and whole to its core. However, you have proven otherwise. It would have been best for you to say nothing at all and leave your personal views at home. You head a corporation that encourages people to live their best life. I think it is irresponsible of you as a Fortune 500 company CEO to share what is, obviously, a biased and partisan view. If the government starts talking about feeding us beans with poison, I expect to hear your voice. However, let the politicians do what they do best, lie to us and take our money………or should we now include you in that bunch? I am disappointed in your narrow view and I question your TRUE company philosophy. I don’t know how or if you can resolve this. But, I sure hope you ‘venting’ was worth it. I can’t say whether or not I will stop shopping with your company, because regardless of what comes out of your heart, there are many of you hard working employees who believe in your philosophy. What you need to do, is start going into middle and lower America and see the REAL pain and need of citizens with no healthcare. Maybe you will stop quoting Margaret Thatcher.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Dear John,
For Every Socialist Tree Hugging Liberal customer you lose, you have gained a thousand true “American” customers!
Thank you for your brave comments and opinions about this assult on our constitution!
David Stob
August 14th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Health care is INDEED a right, Mr. Mackey. A basic human right. Why on earth should I put your profits or anyone’s attachment to conservative ideological purity before my right to access to health care? You are entitled to your opinion, just as I am entitled to take my business elsewhere and to encourage all of my friends in New York, Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco to do the same. Adios. See you in the emergency room!
August 14th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Because you have choosen to inject yourself into the health car debate I will choose not to shop at Whole Foods.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
You write: “A careful reading of both The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter, because there isn’t any. This “right” has never existed in America.”
Try this:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal: that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Perhaps in your next attempt at writing an editorial, you can try to explain how an ‘unalienable’ right is not an ‘intrinsic’ right, but good luck with that…
How can one sustain ‘life’ without ‘food’ (or healthcare, for that matter (but perhaps you were not born in a hospital)). And if you withhold food from a child, then you will be in real trouble.
Regardless, whether I do or do not have an intrinsic right to food, I’ll be getting mine from Trader Joe’s in the future.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
I haven’t shopped much at Whole Foods, there isn’t one near and the parking is awful. After reading your blog I will make a point to shop more often at Whole Foods. Thank you for being the voice of reason.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Great article! It’s a shame that some people can’t see the bad outweighs the potential good on this new healthcare scheme. If there were Whole Foods in New Hampshire, I would gladly buy all my groceries from you. I wish all companies treated their employees like you do!
August 14th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Mr. Mackay if what you say is true then I would like you to get the WSJ to print an retraction or at the very least have them admit that they over edited your writing. As it is the article above is still “an eye opener”. I mean you start with a quote from Margaret Thatcher for God’s sake.
Till I see that you will not see another penny from me and I imagine the now over 5,500 Facebook members of Boycott Whole Foods group. We will vote with our dollar and yes you will feel it.
Sure you will get a few Joe the Plumbers to show up as noted above but they will go back to Walmart after a few weeks and then what?
Do yourself and your company a favor and resign.
For now I will get my organic food from a local farmers market and Trader Joe’s.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
THANK YOU!!!! I knew that I have shopped at Whole Foods for the last 26 years for a reason!! (okay, Mrs. Gooch’s before) Thank you for voicing your view. I really appreciate it and I will continue to be a loyal customer. It is refreshing to have such an opinion voiced in a world where it seems that everyone wants to be “politically correct” and not share their view. Thank you again!!!
april leder
August 14th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Great Op-Ed!
Way to stand up against Fannie Med! Not sure why we can’t try cheaper fixes first like you suggested… oh wait it doesn’t empower politicians.
I would bet money that most of the people who said they will boycott Whole Foods will be back in a month. Where else can you buy most of the eclectic stuff they eat anyway?
August 14th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
Throwing around scare-words like “socialism” does nothing to further the debate, and can’t be blamed on the Wall Street Journal. Your reaction to the response from your customers shows us how little respect you have for us and while you claim that Whole Foods takes no official position on this issue, the language of your intro is virtually identical to the press releases recently issued by Whole Foods PR team. I note that your comment policy of “no personal attacks” doesn’t see, apply to your new likely (astroturf) customer base who have just arrived to insult those of us that have been shopping at whole foods for years.
Sincerely,
A Former Customer
August 14th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
You are a great role model and true leader. Thank you for speaking pragmatically about this hot issue, and informing many people, who are currently being fed dishonest facts by the White House and the media, about alternatives and how best to reform health care.
I am going to shop at Whole Foods much more often now, dropping my hard-earned money on your delicious cheeses, produce and buffet. I am even going to add you on my Facebook page. Thank you for speaking intelligently about this issue. It was truly insightful.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
I completely agree with your view on diet but that’s about it. The fact that you would anchor your op-ed with a reference to socialism proves your disingenuousness and completely undermines your credibility. I would think someone like you would know better. Your first two paragraphs are nothing but right wing talking points. The assertion of a “goverment take over of health care” is simply preposturous paranoia.
You call health care an entitlement? How dare you. You are wealthy enough to afford the best care money can buy, yet your op-ed doesn’t mention one word about the 47 million American’s who don’t have health insurance. The view that health care is a privilege and not a right is morally outrageous and morally indefensible. You very clearly articulate the Darwinian attitude toward your fellow American’s that is so common among right wing hypocrits.
Most of your suggestions would continue to doom more and more Americans to bankruptcy and premature death due to a lack of access to, or inadequate health care.
I will be encouraging as many people as possible to shop elsewhere.
Your statistics about waiting lists in the UK and Canada are gross distortions and you should be ashamed for repeating such misinformation.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
Straight off, I do not shop at WF. The entire store is overpriced and they are aggressively anti-union. I see no reason to pay extra when I can get the same thing at another anti-union store for much less. I’m thinking of TJs.
When you start off a healthcare op-ed in the WSJ by quoting Margaret Thatcher on socialism, you’re probably going to anger liberals. Duh. Some of your bullet points are valid, and I’m sure any number of them will be included in the whatever bill the President signs. That being said…
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out who your customer base is and what you’ve done here is alienate them. This is really unbelievable. You really stepped in it this time.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
It’s unfortunate that although Whole Food’s CEO Mackey claims not to speak for Whole Foods “the company” his Op/Ed for the WSJ will most certainly have a negative effect for “the company” and its employees. His ignorance and disregard for his company’s huge liberal client base will have devastating consequences. Mr. Mackie has single
handedly brought on the Liberal boycott of Whole Foods. Thank you Mr. Mackey for joining the ranks
of Sarah Palin. Folks like you promote the Liberal cause just by being yourselves.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
I’m nearly speechless. How could you be so out of touch? And how can any decent human being not think health care is an entitlement?
Your comments about HSA’s seem great, if only it worked out that way in the real world. Maybe that’s your problem. You’ve gotten so high up in this corporate world that you have actually lost touch with all of us with our two feet on the ground.
~A Wholefoods Vendor that can’t afford health insurance for her employees…not even high deductible policies with HSA’s.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
John, great points. Kudos for publicizing your thoughts.
I find the majority of the opposition comments here very discouraging as it seems like most people won’t even discuss your points. Instead I see plenty of people adopting the mentality that you somehow aren’t for health reform because you don’t support Obama’s plan, and deciding to boycott.
Best of luck to you, and we’ll certainly continue to shop at Whole Foods.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
There is so much wrong with your screed that it’s impossible to know where to begin. Suffice it to say that, from this day forward, I will boycott Whole Foods with the passion I once reserved only for Walmart.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
One more thing: Anyone who uses the canard “rationed care” is a fool because health care already is rationed … by the insurance companies! They decide who gets what treatments, how much doctor’s get paid, etc. Currently, Americans’ health is largely at the mercy of profit/loss decisions made by accountants and actuaries. I suspect from your statements, Mr. Mackey, that you truly have no conception of what it is like to actually have to experience the health care system in this country.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
You may rest assured that I, my family and our progressive friends will never darken the doors of your stores again, except, perhaps, to use the bathroom. Calling health care reform “Socialism” raises a meaningless bugaboo. Highways, sewer service and water are just as socialistic. You know what? I like those things, and I’ll bet you do too!
August 14th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
As a physician who has been in practice for over 20 years, the only part of your article I can agree with is the part about the importance of a healthy diet. The rest of the article is simplistic and/or false and does sound-as another person noted- a lot like right wing talking points. The health care proposals on the table have nothing to do with “socialized medicine”. They do include ways to keep health costs down and do include strategies to make our health care system more effective. Serious and thoughtful people are working on these proposals who really care about quality health care that is affordable. While it is great to encourage good eating habits and to discuss your own health care solutions for your company, I suggest you actually read the health care proposals before you embarrass yourself with ill-informed statements that alienate your clientele who have more sense and knowledge on the subject than you do.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
Blaming the headline writer is specious. You are a multi-millionaire who can afford all the private health care you need. Most of your customers are not. Throwing around the “socialism” scare word is intellectually dishonest. We have been a socialist country for at least a century. We have socialized police, socialized fire, socialized military, socialized k-12 education, socialized ambulance service, socialized parks, socialized libraries, etc. You think health care is less important than libraries and parks? I have enjoyed your store, but I cannot patronize it any longer given your disregard for the welfare of your cutomers.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
There’s an old 60s saying “You’re either on the bus or off the bus.” Clearly despite the greenwashing Whole Foods is off the bus. With all the right wing Big Lies about the Obama Health Care plan, there is no room for waffling. So which side, Dear Reader, are YOU on? It’s clear which side Whole Foods is on. Count this family as one more on the picket/boycott line. “We shall have (whole grain) bread and will shall have roses and HEALTHCARE too!” Hey Mackey, see that light? It’s a bio-diesel train coming at ya at 100 klicks an hour, repent, or get outta the way!
August 14th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Who do you think shops at your store Mackey? Rednecks?!
It’s L-I-B-E-R-A-L-S and we want Universal Health Care.
Something like France has. France, better health care, better food than America.
I have all my Whole Foods receipts from about 6 or 7 years.
I think I will do an guerrilla art piece with them.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
I am deeply offended by your view on health care reform. There is much in your thinking that is either wrong-headed, or perhaps more likely, geared toward protecting your company from the burden of social responsibility and concerns about your own taxation, no less so than the CEOs of ExxonMobile, PhillipMorris (excuse me, I meant Altria, that smells better)or Halliburton.
As a provider of nutritional products of higher value, informed selection and concern for the environment, you are indicating a profound level of hypocrisy. A man of your position should instead take a hippocratic approach. You have such gall to dangle out there that health care is not covered under the Constitution or Declaration of Independence which begs the implication that guns are. You may not be pro-gun, however the Founders saw a necessity for firearms in a largely wilderness nation,and experienced with wars, revolutionary or otherwise. Such a thought in the 21st century is absurd. Conversely, the availability of medical care not being extended to citizenry in a prompt, uncondition and humane way is equally absurd. You crown your argument with the suggestion that we make a tax-deductible donation to Medicare and others. Maybe we can revive the Jerry Lewis Telethon? By the way, my friends in the UK and Canada do not feel left out by their system. They do think the US backwards on the issue, and see this national debate (?) as amoral.
Mr. Mackey, you make my blood boil. I can no longer shop in your stores. It is so discouraging to have assumed good intentions where the foundation of Whole Food. Sir, you have poisoned well. I can not think of your company the same way I once did. What a shame.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Maybe WF will see a slight, short-term uptick in the number of redstaters and freepers who shop there, if they are willing to drive the two counties over to get to their “local” WF, but that will be overwhelmed by the number of progressive-thinking regular WF shoppers who will change their shopping habits because of the ghoulish (health care not a basic right??) and incendiary (comparing reform to socialism??) viewpoint you have expressed which is ridiculously out-of-line with your customer base. Hello Trader Joe’s. Goodbye $450 a month at WF.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
I wish you hadn’t summarized the reforms as socalism. That is silly.
I will shop elsewhere until the reforms Obama promised are enacted
into law.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
I was just becoming a frequent shopper at whole foods over the last couple of months in Cleveland area. you just lost another customer with your oped article. Don’t try to spin yourself out of this, your customer are not stupid.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
Boil it down and what you are saying is that I, as CEO of Whole Foods, am going to use the health care reform issue to promote the business of Whole Foods. If everyone shopped at Whole Foods, everyone would be healthier, and everyone’s health care costs would be lower. Thats is simply beautiful. Hey John, if you truly believe this why don’t you set the example? Why don’t you lower the prices at Whole Foods to an affordable level. Then everyone can shop at Whole Foods, everyone can have a healthy diet…. and best of all everyone’s health care costs will be lower. I will be spending my dollars at Trader Joe’s!
August 14th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
I am very fortunate. I have insurance despite a ‘pre-existing’ condition due to my husbands policy. I have a very good life, sufficient finances. I have been a pleased customer for a very long time and have defended the “Whole Paycheck’ slams. We often donate to the causes promoted at the check out stand and are happy to have a place to do so.
I will now do everything I can to shop elsewhere. I feel we have a moral obligation to care for others. Sometimes others need our assistance. They are often less fortunate due to circumstances beyond their control.
I am not religious, I just care about those around me. I don’t care to donate in ways that put my name forward. I don’t want recognition. I will pay more in taxes, willingly, to help those that need help. I am surprised and appalled to know that you feel so differently.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
I find it very offensive for you to use Whole Foods name in a political matter….I will be spending my $15,000.00 a year at other markets….
August 14th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
I assume that you feel rationing of health care by the insurance industry is acceptable. The average health insurance CEO compensation is ll+million/yr. Administrative costs for health insurance corporations is approx. 25% while other industrialized countries average around 5%. There is no bankruptcy due to medical care in these countries while here there are around 1 million per year due to health problems. What is your resource for the waiting lists for health care in Canada and UK? While no health delivery system can be perfect, other countries seem to have a moral sense that caring for their citizens is worth the effort. Granted, our Constitution does not mandate universal health care. So, I guess you are correct, only those things specifically outline in that document should be part of our efforts to care for our citizens. I assume then that you are for repealing Social Security and Medicare. These programs certainly are “Socialist”. I was so surprised to read your comments. I cannot believe that your employees will agree with you–they are a great bunch and I am so sorry to have to move along to another market due to your statements.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
I have been a loyal customer for from day one, even when I couldn’t afford to shop at Whole (Paycheck) Foods, even after the new store in Oakland sold food from Everett and Jones (nothing healthy about Everett and Jones). I will shop at Berkeley Bowl and Trader Joe’s and the various farmer’s markets. I will also go out my way to shop at the new organic market in West Oakland. You have lost a very good customer. Please note everyone does not have your money to afford the life you have.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
John,
Thank you for telling the truth. Your company attracts a lot of liberals who believe that health care is a right and socialism will solve all problems. Every person in the whole world has their own responsibility for their lives and health. Government intervention can only exacerbate the situation. Government control of my health is unacceptable. In their eyes I am only a statistic not a person. Once again, thank you for having the courage to tell the truth and not allow the liberal socialists to threaten you. In the future, I will be a loyal and constant customer of yours.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Dear Whole Foods, as a person working three jobs just to make ends meet, I was always willing to pay a little more for your products. I will no longer shop at Whole Foods. I should have known that a corporation will always act like one. I hoped for better from you. You lost a loyal customer and I am sure that you will make it up temporarily by those who believe in your political opinions. But for them ultimately money talks and they will go back to Safeway for the bargains. Your customers made a conscious choice to go to you and pay a little more not an ideological one. By parading your politics you have force me to make a choice.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
I was surprised at some of the things you wrote. I like the idea of giving people an opportunity to support others in more need. The argument for tort reform, which we now have in Texas, has dramatically decreased the amount of lawsuits against doctors. Med mal lawsuit costs amount to 1-2% of medical costs. A drop in the bucket. Attorneys receive 35-40% of any settlement or award. The insurance industry is a way bigger thorn in physicians’ sides compared to attorneys.
This President wants to use the budget to build infrastructure and assist people to have the basics to survive, as opposed to Bush & righties who have been and still aspire upholding the fat cats society. Most of them don’t give a flip about others who have very little. If, as in Denmark, health care is provided for everyone (socialism is not like communism, and who says socialism is bad? Democratic socialism meets the need of the community and not scary. The system we’ve had for the last 8 years has been terror and hell.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:03 pm
I have already left a long response to the WSJ article addressed to customer service. However, I do want to note that, as a very long time customer of WF in Houston who also shops at WF in Atlanta, Las Vegas and NYC, I am going to no longer shop at my store in Houston. I spend a lot of money there and hope that your new conservative friends can match the enthusiasm of your long time patrons. Your staff at the Kirby store is excellent; but my more conservative friends in the Rice University/River Oaks area are not so receptive to the diverse nature of your wonderful employees. Perhaps you should request that they adopt a more conservative style (your employees–your new best friends will already be more conservative). Best of luck. You will need it–I feel betrayed. But I’ll just start a full court press to get Trader Joe’s in Houston. We already have great choices of farmer’s markets inside the loop. You can have the ‘burbs; you will need them.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Still the conservative mentality is to punish the poor for being poor. How many people working at minimum wage jobs to support their families do you think can afford to shop at your stores? None.
Matthew 25:40 And the King will make answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Because you did it to the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Mr. Mackey, well said.
I will seek out a Whole Foods at my earliest opportunity and buy something.
Okay, so I will probably still deep fry whatever it is I buy, but hey.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
So your solution is health insurance that covers nothing and is so expensive it can only be purchased by . . . well . . . people like you.
Oh, also, and buying from Whole Foods will make insurance unnecessary.
You know what? No more Whole Foods for me. Ever.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
As a stockholder I would appreciate if you would keep your mouth shut about controversial issues.
As a consumer I might still shop at WF because I do not want to hurt the employees who work in my local store, although after re-reading your op/ed, I don’t know that I will. Your callous indifference to those of us struggling to pay these insurance extortionist, in order to avert financial ruin if, God forbid, someone in our family has an accident or becomes ill. We have the high deductible health insurance plans with Health Savings Account that you think is great. Maybe it is good for your company, but it does not work for everyone, like those of us who have to buy private insurance in the individual market.
You probably do not realize that some of your shopper’s pay so much in health insurance premiums that it does require an intentional effort to pay WF’s high prices .Since you want self employed people like me to pay even more for our already rationed private health insurance, that could in fact push me to change my buying habits and go to cheaper unhealthier food for my family or maybe I will just switch to the less pricey New Flower that just opened, even though it is farther away and I will have to drive right past the new Whole Foods that just recently moved very close to me.
We have to spend over $28,000 on our health care costs per year before our health insurance even begins to kick in. Our insurance premiums have increased 54% per year in the each of the last two years. If this continues at this rate it will consume our entire income in I think in 3-4 years. We are a non-obese healthy family of 4, not on meds other than for some allergies. Yet my family has still somehow made ends meet and have been able to shop at WF. Now I see that the person at the top of WF is in part perpetuating the distrust and Republican talking points, it does make me think twice about where my money is going. Apparently you want to have less of my shopping dollar, so I can give more to the insurance company CEOs, and then they can maybe purchase another vacation house or some such necessity of the uber-rich.
Health care may not be a right in your eyes, (I happen to think it is and I am an RN working in health care), it certainly should not be treated as a commodity.
It is curious that the WSJ changed the title of the article and injected Presidents Obama’s name into it. No political games there huh? Never trust Rupert Murdoch (?sp).
August 14th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
Wow…Mr. Mackey, your “privilege” is showing! I wish I had read this before going to your store this morning! My $200 per week habit just got cancelled; I guess it’s my “intrinsic” right to choose to go somewhere else. I have to tell you that I am truly upset about this and have much regret, to tell you that I am with the boycotters.
I can tell you that as a person with NO health insurance at this time, I DO agree that good health practices and personal responsibility do factor into staying healthy; but that is all I agree with in your ’solutions’ piece. WITH THAT SAID, what happens if I am hit by a car? What if I work in a toxic building and fall ill with Cancer? I struggle and make a grand effort to spend my pennies wisely and come into your store to eat healthy, hoping to stay well, yet I have no health insurance.. While you believe that I have no “right” to this health insurance and millions of others like me, you gladly accept my weekly dollars, for what I consider to be “food at a premium.” I struggle and still manage to spend $200 a week at your store to feed my family, but what about those who cannot? What about those who cannot afford to eat healthy, so theoretically (by your own logic), their chances of being healthy, automatically decrease? This issue doesn’t just affect poor and working class folks; the middle class is now affected because health care, food, shelter is ALL at a premium and we are often forced to make choices between them. I thought, us liberals were supposed to be the out of touch, elitists? I am floored…I never knew that you saw things this way and how you can attempt to separate yourself from your company, when WF has honorable mention throughout the article is beyond me.
Sorry Mr. Whole Paycheck…you lost me!
August 14th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
Mr. MacKey seems to be receiving a lot of support in the comments from health reform opponents. Something tells me when they see the price of organic lettuce, very little of that support will translate into dollars in the register. I do love the dollars-as-votes power the American consumer wields. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
John -
Thanks for expressing what you really believe. Now I know the right-wing beats at the very heart of Whole Foods. I believe that wing-nuts like you, and corporate frauds like Whole Foods are killing the country. Goodbye Whole Foods, forever.
- ExCustomer
August 14th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
“Our team members therefore spend their own health care dollars until the annual deductible is covered (about $2,500) and the insurance plan kicks in. This creates incentives to spend the first $2,500 more carefully. ”
I find the notion that people would be fluffing off $2,500 on needless trips to the doctor or buying medication offensive and disgusting. How can a person who needs medical attention spend their money more carefully?
To think I went out of my way to go to Whole Foods. I personally feel that CEOs set the culture of the company and lead the way through their vision of what works for business. High deductible plans, believing employees are needlessly spending money on health and wellness care, and a focus on the costs of health services instead of ensuring everyone has access are ideas I choose not to support.
I further thank my employer for paying the full cost of my insurance premium and keeping the deductible reasonable ( and they still manage to turn a profit.)
August 14th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
I’ve believed in and promoted Whole Foods for so long and was proud to be a customer, and now I only feel betrayed. I was naive. Enough is enough, and I don’t even know if I will come back once Mackey is gone (since he will most likely still own a significant share). Farmers Markets, Rainbow Grocery and Real Foods (the locally owned locations) can have all my business now.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
dear mr. mackey,
after a friend posted this article up on facebook and now having read it, i am amazed and quite alarmed. no longer will you be receiving $500-$600 a month from me (this is for one person…i know i know…i eat well, but i do exercise), as i will be shopping at PCC and Metropolitan Market for all my future organics and delicacies. as a ceo you represent your company and thus will be associated with your company ANYTIME you speak on any politcal issue. it’s the nature of the beast. and it is obvious what your stance with the health care reform bill is. it is easy…very easy for the rich to discount the healthcare reform bill as i am confident you have the greatest healthcare insurance available for you and your family. also, i am not sure you are aware of who your organic/vegan/vegetarian/healthy eating/etc. patrons are or should i say were. good luck pedaling your services to the conservative right…let’s see if they are willing drive from their suburban home to the city so they can pay 1.29 for a lemon. mr. mackey your article focused only on the financial aspect of healthcare. even when you talk about empathizing you relate it back to economics (While all of us can empathize with those who are sick, how can we say that all people have any more of an intrinsic right to health care than they have an intrinsic right to food, clothing, owning their own homes, a car or a personal computer? Health care is a service which we all need at some point in our lives, but just like food, clothing, and shelter it is best provided through voluntary and mutually-beneficial market exchanges rather than through government mandates). that is not empathisizing mr. mackey. sir, we are not a third world country and healthcare is not only an economical issue but a MORAL issue. learn compassion and true empathy.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:16 pm
After reading John Mackey’s piece in the Wall Street Journal I will no longer shop at Whole Foods.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:17 pm
Just returned from your store in Venice, CA. It doesn’t seem to be hurting from this so-called “boycott.”
August 14th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Yep a little to late. I won’t shop where a CEO takes a position that has the potential to antagonize his customer base and promote division. And then says, oops, that is not what it was!! Damage us done.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
Despicable. Especially from someone who has private health insurance and never has to worry about losing his savings, health, or even life if a serious illness develops.
How you think that the problem of 50 million uninsured Americans can be solved with tax and tort reform is beyond me. But of course, you really don’t care about them – all you care about is making sure that taxes on the ultra-rich (like you) are not raised.
I, for one, will never shop at Whole Foods again, and will do my best to ensure that all my friends do likewise. Good to finally find out what a selfish individual you really are.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
I am a frequent shopper of whole foods. I have been for the past 10 years. I have noticed the store has become far more corporate of the past few years. It seems that the views of the CEO are very corporate as well. I strongly disagree with his stance on “reform”. It is more of the status quo. Honestly, it sounds like he is lobbying for a job in a health insurance company. I will not be shopping at whole foods in the near future. I will take my business elsewhere.
Some point I would like to comment on…
Tort Reform- I agree that frivolous law suits are a problem and they should be thrown out by the judges. I disagree that the government should mandate maximum settlements. I believe it takes away power from the individual.
High Deductible Health Plans- as a young person I would tempted to take these plans. Although, they are risky because they could easily bankrupt the average person because if they become sick or need extensive treatment a lot of the financial burden is on them.
Eliminate Healthcare Mandates- So we should just trust the health insurance companies have our best interests in mind when determining who gets covered and what treatments get covered.
Allow health insurance companies to do business across state borders- perhaps we should allow health insurance companies to merge to become to big to fail.
Does John believe that we should do away with Medicare and Medicaid? Or just stop borrowing against it to pay for illegal wars?
August 14th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
A $2,500.00 medical deductible is approximately 16% of the gross salary of a minimum wage worker. Now where to spend that last $12,580.00 maybe paying rent, (average rent of $651/month) another $7,812 gone. Now they have a whopping $4768 left…That’s a staggering $91 a week to spend on everything else. Electricity bill, phone, car, FOOD, clothes, everything….
Wow those poor people sure do have it made.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Government hands off our Medicare!
Government hands off our Investment Banks!
Government hands off our Armed Forces!
Government hands off our Roads!
Government hands off Florida!
Government hands off the DMV!
Yee haw!!!!!
August 14th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
I’ve been a loyal customer for many years. My family spends about $300/week at your store.
I was upset to read the wsj article. Before I even knew that boycotts were organizing, I considered it myself. It showed how out of touch you are from your customer base.
Today, instead of driving to whole foods, I went to the farmers market. I haven’t been there in years. And, I was reminded how much cheaper buying fresh produce directly from the local farmer can really be. I picked up 5 green peppers, 6 ears of white corn, a loaf of French bread, and a gallon of straight from the farm organic milk. The total was only $7.47! I was really shocked at how little I paid. I’ve paid more for a single pepper at whole foods.
I’ll continue to boycott until you resign. After that, I’ll probably come back because there are still things I like about whole foods. But, I can promise you that after shopping at the farmers market today, you’ve still lost a considerable % of my business.
So, I know it’s not good for your company, but thanks for the reminder that there are cheaper alternatives to whole foods.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
I will never shop at Whole Foods again, and I use to love shopping there.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
Thanks for a reasoned and thoughtful contribution to the national health care debate. I have long been a WFM customer and will certainly continue in the future. Your clear and consistent remarks stand in stark contrast to the dogma and misinformation coming from the administration. Your irate customers are only expressing their heartfelt belief that public speech is only acceptable when it agrees with their own position.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:42 pm
PS check out the story below John Mackey’s mea culpa about Leonard Green investing $425 million in WF. Why don’t you let Leonard know what you think?
info@leonardgreen.com
PPS Whole Foods is a publicly traded company NASDAQ ticker symbol WFMI. Don’t like what management is doing? Buy some stock, it gives you a bunch of rights and a platform for being heard.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
We have been shopping at your store for some time now. My son has allergies and we have been loyal costumers for years. After reading your op/ed, I am looking for other stores to shop.
I am a physician and I can tell you that invariably I encountered an insurance burocrat come in between doctor and a patient. Try getting a health insurance with preexisting condition (and I am talking about genetic diseases). What is your solution for that?
I am a Nephrologist and I take care of patients with hypertension, diabetes and chronic kidney disease. In America, patients do not receive preventative care as many patients cannot afford health insurance unless you are employed. You cannot get affordable insurance even if you are self employed. Hypertension and diabetes are considered pre existing conditions. Some of my patients are self employed and they cannot get insurance because of “pre existing condition”. So most do not seek care till it is too late. Chronic kidney disease can be prevented if hypertension and diabetes are identified and treated early on. Without proper care early on, they go on to developing kidney disease and needing dialysis. Ironic thing is the so called “socialized medicine”(medicare) is applicable after you are on dialysis. That is a waste of money when you can treat and prevent chronic kidney disease. You can save money if these patients can afford health insurance and not be discriminated against due to their pre-existing condition and that is what public option is all about. So, these patients can avoid dialysis and they also can keep working and be productive to the society. Remember, many of these patients stop working after they start dialysis. And you know our (USA) death rates from kidney disease are far worse than European countries which practice “socialized medicine”. Inadequate predialysis nephrology care was strongly associated with mortality during the first 6 months.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
Mr. Mackey has the right to speak his mind, however mislead, mistaken or greedy he may be. Unfortunately for Whole Foods, their customers also have the right to hold Mr. Mackey and Whole Foods accountable for his words and I will exercise that right by indefinitely boycotting Whole Foods. It’s my hope that the board of Whole Foods will do the right thing and remove Mr. Mackey from his position as CEO and issue an genuine apology to the customers of Whole Foods and to the general public. This country is in desperate need of health care reform and I will not support any company that provides a platform for obstructionists like Mr. Mackey.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
Thank you for forcing me to look into local co-ops, farmers markets and eco-farmers, etc. I was obviously too complacent and clueless about where I was shopping and the values of its’ creator.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
I have no plans to set foot in Whole Foods again. There are other stores, co-ops and farmer’s markets where I can shop with pleasure and peace of mind. I can disagree with a company’s ceo on some levels and still partake of the business because the balance of the equation is tilted towards my principles but the op-ed piece in the WSJ, even with the unedited version above, has just left me feeling like my money is spent better elsewhere.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
Since you have stores and I assume some corporate offices in Canada, I would like to know how much you actually “pitch in” toward the Canadian healthcare system that you so vehemently oppose. How much does your company pay in taxes in Canada? And if you disagree so vehemently with that system why did you even set up shop?
I too will be one of those who will no longer spend nearly $200 a week in your stores.
Just as you have the right to voice your opinion, I too have the right to take my business elsewhere, and I wholeheartedly intend to exercise that right. I will drive the extra short distance to go to Trader Joe’s!
August 14th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
Your views on our health care system are great for your fellow rich people, not so great for those of us in the middle and lower classes.
You lost my business and that of my family (though my brother, an organic food only caterer, already doesn’t shop at what he calls Whole Paycheck Market).
August 14th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
Thank you for your op/ed in the Wall Street Journal and sharing your views on the health care crisis. Living in Southern California, I have many choices as to where I choose to shop for my groceries, so patronizing another healthful grocery store is not a problem at all. I will no longer be shopping at Whole Foods until you are removed the company.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
Thank you for the informative article, Mr. Mackey. I was unaware that Rush Limbaugh had a brother in the grocery business. We have purchased all of our food at Whole Foods for a number of years. I can assure you that we will never again set foot in a Whole Foods market. Fortunately, we have alternative organic food outlets which may be slightly less convenient but whose management are not right wing nutjobs.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
Simply put: not one more penny from me. Goodbye
August 14th, 2009 at 11:55 pm
I am inspired to become a new customer after reading your article. Most grocery stores–indeed, most companies–do not treat their workers so well, and your ideas regarding health care reform are sound and economically viable (not to mention successfully tested). Thanks for your valuable contribition to the health care discussion. My family will shop Whole Foods.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
I was looking forward to your response to the controversy.
To put it mildly, I was disappointed. Pathetic and selfish.
I loved your stores, but your response has left me no choice but to look elsewhere.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:02 am
I have been a customer of the Union Square store in New York City but will no longer shop there or at other Whole Foods stores. I strongly disagree with your position on health care and resent you using your position as a CEO of a consumer company to broadcast these positions during the current debate. It’s of course your right to do so, but considering that the size of your megaphone is directly related to the size of your customer base, I will do what I can do make your broadcast just a tiny bit less powerful by no longer shopping at your stores.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:04 am
Mr Mackey,
One more loyal customer who will no longer spend a dime in your stores. I always felt a little guilty not supporting the little guys in the organic food market such as Vitamin Cottage, Sprouts and Sunflower, but I liked WFM and got to know the people working in my local store. Well, now I will feel downright empowered patronizing those stores (and I’m sure I’ll save a bunch of money to boot). I feel bad for your employees as it’s not their fault you’ve opened your big mouth and shown your true right-wing colors. I’ll have to stop by and tell them to complain loudly to their managers for your ouster. And don’t think you can depend on the right-wingers to replace us progressives as customers. They’ll be back to shopping for their groceries at Wal-Mart in no time.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:06 am
What a disappointment. My wife and I have been spending a lot of money at Whole Foods. No more. We will find alternative places to shop. How much more right wing conservatism do we need to suffer before everybody finally comes to the realization that conservatism is a failed ideology? Why can’t you get that not everybody has the ability to pick themselves up by their bootstraps and afford healthy organic foods and health insurance, let alone everything else that conservatives believe should be shouldered by the individual, all government be damned. If conservatism had won out over the years, we wouldn’t have all the civil rights we enjoy today. We also wouldn’t have Social Security and Medicaire, two wildly popular programs, our great interstate road system, and the list goes on. You are obviously not concerned about losing your job and not being able to afford healthcare, as are millions of Americans. Health care is not a right? Let’s go back and look at how corporations got to be treated as individuals. Is that a right? Of the corporation, by the corporation, for the corporation? I would have thought that throwing the “socialism” grenade was beyond someone of your position and stature, Mr. Mackey. You should be ashamed of yourself.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:06 am
lol. free republic has invaded this blog.
… try not to tack the people praising you serious. the online mob is a fickle crowd and would turn on you the moment you say the word “hope”
August 15th, 2009 at 12:07 am
Another recitation of the standard Republican talking points. Well done, Mr. Mackey.
Tort reform? Really? You’re seriously going to toss out that old chestnut?
You seem to have gained a whole new following, those who previously derided your stores and your customers are suddenly now saying they’re going to become loyal Whole Foods shoppers.
I’ll believe that when I see it.
Those who demonized the Whole Foods concept and it’s customers for being overpriced, no-better-than Publix brand crap marketed at the out of touch latte sipping tree hugging liberals will no more become your new base than they will suddenly embrace “socialism” in whatever form the WSJ and op-ed writers like you tell them.
First the Wild Oats debacle, now this. I wonder what continuing value the Whole Foods Board of Directors sees you adding to the company’s future.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:10 am
Our office represented a child whose forearm was amputated because of the negligence of a doctor on the day she was born. So now in addition to having to spend the rest of her life wearing a prosthetic, she gets to read op ed articles alleging she is to blame for our current health care mess. Nice job.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:13 am
The very fact that your essay is on this site is simply further evidence of how you use your position as CEO to promote your opinion. (Emails from the company suggesting that Whole Foods harbors a Whole Range of political views strikes me as irrelevant … there are probably people working in the store who would like to a join a union, too; so what?) Our boycott is evidence of how we patronize merchants who don’t plunge into the middle of a highly sensitive political debate. Should food be politicized? Do you also have Republican views on, say, government oversight of food safety, regulation of insecticides, packaging, minimum wage, maternity leave…the list goes on, and on, and on. But my grocery list doesn’t.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:14 am
Mr. Mackey… to be blunt… you’re full of it.
I can’t believe some of you are praising the drivel he wrote. “Tort reform” and the evils of “socialized medicine”… pure right-wing talking points. That nonsense about “High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs) takes the word “ridiculous ” to new heights.
While I admire you and Whole Foods for being generous with you’re HDHP, many other companies are not so magnanimous with their plans. The sad reality is that unless you are single and healthy, HDHPs tend to be a financial burden for individuals who are low wage earners. Don’t even think about being pregnant or having a “pre-existing condition.” These plans are the financial kiss of death!
Mr. Mackey… we live in a free country and I respect your rights to have an opinion. However when a “Big Business” shill such as yourself starts passing on claptrap as facts, I’m going to call BULL$#iT!
August 15th, 2009 at 12:14 am
After reading some of the above blogs, it sounds like you are going to get a new type of shopper that will come by and show their support for your views, but at the same time are losing many, many long time loyal customers. This may give your stores a more rural Wal-mart ambience, because if you look at the very vocal opponents of healthcare reform, they look like your typical Wal-mart shopper.I do not think they will abide your prices for very long. I personally will miss Whole Foods. It was more than just shopping, it was an enjoyable experience. But I am not going to give you any more of my money. For 15 years I drove 20 minutes to another neighborhood to go to Whole Foods, then in March 2009 you opened a new store 2 minutes away and I was there 3 times on opening day and continue to go every day or two. I am done with that, you don’t care about the common man.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:15 am
Easy for you to say as you sit on your throne. Too little too late. Enjoy your boycott.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:19 am
Thank you for your insightful and fearless words. Being able to speak your mind is one of our only freedoms left in America, and you have done so without fear of how it will effect you or your business. As long as you remain CEO of Whole Foods, I will be bringing my grocery list to your stores.
It’s wonderful to hear what successful business do to provide ridiculously affordable health insurance to their employees. Whole Foods as well as Safeway Grocery stores have done excellent jobs in providing these benefits and I commend you for that.
Keep spreading truth!
Timmy Veith
August 15th, 2009 at 12:21 am
Mr. Mackey,
I read your WSJ op/ed, and I was very impressed. To be honest, I am not surprised to hear such insightful and practical solutions from the CEO of a successful business. But I was a little surprised to hear it from Whole Foods. Pleasantly surprised, to be more accurate. I was also impressed that your plan includes a means of voluntary funding to assist people in need. Freedom of choice and market-based solutions are not “right wing garbage” as some have suggested. These are the principles of freedom, common sense, and capitalism — and no party, culture, lifestyle, or region has a monopoly on these virtues.
I am sorry to hear that customers are threatening to boycott your stores. However, I think that your thoughtful article has truly shown that Whole Foods is a place where rational and compassionate minds thrive. I think you will find that this attention will attract a new interest in your store which should balance (or possibly exceed) the loss of your customer base.
I believe that America is thirsty for corporate responsibility in our businesses and in our government. It is my hope that companies like Whole Foods will continue to speak out and advocate individual liberty and responsibility, fiscal responsibility in government, and rational market-based solutions. Thank you for providing the first of what I hope will be a continued series of corporate wake-up calls to our elected leaders.
AMB
August 15th, 2009 at 12:23 am
While you raise some interesting points, you went over the line with the foolish “socalism” references and other tired right-wing scare tactics. I was a frequent Whole Foods shopper and will now shop elsewhere. I’ve talked to many others who will do the same. Buh-bye.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:25 am
Great article! I am new American Citizen, Conservative who lived under socialism and socialist, single payer, nationalized health care system before, and could tell you that it does not work. Most of the time to get help we had to pay out of pocket for real healthcare. My father(in Poland) who went into comma after having heart attack at age 63 was denied MRI (under nationalized healthcare) because according to his attending physician he was too old. So for those of you here on this blog who think that nationalized healthcare will give them full and good coverage are simply naive and uninformed.
Mr. Mackey, loved the Margaret Thatcher quote, and the ones who say that it is ironic that you put her quote since she presided over UK with nationalized healthcre are simply ignorant of history. UK instituted nationalized healthcare in the 1946 and since it is became the largest employer in UK, therefore people who are against it cannot get rid of it.
Another great quote is from Winston Churchill:
“Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy.”
August 15th, 2009 at 12:30 am
I was really looking forward to your reply.
I was truly disappointed in your response. Pathetic and selfish.
I loved your stores. I can’t in good conscience step into any one of them again.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:34 am
To leave healthcare to the tender mercy of insurance co’s, who have motivation to reduce coverage and deny claims, in the hope that somehow competitition rather than collusion will occur flies in the face of history.
Social reforms have historically had to be legislated because Companies care only about one thing. The same cost/competition line has been used for everything from child labor, minimum wage, FDA regs and food inspection.
Mr Mackey, for shame. You hide behind your fat salary and hope that the goodwill of insurance companies will solve all problems.
I will continue to buy organic, but not at Whole Foods.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:38 am
Thank you for expressing an opinion that your likely customer base would find disagreeable.
I have only shopped at Whole Foods when I couldn’t get the time to go to the place I normally go. Whole Foods is closer, but I dislike the emphasis on organics, green products, and haphazard store layout (things difficult to find).
I WILL be shopping at Whole Foods regularly now.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:44 am
I am a formerly loyal Whole Foods shopper who will not patronize your store again. I have other options, and I plan to exercise them. I will also go out of my way to inform my friends about your position on health care reform.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:45 am
I thought this was the United States of America where we have earned the freedom of speech. The people who would bad-mouth me for NOT boycotting Whole Foods (my favorite grocery store) would prefer that the only speech that’s free is the speech they agree with. Shame on Them!
August 15th, 2009 at 12:56 am
The tone of the article was not set by the title, changed or not, but by the Thatcher quote at the head. Cries of “Socialism” are meant to frighten people into mistrust of “The Government.” Slap a label on something, make people afraid, and try and convince them that only you can save them.
Mr. Mackey, you were asked to provide an op ed. You were not required to write it. You chose to write it. When the CEO or an organization presents his views, he speaks for that organization. Could you have written that alternative medicine and organic foods are simple profit vehicles and have no consumer benefits and not have that affect your business? Can a person become a CEO or an organization and be that naive?
You said what you wanted to say. You spoke for your company, like it or not. Your company now has to live with the consequences of your words. I intend to share your article with everyone I know who shops at Whole Foods and let them make up their own minds as to whether they will continue to remain customers. I know several already who have said they will not.
This should please you. It’s democracy and free markets at work.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:57 am
Many responsible people working for minimum wage can’t afford health coverage. That doesn’t make them irresponsible. When one of your Core Values at Whole Foods is “Caring About Our Communities & Our Environment” how can you neglect to care for those in our communities who cannot afford to purchase healthcare? The hypocrisy it too great. I can no longer shop at Whole Foods.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:57 am
I like how the moderators left so many of the so-called “praises” for your stance remain, I for one believe half of them to be fake or made by those who cannot even afford to shop at your store with the same frequency as those of us who are able to do so but no longer will. I believe you will feel the power of the impending boycott soon, remember numbers don’t lie…
August 15th, 2009 at 1:05 am
Gutsy op-ed piece, realizing that much of your clientele will take indignant offense, having been thoroughly indoctrinated in the “government knows best, and loves me and will take care of me” philosophy.
Too many have a falsely skewed idea of the meaning of a “right” as opposed to a need or want. The purpose – the ONLY purpose of government – is to secure and protect our rights. There is no Constitutional authority for the federal government to extend itself beyond those limits. A right is a fundamental part of one’s humanity; whether you wish to say “god-given” or “inherent” or whatever. A right, as such, cannot require the participation of another individual. Thus one needs food, shelter, clothing, medical care etc, but does not have an inherent -right- to those things if the provision of those things must be taken by force from another. One has a right to do whatever one wishes to do with his life so long as he does not initiate force against another human being. Note that “initiate” does not preclude defending oneself against aggression by another.
However, to claim any of these -needs- or -wants- as rights is to take by force (and the ultimate force in this society is government) from another. Government has no resources of its own; it can only distribute to some that which it has taken by force from some others. And, of course, much of what is taken mysteriously sticks to the walls of the bureaucracies involved, since what eventually comes out is far less than what went in.
Your well-reasoned approach to supplying the health care needs of this country is well worth considering, and I applaud you for the effort.
I’ll not make any childish promises to patronize or avoid Whole Foods; your right to present your opinions is far more important than business considerations.
Thank you.
August 15th, 2009 at 1:07 am
Please don’t give us donations, we need doctor’s visits and medications for our illnesses and treatment when something major happens.
Donations are just modern-day indulgences. They’re a way for rich people to pay away their guilt. My last boss wouldn’t provide affordable health insurance (to be fair, the insurance company wouldn’t provide it to him) or a decent salary to his employees but he never hesitated to send a $1000 check to help out the local PBS station or food bank.
We don’t need donations. We need a better option than what’s available now. What you’ve proposed ain’t it, buddy.
August 15th, 2009 at 1:17 am
So you really think that yours is an unbiased opinion? Do you actually believe that you can understand both sides of the issue without the help of experts and specialists? If you were a researcher or scientist you would know that your argument is completely flawed, but unfortunately all you have done is inflame the uneducated masses. Just because your voice is louder than those around you and your reach is extensive, this does make it the voice of reason. By your standards my influence is small, but I have time on my side and when many voices speak as one they overcome any single noise.
Whole foods no more….Long live Sprouts!
August 15th, 2009 at 1:18 am
As a canadian, I love it when I hear americans talk about how much we hate our “socialized” healthcare, when a recent poll showed that over 80% of canadians want there to be LESS privatization in our health system.
Get your facts straight. Even the remaining %16 or so of people who want some privatization, don’t want a “free market” system as there is in the US, and the numbers are the same for EVERY OTHER industrialized country, all of which have some form of universal healthcare. If your system is so good, why do you think that is?
August 15th, 2009 at 1:24 am
“While all of us can empathize with those who are sick, how can we say that all people have any more of an intrinsic right to health care than they have an intrinsic right to food, clothing, owning their own homes, a car or a personal computer?”
Well, thanks for the empathy, John! You’re a great American!
I don’t think there is a decent human being with a soul that would deny any person food, clothing or health care. Obviously, you see things differently.
If I could use one word that would describe what has the most potential to destroy our Country it would be “greed”.
August 15th, 2009 at 1:27 am
I strongly support your right as an American to voice your opinion on this issue.
I also strongly support my right as an American to refuse to support a company whose CEO espouses these views. I’ve been a loyal customer, but will shop elsewhere from now on. I can’t in good conscience support a business that is actively involved in influencing the defeat of legislation that is so critical for the American people.
Regretfully, good-bye.
August 15th, 2009 at 1:29 am
Sorry, I must throw my hat in the “you’ve lost my business” ring. I can lamentably no longer support your stores.
Oh and your assertion that all developed nations with “socialized” medicine ration healthcare is completely off-base and missing the point. We have healthcare rationing in this country right now! It’s rationed by corporations (I assume you understand corporate interests as a CEO). A for-profit system when it comes to people’s health and lives is just plain wrong.
August 15th, 2009 at 1:47 am
Mr. Mackey-
You have embarrssed the company you work for. OH sure, you may have help start the company, but now you work at the courtesy of the board. I believe they will fire you for your indiscretions.
First, you lie about your internet posts concerning Wild Oats and now you quote Margaret Thatcher in a deliberate provocation at your major demographic. You may be a millionaire, but you are a fool.
You can quote me.
August 15th, 2009 at 1:54 am
I will no longer shop at any Whole Foods Market. When your livelihood is “other peoples’ money”, you should not write op-eds against reform that will benefit all U.S. citizens.
Don’t you realize that the “little” people, low income earners are many of your customers? Many of your employees?
Fortunately, we are middle income; however, I will no longer be one of your customers.
You provide your employees with insurance, how much is their deductible? Can they call a cardiologist if they are having chest pains, or, do they have to WAIT on a referral from their primary care provider BEFORE they can schedule an appointment with the cardiologist that YOUR HMO say they can see?
You stated what you wanted the naive to read, the well-informed can read between your lines.
Health care reform will pass!
August 15th, 2009 at 1:54 am
Business 101, be apolitical. You wrote it, now you live with it. Not to swift a move for a leader in commerce!
August 15th, 2009 at 2:09 am
Healthy foods, a balanced lifestyle, and plenty of exercise, and we still have that nagging problem of the PRE-EXISTING condition that forces self-employed artists like myself to work a deadend 9-5 as a Team Member and if I quit, according to your suggestion, I’m supposed to rely on charitable tax-payers to fill in a donation box on their 1040 !!!???
You made some good points on the Part, but the bad ones show your disregard for the Whole.
Viva Farmer’s Markets!
August 15th, 2009 at 2:13 am
Bravo, Mr. Mackey!
I am glad someone out there in the corporate world has the balls to say what he feels. I feel sorry for those folks who do not understand your piece or do not agree with your viewpoint. It is their loss and are missing out on some great products in a wonderful shopping environment should they boycott your stores. I, personally, will continue to patronize your beautiful Roseville CA location and let them know that your company can be trusted to be one of the best sources for quality, responsibly produced products that have value. And as far as I am concerned, your products are priced reasonably for what I get. I should know. I work for the competition.
August 15th, 2009 at 2:23 am
Mr. Mackey,
Your comments on health care are well thought, clearly stated, and 100% right. What American health care needs is less distortion of market delivered solutions… health care customers who know exactly the prices of the health care services they purchase, unrestricted choice among skilled providers, large-pool catastrophic care insurance options paid for by the individual, and incentives to budget and save for predictable medical and dental needs. In essence, we have become the most poorly educated consumers of health care services to live in an age when we are closest to being able to effectively treat the most common diseases and conditions.
If anything, our current health care system woes are the result of “someone else” paying the bills, government and third-payer attempts at regulating costs and limiting services, out-of-control lawsuits, and restricted competition.
As you noted, the government would best assist us by making these expenses tax deductible (a way of ensuring those tax dollars go exactly to the services most desired and consumed). If we really needed to spend “other” people’s money for health care, we could guarantee loans to build clinics or purchase equipment, and offer “tax credit” dollars for those truly not able to afford services.
It is insanity to us to ask collectively for a Big Brother to make sure “I get what I need.” Imagine what a joke the proposed system would be if it was proposed as a solution to our food and shelter “needs.” Could someone pay for my car insurance, too?
Dr. V.
August 15th, 2009 at 2:27 am
Mr. John Mackey,
Although I expect my post will not be read, I’ll put it out there anyway. I appreciate your article and the thought you put into it. Many of your points are well made.
I think however, that you have fallen into a common trap. I have heard many people whom I respect make the arguments you eloquently stated in your article and they all have one thing in common. They are all, every single one of them privileged.
I don’t mean that they are all privileged in the sense as George W. or the British Royal Family. However, they are all privileged in that they have health insurance and marketable skills. They don’t live in poverty and likely never will. They don’t have any idea what it is like to live in a neighborhood where there is no grocery store and the only available food is junk food from a convenience store.
They don’t know what it is like to live for years with a painful and infected tooth which is too costly to fix even if the individual is working two jobs at minimum wage. The basic choices that we privileged members of society have are not available to everyone in our society and as such it is simply naive to expect those individuals to be personally responsible for things that lie completely out of their control.
Like every issue of societal welfare, the healthcare debate eludes any simple solution. Any viable answer must include both individual responsibility and societal responsibility. The synthesis of these philosophies is the only way of moving forward in a truly intelligent fashion.
We ought to remember that our country spends more money each year on military than every other country in the world combined. I simply can’t believe that we couldn’t re-direct some of those resources to providing basic necessities to our population and giving everyone a real chance at a healthy life.
In the long run, it will cost our society less to provide our populace with a pro-active health system, quality education and nutritious food than it will to continue with our current system of allowing those necessities to be withheld from those who can’t afford the cost. Unhealthy individuals ultimately end up in emergency rooms taxing our system a fair bit more than if we had provided them with access to the tools they needed to be healthy in the first place.
August 15th, 2009 at 2:31 am
You say that in the U.K. people are told by governmental bureaucrats what treatments and medicine they are eligible to receive. If you replace the words “governmental bureaucrats” with “insurance company bureaucrats” in your paragraph, it would quite accurately describe the system that most of us U.S. citizens experience (except of course for the 20% who get nothing at all). I don’t think I’ve ever had an HMO that wasn’t plastered with all kinds of rules about what was and what was not covered, and what I had to get advance approval for. But somehow it’s not called rationing because it’s done by private companies whose sole motive is profit? I don’t get the distinction. You are clearly just parroting the same tired right wing talking points about all those scary foreigners that have been discredited as barefaced lies time after time, but are kept alive by the very deep pockets of the insurance companies. By the way, it’s funny that 86% of U.K. citizens in a nationwide survey last year were reportedly “fairly proud” or “very proud” of their NHS. Must be because they are scared of being singled out by the government death squads for extermination if they say otherwise. Strange though that that the U.S. is much worse off than the U.K. and most every other industrialized nation in terms of life expectancy and infant mortality.
I’ve been shopping less and less at Whole Foods and Henry’s recently anyway (way too expensive), but I sure as heck won’t be going there again, just as a matter of principle. Its Trader Joe’s only for me from now on! By the way, next time you do an editorial, do some fact checking first!
August 15th, 2009 at 2:39 am
Sir–i will no longer support your business. you have missed the whole point of reform. As i nurse i see the effect & results of large insurance companies refusing to cover pre-existing conditions. All for the glory of profit. God forbid Aenta should loose s few million in profit.
August 15th, 2009 at 2:40 am
Once a week, over ten years, four moves, three states, from learning about eating for health – to raising children and packing lunches – to gift cards for kids away at school, I was your loyal customer. You have just forced me to end our relationship. I think the sad thing is you wont even understand why. Trust me, your new girlfriends who are just coming around now will never be as good to you, or as loyal, as I was.
August 15th, 2009 at 2:51 am
Companies drill the fact that employees represent the company they work for every minute of the day and are called out if they do something the company does not like. CEOs should not be able to disqualify themselves from this with a few words (and in fact it really doesn’t work anyway as Mr. Mackey is likely learning). Likely I will reduce my spending in Whole Foods due to his statements.
In regards to the opinion stated, it is amazing how people can get talked out of their Christian values by the seduction of conservative talk about being self reliant and the resource efficiencies of markets. Civilization itself is based on communities creating safety nets for those that find themselves not highly valued monetarily (teachers, service workers, children, artists, the disabled, and ill). Health care reform is not perfect, but it is civilized. Lose your job, get seriously ill, have a pre-condition, through no fault of your own, and there is a social contract that we all have (and the government is we) to protect others, lest we find ourselves in that place one day without help.
It is just as much protecting our civilization as our military. Civil unrest is born out of resource scarcity and the “I got mine” mentality. I say this as a high income person who doesn’t like high taxes, but knows there is protection in providing basic services to those that can’t afford the basics.
Let’s get the system in place, then go after the waste and those that game the system. We need this reform. It is part of “National Security” and it is a Christian (and other religion’s) concept.
August 15th, 2009 at 3:02 am
I’m glad you spoke your mind John. I have a whole foods near me, and have heard great things. I support you on this, and will be shopping there this week.
August 15th, 2009 at 3:15 am
You know what’s awful about all those countries with socialized medicine? They dare to have better health care than the US.
How dare they – the US ranks 34th in the world in infant mortality rates, and what do the 33 countries that do a better job of keeping their babies alive have in common? Comprehensive, public health care systems.
And…oh, the indignity – life expectancy? What do you mean you would have a better chance of living a longer, healthier life in 52 other countries? And those countries get these results by spending, on average, half the cost of what the US pays for health care today.
So what does the US do better than all these other countries? Award huge bonuses and obscene paydays to health insurance CEOs while 45 million of our citizens are relegated to pauper status by the “free market” health care system. Woohoo! We’re Number 1!!!
Tell me some more lies, John!
August 15th, 2009 at 3:22 am
Thank you for writing this excellent piece. I have never shopped at Whole Foods but I will begin soon. I am one of the “less fortunate” counted among those with no health insurance. This was a choice my family made. We belong to a large Christian medical cost sharing group which has covered thousands of dollars of medical costs in the last year. The reforms Obama has been pushing would remove this option from the table for all Americans and I find that unacceptable.
This “crisis” is yet another example of the government actually being and causing the problem. If the US government took the steps you propose I am certain the current crisis would solve itself.
August 15th, 2009 at 3:27 am
Mr. Mackey, you apparently do not realize a very basic fact: your customers view shopping at Whole Foods as discretionary. It is a luxury that one can easily do without. In my family’s case, we were previously willing to travel further and pay more to shop there, because we (mistakenly) thought that the organization shared our values. Now that we’ve discovered otherwise, our business will go elsewhere. Thank you, Mr. Mackey, for sharing your thoughts in the Wall Street Journal. Without your article, we might have continued to support Whole Foods while being ignorant of your repugnant views. Now that we know, you can be certain we won’t be supporting your business any longer.
August 15th, 2009 at 3:29 am
While I respect your right to free speech, I’m so incredibly disappointed in your point of view I almost feel sick. How ironic.
Wake up and find a sense of decency. We CAN insure all people, not just the well off (like myself) who are of a place of privilege in this society. There are so many holes in your blog posting I don’t know where to begin. And frankly, I am too heartbroken to try.
No more Whole Foods for me–an probably most of the people I know.
August 15th, 2009 at 3:30 am
Dear Mr. Mackey:
Reading the entirety of your article does not change my intitial negative reaction. I will no longer be shopping at your store. I have excellent health insurance and I pay 60% while my employer pays 40%. I keep myself fit by running and exercising and eating right.I make an effort to stay healthy. Nonetheless, I do believe that healthcare is a right. This viewpoint is called compassion for your fellow man. In other words, just because I’m in a good place doesn’t mean that I don’t care about others less fortunate. It’s a Christian value. Your elitist attitude is repugnant. There are many, many working poor–people who are industrious, and law-abiding who are unable to afford health insurance. The alternatives you propose sound a lot like republican propaganda. And as for your plan that everyone should just be eating healthier–have you seen the prices at your store? Telling poor people that they have to eat expensive organic food and they’ll be healthier is absurd. You may as well be saying “Let them eat cake” Sound familiar?
August 15th, 2009 at 3:32 am
After reading your Op/Ed, I pondered what direction to go with my reply. Should I take each of your points and refute or sum up my feelings from purely a financial approach—I chose the latter.
1. Costs to Whole Foods
Regardless if what you say is true, and I am sure we will hear from the Journal, whether “An editor at the Journal rewrote the headline to call it “Whole Foods Alternative to Obamacare”, you are extremely naïve to think, especially in your CEO Role, if your thoughts would only be treated as “giving your personal opinions” and not be associated in anyway with Whole Foods. As a CEO, others both internal and external see you as “THE” company role model and thus any actions and communications, regardless of their intent have impact both internaly and externally. Frankly, I’m curious, was your “personal Op/Ed” vetted to your internal Communications, Human Resources, and for the matter your Board of Directors? I assume so on the latter because according to online sources you serve as both CEO/Chairman of the Board. Assuming you did the due diligence to vet your “personal Op/Ed” before submission, you should at least lose your role as Chairman of the Board, secondly as CEO, and thirdly possibly all the Heads of the above departments should be fired collectively as you all have demonstrated to be sufficiently out-of-touch with your client base demographics AKA those that bring the much needed cash that ends up in your registers.
2. Savings to me
After looking over my Whole Food receipts for the past month—typically stop in at least twice a week here in Pasadena, Ca, I will be having a great cost savings. As anyone who shops at Whole Foods can clearly say, you are not the least expensive place in town to shop, which hits home even more so now due to the Nation’s financial crisis. After all, dealing with the combined weights of tighter credit and job markets, I have to watch every penny especially after also paying for the so-called cost savings benefits of, “high deductible health insurance plans and Health Savings Accounts.”
I am not sure it was your intent, but thanks for making me feel better about doing my shopping outside of Whole Foods!
August 15th, 2009 at 3:44 am
Kudos, John. I know you know this, but ignore the lunatics. Your customer base is there for you and for each one who “claims” they will boycott (most won’t for very long), you are gaining at least two new customers who appreciate your moxy and your point of view. You speak for me, especially in the respect to intrinsic rights. You have given a credible voice to many of us out here who are fighting hard to be heard and hopefully have a halting effect on those who would turn their last freedom (and mine) over to a tyrannical government. I am a breast cancer patient, and while I did not have any control over my genetic predisposition to the disease, I agree with you wholeheartedly about preventative health and fitness through smart lifestyle discipline and choices. As a stage IV breast cancer patient, I can promise you that living smartly most of my life has contributed greatly and enabled me to live healthier and longer through cancer treatment than many folks I know who did not care for their dietary health. As well, your comments regarding the UK health system are not falling on deaf ears. Though some would like to take you to task for your comments and facts, I have lost several friends in the UK system (breast cancer patients I know through online support groups) because they do not have access to the exact treatments that have already kept me alive 4 years longer than expected, with no expiration date in sight. Just this past March, NICE denied the newest and most innovative drug to date for my diagnosis. It is heart-wrenching to communicate with them about the drugs that they so desperately want but are not allowed to have from their health system.
I will see you at the Mothership on 6th and Lamar tomorrow and as often as I can afford to be there. Again, thanks for saying what had to be said, and for saying it so eloquently.
August 15th, 2009 at 3:48 am
Excellent blog entry, John! Thank you for standing up for health freedom. Here is another terrific piece, by Lew Rockwell:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/obama-postoffice126.html
I really hope enough people will hear these kinds of messages before it’s too late. This country can’t afford another open-ended, unsustainable liability along the lines of Medicare and Social Security. Those two programs alone are already projected to saddle future generations with burdens they won’t be able to bear. Not to mention the trillions of dollars of bailouts under Bush and Obama. Ordinary working folks can’t take any more!
If you haven’t already done so, your voice as a CEO would also be appreciated in speaking out against corporate bailouts. This whole “too big to fail” thing is a total scam. If a company is “too big to fail,” then let it be broken up into a bunch of small companies, so the well-run ones can survive and the others can be replaced by better run firms.
Oh, and everyone should watch this video from the International Society for Individual Liberty on the Non-Aggression Principle – http://www.isil.org/resources/introduction.swf.
August 15th, 2009 at 4:11 am
For-profit health care is just a bad idea. I was going to hit up the Whole Foods bulk bins again next week, but now I’m thinking that’s a bad idea too. You’ve lost a customer for life.
August 15th, 2009 at 4:26 am
Your scrubbing of negative commentary about Whole Foods not only proves your dishonesty, it reinforces mine (and others) decisions NOT to ever shop at your stores again. Shame on all of you.
August 15th, 2009 at 4:30 am
I was looking forward to shopping at the soon-to-open WF in Interbay/Ballard. Sadly, I cannot in good conscience go there now. I will continue to shop at Trader Joe’s, PCC Markets, and Metropolitan Markets.
You will be happy to know that I will be exercising my free-will in the free market and spending my dollars elsewhere.
August 15th, 2009 at 4:45 am
Our family will be boycotting Whole Foods in Honolulu. If this article represents the corporate culture of Whole Foods then you have been really lying to us and you do not care about community health! If it is just your personal opinion, then you shouldn’t be working at Whole Foods. People use to think that even though Whole Foods was expensive, it cared about people’s health and well being. Your lack of compassion in this article has outraged many many people I know. As you have obviously heard, food holds the vibration of it’s preparers. I don’t think I could eat the food from Whole Foods without thinking about and tasting your hypocrisy and coldness of caring for the community.
August 15th, 2009 at 4:58 am
As a loyal customer who shops daily in your Boston store on Westland Ave I can tell you thatI am about to become very familiar with Trader Vics and Shaws at the Prudential Center. These stores are in no way as convenient for me as the Westland Ave store but I am happy to make the effort to go to them in light of your op ed in the WSJ. You have underestimated the commitment of your customers to doing the right thing for our less fortunate citizens.You are perhaps the most stupid CEO of a company thatI have ever had the displeasure of patronizing. No more. I am done. I will only shop at WFM when your board fires you. Can’t wait, as I really love shopping at my local WFM but. You have ruined it for me. Time for you to say goodby.
August 15th, 2009 at 5:28 am
I believe that you meant well by your editorial. I believe that it expresses your true feelings. I believe that among your friends and family you are a genuinely giving, wonderful, loving person. This is why what you have written is getting the negative reaction from so many people, especially those of us who are loyal and dedicated Whole Foods customers.
“I disagree with what you have to say, but I will defend to death your right to say it.” This quote attributed to Voltaire is at the heart of what I believe American democracy is all about. You have spoken and we have had a chance to read what you have said.
My disagreement with you is deep and wide, but what pains me most is that you simply do not inhabit the same world as I and my friends and neighbors do and seem unable to understand the basic facts of life in it. You have chosen to associate with a point of view that includes people who really want no reform at all and who have been shouting and disrupting and refusing to listen to our side.
As a Vietnam Era Veteran (who enlisted to serve my country), as a college educated (very well educated in public schools in California -when they were well funded), as a nonprofit entrepreneur who has founded a few organizations that serve the public good, I am clearly not able to enjoy the life you and your CEO brethren (almost exclusively brethren, too) enjoy.
You make this clear by ignoring the proverbial elephant in the metaphorical health care room – insurance by private companies is destroying us as a nation, dividing us into a small well-insured elite who can pontificate with little emotion and no empathy about what the rest of us should do.
I applaud your strength and mastery of the CEO-line of discussion, but I am more impressed by the number of pro-editorial comments as you have been able to garner to support your opinion. I do not know these people. These are not the other customers I shop with at Whole Foods in Los Gatos, Campbell or Cupertino, California. And Whole Foods is where I do 90% of my grocery shopping and have done for the last several years.
The idea that these people are now going to become Whole Foods customers leads me to want to stay away from your place of business as your callous disregard for the vast majority of your customers. To be fair, I didn’t know or need to know who you were to like shopping, to like the way I am treated by your excellent staff (whom I now know are getting screwed on their health insurance), or to like the products I buy there weekly.
I pay more to shop at your store because I care about what I eat and the environment in which it is grown and I am willing to pay a little more to live in a better world. I didn’t care if you and your board got rich or richer – - until now.
Now I know that the American system of separating customers from producers, CEOs from working people, the selfish-uncaring entitled wealthy from the common rabble of almost middle class and below, is working just fine because you display it so clearly and vividly.
This is not really about you personally, it is about you sociologically – socio-economically, if you will. I believe you are a nice person, someone I might enjoy sharing a chat or a cup of tea with or someone with whim I could discuss art or sports or literature. This is what makes it more maddening. You of the CEO world cannot see what it is that’s making us so upset that we will shop at store we don’t particularly like rather than feed the CEO trough any more of the stuff that causes such blindness and insensitivity.
Here’s a possible way for you to gain some “empathy” that most CEOs never acquire. Live one year, just one year without coverage for you or your family and budget about $700 to $800 to pay for your own health care. Just do this, please, and then re-write that editorial.
Walk in our shoes, the people who can barely make the payments, the people who stay in horrible jobs just so they can have health care, the people with pre-existing conditions who can’t get insured, even if they are healthier than you will ever be – then write all the editorials you want to. And be sure to send them to the other CEOs of America.
I’m not sure if I’ll boycott forever, but right now I see no sign that you have heard those of us who have been drowned out by the shouters who support your positions against real reform. Maybe you can find this to be a teachable moment, Mr. Mackey for you and the CEO world you live in. We already “get it”.
August 15th, 2009 at 5:37 am
I find it somewhat ironic that you open with the ’scary’ Thatcher quote despite the fact that she (as fiscally conservative and free market as she was) was PM for 11 years and worked within England’s NHS system for all of them.
Sure, she introduced new type of management into the program, but she never, ever, advocated to privatize it. She knew where her bread was buttered, so I suppose she was a ’socialist’ when she needed to be to get elected. You can be a free market fiscal conservative and still support universal, single-payer health care.
Obama’s public option actually looks conservative when placed next to Thatcher’s ‘pared down’ incarnation of the NHS, and that is saying something!
The Milwaukee WF is losing my business. I will now be making the occasional bus trip to your competitor — dragging lots of heavy bags home — instead of shopping frequently at the convenient WF location 2 blocks from my apartment.
Oh yeah, and on the ‘right to food’. . . I would have never grown up to be the 24-year-old-college-educated-environmentally-conscious Whole Foods shopper I was if it weren’t for the WIC program my mom used when I was a baby, and the free lunches I received in my public schools growing up while my parents were struggling to get their college degrees.
Dad and Mom eventually became a college professor (Forest Hydrology) and teacher respectively, and made enough money for me to be able to enjoy the life and education that allowed me to shop in your stores. Without WIC, subsidized daycare at their public university, and free lunches, my dad would still be working in a factory (actually, probably laid off do to outsourcing) and we would have never been able to afford your groceries. I feel totally disrespected.
August 15th, 2009 at 5:41 am
I forgot to share this: we probably spend on average more than $2000 per month in your store. Say bye bye to that!
August 15th, 2009 at 6:05 am
In addition to this site (which can be diluted and distorted by the same angry mob that has been showing up at Town Hall meetings), another worthwhile avenue might be for those of us who frequent WFM to approach the Team Leaders at our favorite stores, especially if they know us. It may be easy for Mackey to ignore some random citizen who claims to be a customer but, if he hears through management channels that his comments are making it difficult for his stores to attract and keep a loyal customer base, he might be inclined to go back to running the business.
August 15th, 2009 at 6:07 am
Dear Mr. Mackey,
So, your alternative to “Obamacare” is that we should purchase more healthy, organic fruits and veggies from your overpriced store? This is somehow supposed to be a reasoned, personal opinion unrelated to the massive, personal fortune you have connected to Whole Foods?
I would brush off your piece as disingenuous marketing tripe if it weren’t for the fact that real people’s lives and livelihoods are at stake. Not all of us are as fortunate as you, Mr. Mackey. It must be easy to decry socialism when your pockets are lined with gold.
Your company won’t receive another penny from me, and you can be sure that I’ll make sure that my friends shop elsewhere, too.
August 15th, 2009 at 6:07 am
Your position on health care reform has absolutely poisoned the entire image of Whole Foods for me. I’m stunned by the degree to which you’re out of touch with the problems and passions of your core demographic. Needless to say I won’t be shopping there anymore.
August 15th, 2009 at 6:20 am
You’ve lost my business forever.
That sound of gleeful cackling you hear is from the Trader Joe’s boardroom.
They just picked up a ton of business, and all they had to do, was not be narrow-minded, selfish, or hateful.
August 15th, 2009 at 6:52 am
Great article; unfortunately, the country does not seem to want to hear someone advocating common sense and personal responsibility. It is somewhat out of my way, but I’ll make an extra effort to shop at Whole Foods in the future!
August 15th, 2009 at 6:53 am
My husband and I have a small business and we make more than $250,000 a year. I also shop daily at Whole Foods. I Spend at least $2,000 a month at your store. And we support President Obama’s health care.
Do you know why?
We pay $1,200/month for the health insurance and it’s getting more and more expensive every year. We make enough money to pay for it for now, but how about other small business owners? Or someone who lost a job?
I’m from Japan. You could get into a Government plan if you lose a job or become a small business owner. My father got an operation 1 week after his doctor found a cancer. He never need to wait to see his doctor. It’s just a plain lie that you can’t chose your doctor if the government controls the plan.
Isn’t it better if there’s another cheaper choice which will force private insurance companies to lower their premium? Isn’t it better more people are insured so that overall medical cost becomes less?
I think you only care your wealth, Mr. CEO. I love Whole Foods and your employees, but I haven’t bought a thing since the article. You should know your customers better!
August 15th, 2009 at 7:11 am
Sorry, but you sir are a crack pot. Your words are hollow and you stand on shaky ground with falsifying and obfuscating your original comments. I will do my part in a growing movement to expand a national boycott of your company and to provide information on healthier (and cheaper) local alternatives to consumers.
August 15th, 2009 at 7:21 am
As a PR practioner in the UK I’m not the most clued up on US Health Reforms. But as a UK outsider looking in it does seem to be a massive PR disaster for a Chief Executive to annoy a key target audience to the level that these posts demonstrate. Even those positive posts from conservatives will further annoy your liberal customer base.
I praise the courage of your convictions but it may be worth knowing that we had a similar case in the UK involving Gerald Ratner of Ratners Jewellers who lost £500m of his companies share price with one badly thought out speech: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ratner
As a lesson in bad PR it will be interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks for WFM…
August 15th, 2009 at 7:28 am
I’m really surprised at just how ignorant you are about how business really works in society. Or else you think your customers do not understand or comprehend the world we live in.
I suggest you post this on the door of every WF. Better yet I’ll hand it out to your customers and see how many desire to continue shopping at WF after reading it. Everyone should know what WF corporate thinking is.
August 15th, 2009 at 7:30 am
I have shopped at WF for over a year, spending upward of $400 at a time. I will no longer be shopping there. I see your Board of Directors has no diversity and apparently no understanding of who your true market reflects. I am so happy that you wrote the op-ed piece. It shed much light on the terrible philosophical state of you and your company. Socialized government is what we already are. It protects us from garbage in the food chain that capitalists might ignore for the sake of a dollar. I hope your company changes its views and lowers its prices. Good-bye. Stay out of POLITICS!!!!
August 15th, 2009 at 7:33 am
I too am not comfortable with the idea of an intrinsic right to health care. Ultimately, however, health care must be handled nationally in order to be effective financially and not ruinous. The only way to contain costs and provide universal health is to eliminate the profit motive from our health system. Making big dollars should not coexist with keeping people healthy. This will take time. Right now the issue is tearing our country apart. I will not consider voting for any Republican on any level until we have reached a single payer system. Nor will I freely buy at Whole Foods again if I learn of viable store alternatives.
August 15th, 2009 at 7:44 am
I would truely like to be the voice of reason, however it seems to me that anything I say to support Universal Health Care will be villified by the Right Wing Republicans who keep repeating the word – Socialism -.
I am seeing Health Care Reform to be almost as divisive as the Civil War where brother fought against brother and they hated each other while doing so. This is occuring in my own family. There is the faction of the family who is eduated and retired – or one married her education and retired – retired with those retirement benefits that afford them a doctor everytime the burb – then their are those of us (siblings) who are high school graduates, blue and pink collar works since the late 1950 and mid 1960s. The Blue collar worker earned little and the pink collar worker earned half of what the blue collar earned. The two siblings one educated, one married her education dispise those who do not have their health insurance – and consider it their own fault. I ask who is to work at the bakeries, stock the shelfs in the stores and do the administrative asistant work in this world? Friends, it is your brothers and sisters many of whom find themselves unable to even have a doctor because WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE DOCTORS WILL NOT TAKE YOU AS A PATIENT. Most Right Wing comfortable citizens do not even know that you cannot get a doctor without insurance. On a blue collar or pink collar salary (providing you do not hate and resent people for BEING pink or blue collar workers)one cannot, cannot buy private health insurance. You have shelter and food or you have health insurance.
I agree and live and support Mr. Mackey’s values on healthy living to keep disease and illness down – which is the greater sin, actually, in this country that big business through adversting controls minds to buy and consume food products that cause illness and disease thus driving up health care costs. That too MUST be addressed at some point.
But right now this country needs to be as wise as all other first world nations and take care of its citizens for the good of the whole – a sick citizenry makes a weak country. Why does not anyone see that Health Care is not personal at all – it determins the strength of the nation.
thanks for listening – support Universal Health Care…
August 15th, 2009 at 7:45 am
I will still do my $500.00 weekly shopping at WFM. I would walk 200 miles to get a WFM. Bravo Mr. Mackey! Keep up the great work… Thanks, A loyal Customer
August 15th, 2009 at 7:51 am
Thank you Mr. Mackey for your illuminating op-ed. To begin with, your piece espouses many lies and half-truths about the health care plan. Health care reform will NOT create a “massive new health care entitlement” nor is it moving us “closer to a complete governmental takeover of our health care system.” I wonder if you voiced such opposition to Bush’s unnecessary wars which certainly created “hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits.”
Thus, please be aware that I will no longer shop at Whole Foods as I do not want my money to support “health-scare” misinformation campaigns. I will encourage everyone I know to do the same.
August 15th, 2009 at 7:55 am
WF’s recent “apology” for Mr. Mackey’s op/ed piece has only made me angrier, if that’s possible. Their suggestion that he was just expressing his personal opinion, and not that of the company’s strains credulity. And the claim that he never mentioned President Obama and therefore was not attacking his plan is laugable — gee, let me think, who/what could he have been refering to? Oh yes, and the claim that it has all been misintepreted because the WSJ changed the title?? Please. Do you think your customers are that dense? Mr. Mackey’s words speak for themselves. To suggest that he actually “supports” health care reform is deeply insulting to all who truly wish to have meaningful health care reform in this country. His ideas — that insurance companies be given completely free rein to decide what and whom to cover is reflective of someone who doesn’t have to worry about his own health care, and besides, we already have that — and look how well that is working out. And his ideas that health care costs are being driven up by voluntary over-consumption of heath care is a canard that conservatives love to trumpet. Really, how many people do you know that love to go to the doctor? Yeah, there are so many of us that are just dying to have the latest in heart surgery or maybe just a spin in the MRI machine. Health care costs are being driven up in part by “end of life” care that in many cases is useless, except perhaps in prolonging the agony of the dying. But efforts to try to find a better way of dealing with end of life care have been torpedoed by the conservative crazies, who seem to have no problem at all with the real “death panels,” the insurance companies. Somehow it’s ok for them to “ration” care in a way that fattens their profits. But from Mr. Mackey’s point of view, this is all ok, since there is no “right” to health care. Ah the wonders of the free market. Too poor or too sick to get health care, just too bad I guess. What a guy. I won’t be shopping at WF as long as Mr. Mackey and/or his ilk are in charge.
August 15th, 2009 at 7:59 am
No, Mr. Mackay – you can’t pretend you were offering your own opinions separate from Whole Foods. You were on the WSJ op-ed page exactly because you are the CEO. Your op-ed was good business for Whole Foods.
I shopped at WFs about once every two weeks because it is a 15 mile trip for me, but I won’t be shopping there any longer. Your op-ed piece parroted the misrepresentations and lies about health care reform that I have seen coming from powerful corporations with money at stake. I now ad Whole Foods to that list.
Your company clearly has a great PR department, but you have drawn the wool from my eyes. Thank you for that, at least.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:04 am
This is America, Mr. Mackey, and you have every right to express your personal opinion.
This is America, Mr. Mackey–go out and walk the streets and look in the faces of millions of folks who can neither afford to shop in your stores or pay for appropriate heath care.
This is America, Mr. Mackey, and I’m glad I have a choice of where to spend my food dollars. It will no longer be at Whole Foods.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:04 am
For-profit health care does not work. Why should companies make a profit at the cost of my health? And what good is a tax deduction for health care which could be bigger than a year’s earnings for some people? I’m off Whole Foods now, too and the comments on this board saying that people won’t boycott for long are wrong. I lived in Austria and Germany for over 20 years with absolutely wonderful care and personal options under government run health care.
If the industries lobbying against a government health care system would be willing to spend that much to help the uninsured obtain/keep medical coverage & care instead, we’d all be covered.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:09 am
Oy vey, where do I start?
1. Remove the legal obstacles which slow the creation of high deductible health insurance plans and Health Savings Accounts.
Rebuttal: We already have this, high deductible insurance plans have been around for years, costs still are spiraling out of control…NEXT!
2. Change the tax laws so that that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have exactly the same tax benefits.
Rebuttal: And exactly WHY should private insurance companies get a free tax subsidy from the government?
3. Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines.
Rebuttal: Ever hear of States Rights? Yes as a libertarian you should know this, yet you sound like a Federalist when you spew this garbage. If you want to offer insurance in a state you play by its rules
4. Repeal all government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover.
Rebuttal: Mandates are a response to insurance companies selectively refusing coverage for people. They created the problem when they forgot about serving the customer in favor of keeping the CEO’s bonus package.
5. Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors into paying insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
Rebuttal: Lawsuits are a tiny fraction of insurance costs. Ironically, with “Tort Reform” in place, you can’t sue your insurance company, but they have no laws preventing them from suing YOU.
6. Make health care costs transparent so that consumers will understand what health care treatments cost.
Rebuttal: Blame the free market, not government. This sounds like you WANT government to force the free market to disclose, for shame you adam smith guy! Getting an item by item bill from a hospital can be pretty tough, but its not the government’s fault.
7. Enact Medicare reform: we need to face up to the actuarial fact that Medicare is heading towards bankruptcy and move towards greater patient empowerment and responsibility.
Rebuttal: Medicare has 3% cost overhead, private insurance has 21-40% cost overhead on average. Lets be honest about which one needs reform.
8. Permit individuals to make voluntary tax deductible donations on their IRS tax forms to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren’t covered by Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP or any other government program.
Rebuttal: Oh please, spare me. If you really want to help the government, just give them some money Mackey, don’t guilt the middle class into donating.
All in all the most useless list I’ve ever seen to “fix our healthcare”.
You sound more like an insurance agent than vegetable salesman.
Rick Cain
feel the pain
August 15th, 2009 at 8:16 am
In response to your well written article, I applaud your offering some suggestions. Personally, what you say may very well be accurate. And there is no doubt that eating whole foods (no necessarily from your store)instead of fast foods loaded with addictive oils and sugars, stuffed with hidden calories, and made with inferior products logically has to benefit people. There is a reason fast food companies spend alot on research and advertising/packaging.
As far as the health care problem, I suggest that congress sets up an investigative team to go through the present health codes and clean them up first. The bulk of this could likely be rewritten, amended, and in layman’s language. Then, one step at a times, the health cars system will change. Won’t take long to see some improvement that non laywers could read also. All things considered, I think it should be Omaba’s job to stop throwing money around and clean up the government system, including the latest computer and software that is capable of really tracking trillions of dollars accurately that could furnish immediate totals that could be compared and rewritten as needed until transparancy is actually available.Fix America first and then help the world! After we get this system perfected, then we can really offer some help to other countries. At least you have suggestions instead of just whining!
August 15th, 2009 at 8:20 am
By quoting Thatcher and throwing around words like “socialist,” you remove yourself from reasoned debate. I assume you oppose Social Security and Medicare, those being much more “socialist” than anything being proposed by Congress in regards to health care.
I suspect that the proposals you make are in fact, very similar to what will end up passing the Congress. This is less a measure of the strength of your arguments and more a reflection of the degree to which Congress is owned by corporate interests, like yours. I also believe that members of both parties who thus sell out to the giant health insurance and pharmaceutical monopolies will suffer in the re-election campaigns, as a result.
As for your own company, have you ever inquired as to what percentage of Whole Foods target demographic are self-identified socialists? Higher than you think, I would wager!
I am a former customer urging everyone I know to continue the boycott of Whole Foods that began when with your assault on workers’ rights earlier this year.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:21 am
I read the posts of supporters who swear they will be lifetime customers and laugh. These are people who probably never heard of Whole Foods before yesterday. You should know your customer base Mr. Mackey, and if you believe the people here who swear you will gain two customers for every one you have lost you are sadly mistaken. Do you really think the conservatives who won’t support health care for other Americans are going to buy shade-grown coffee or sustainable fish at five times the cost of their regular canned tuna? Dream on, Mr. Mackey.
Yours has surely been one of the most inept and self-destructive CEO moments since Bob Nardelli’s stockholder meeting at Home Depot… and we all know what happened to his job.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:25 am
Dear Mr. Mackey,
I have been a customer at Whole Foods ever since you first opened in New Mexico. No longer. Your remarks in your health care article were disingenuous at best and malicious at worst. Yes, American’s eating habits are atrocious, but not every disease can be cured with an organic apple.
I am a very successful writer and business woman and because of a chronic disease I am _unable_ to purchase health insurance because of this pre-existing condition and the greed of insurance companies.
I am praying that the President succeeds in passing health care reform, and that I can at last sleep easy knowing I have coverage and not every illness threatens me with the loss of my home and assets.
You have done a disservice to this critical debate. Shame on you,.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:25 am
I think your opinion on health care would be taken a lot more seriously by some if you did not make such generalizations and fallacious claims about other health care systems such as in Canada or the U.K. Are their systems perfect? No. No system is perfect, but they aren’t going through nearly as much of a health care crisis as we are.
Also, we’ve got no intrinsic right to highways or transportation, but the government subsidizes them. We have no intrinsic right to correspond with others, but we have a post office (with competition, I may add). Why not do the same with health care?
August 15th, 2009 at 8:30 am
Dear Mr. Mackey,
A million bravo’s to you. It made me so happy to read your editorial. I travel a considerable distance every week to shop at Whole Foods. I will continue to do so with much enthusiasm and will definitely make Whole Foods my primary market.
Thank you so much for your important contribution to this critical issue.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:35 am
Wow, why have you single handedly destroyed your brand!? I have to say, I did not think it possible that a CEO, especially of a company whose values “seemed” to be so positive and responsible, could act with such sophomoric recklessness.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:43 am
As someone from a family of physicians (4 generations of them), I am appalled by your article. You clearly have no understanding of the health care issues facing this country and the ways in which our health care system is being skewered by CEOs with your callous point of view.
You’re spouting the old empty bankrupt ideas that crop up every time a national leader tries to improve the health care system. The garbage about not wanting “socialized medicine” is a tired refrain by people who refuse to look at what is happening to America. We’re being reduced–by people like you–to the status of a Third World country.
Doctors, who used to be employed by hospitals, are now mere “contractors”, and they have suffered from the loss of their autonomy. Physicians are fighting the fact that medical care is now in the hands of businessmen who often have no medical training and that quality of care is not taken into account in the judgment of a physician’s worth.
An attorney representing physicians and hospitals testified before the U.S. Congress warned: “The Norman Rockwell image of the physician making a house call no longer represents medicine as it is practiced in the United States today. The practice of medicine has become a business, a big business. That business is controlled by hospitals, which are concerned about the bottom line, including length of stay issues; it is controlled by insurance companies which may veto proposed treatment of patients; it is controlled by HMO’s big business, which may resist expensive treatments recommended by iconoclasts.”
We already have a two-tiered system of health care. It’s not only the insurance companies which are refusing to cover ill people. Hospitals are in bind, driven by the need for profit and/or burdened by the rising number of uninsured people. So some are forcing out patients they don’t want–the poor, the uninsured, and the chronically ill. How do they do it? The hospital routinely throws the sticker price, and sometimes a greatly inflated price, at any patient they do not want. And, they aggressively go after payment even though they know they can’t get any money. They send the people to collection agencies and file warrants. They try to maintain a façade of propriety, but recently, they have gotten flagrant at pushing the cost. Their apparent goal is to drive the indigent and the underinsured to other hospitals.
You have not taken the time to understand how the drive for profit at the top may be undermining the quality of care for all. Obama’s government insurance plan (offered in a basket of private insurance plans from which to choose) is vitally needed. Not just for patients. But for doctors as well.
We need serious reform that will regulate the insurance companies, that will extend health care to ALL (it is a right, not a privilege), and that will restore physicians and nurses to their rightful place in the health care system.
It’s amazing to me that you running a company with so little understanding of your customers and, more tellingly, of the health issues facing the country at large. Your solution is self-serving and cynical–people will get healthier by buying organic foods from your store. How convenient!
You do not deserve our business.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:44 am
I wonder what type of tax abatements you extort out of local towns cities etc. to bless them with your commerce.
I wonder what kind of tax dodges your accountant sets up for you annually at your level of salary.
I wonder what the level of health care is for you vs. your employees.
Just another box store CEO who is pontificating on what is good for the American people.
Well for me that would be passing your store to go to the local farmers market.
Not another dime.
Doubt this will see daylight on your soapbox.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:45 am
I am nauseated. Right wing. Left wing. Knee jerk liberals. Damned Democrats. Rotten Republicans. Do you not listen to President Obama’s speeches??? It is time to put aside the petty partisan bickering IF we are going to survive this thing, people!!!
Now about the health care issue:I pay. You pay. They pay… It’s obvious that what we have here is a whole lotta folks who HAVE insurance & good insurance, to boot. I had cervical cancer several years back. It took me several more years to pay what my insurance didn’t cover – all because the surgeon chose his buddies as support staff, ignoring my instructions to use staff covered by my insurance. I’m just lucky that the providers were amenable to making payment arrangements. Teachers are grossly underpaid – esp. those of us in the trenches @ inner city schools. We literally put our lives on the line to help make life better for our students. And this is the thanks we get.
Last year, there was no funding for the reading position I’d been in for the prior 2 years. I was not informed of this until school was ready to start – too late to get another position for the school year, so I took the opportunity to “live” on the unemployment & take classes toward another Master’s degree. Settle down – I’m on a scholarship – I didn’t spend “your” tax dollars. I’m very lucky – some might say blessed – that I did not have any medical problems. It was close to a miracle that I had no sinus infections and no migraines. I don’t know what I would have done. Duct tape maybe???
This is the first time in my life that I was unable to afford insurance – even crappy employer choice insurance. It was terrifying @ first, then I just had no choice but to settle into it & hope for the best. No matter how you eat, how much exercise or sleep you get, if you step off a curb & break you ankle, if you are attacked by cancer, a respiratory infection or the common cold, you will need medical attention. I am one of the lucky ones. I have no children.
Please run to the library & read The Haves and The Haves Nots by Dr. Seuss. There is a lesson there for those of you who are practicing divisive politics. AND, let President Obama do his job. It’s a new day. Get over yourselves.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:45 am
I don’t agree with Mackey’s healthcare views (stick to business). They have been refuted elsewhere by those who know much more about healthcare. Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck) has a niche market and it will be interesting to see how his stance affects the company, its shareholders and employees My family and I will be shopping elsewhere until Mackey goes to work someplace else.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:46 am
I’m the survivor of four different kinds of cancer (and I’m slender and athletic) and I’m also the parent of a young adult who has been disabled since his very premature birth. You make me sick! My oncologist told me to shop at whole foods after the last cancer was diagnosed, but I’ll never go back again.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:47 am
I suspected we would be hearing from you regarding the response to your WSJ article. This situation in your view is likely out of control, and now you have to put your best spin on it. I suppose your company has spent millions on advertising to persuade customers to shop at Whole Foods because you have the best interest of their health. You are a hypocrite. Now that I know your true colors I will not be shopping at the Cedar Rd store in Cleveland ever again.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:50 am
Bravo! You are spot on correct! Thank you for having the courage to speak out.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Mr. Mackey, your scheme to reform health care is impractical, elitist, and selfish. I can’t support a company whose CEO propogates such anti-humanist views. So even though it will be a big inconvenience to me, I will spend my $100 a week on other grocery stores, not at Whole Foods.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:54 am
Mr. Mackey is right that more healthy eating is part of the solution. Here’s another: biking an extra two miles to Trader Joe’s so that my hard-earned money doesn’t get wasted in the promotion of right-wing talking points against health insurance reform. High-deductible plans will do nothing for the legions of uninsured or under-insured in this country, but they certainly benefit the bottom line of health insurers, who fatten their pockets through REAL “death panels.” Sayonara, Whole Foods!
August 15th, 2009 at 8:55 am
Mr. Mackey, I simply DO NOT BELIEVE your statement that the WSJ edited your op-ed piece. Newspapers do not do that. Let me repeat that: Newspapers Do Not Edit Op-Ed Pieces.
You had to have given your consent to any changes, and that makes them YOUR opinions, not a mistake.
This false claim is just more PR, more backtracking, more misrepresentation, and more insight into your character.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:57 am
Bravo! You sir, are a courageous soul and I applaud you for it.
While I don’t totally agree with all parts of your world view, I find your efforts to put forth viable and realistic options for improving health care nothing less than inspiring. Please continue to stand up for realistic, intelligent change in our world.
I am a stockholder and will be purchasing more on Monday.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:59 am
All of you who are boycotting Whole Foods because their CEO doesn’t agree with you politically – you had better get used to boycotting a TON of other companies.
Kudos to you John. I have always admired your political views (of course I do, I agree with you!) and the WSJ article was fantastic.
I expect that we will get some more health care reform (as if gov’t meddling in insurance and health care hasn’t been awful enough) and that it will be awful. If any plan goes through you bet the first thing I’m going to do is find a black market doctor to barter/pay cash to avoid the lines we’re going to get. The US is many times larger than any country that has universal health care and it’s going to be a nightmare.
I HOPE I’m wrong (and you are too). I fear I’m not.
Thanks John, I’m a fan of you and Whole Foods.
August 15th, 2009 at 9:05 am
Mr Mackey shgould focus more on running his business and taking care of his employees than getting involved in national polital scams. BAD FOR BUSINESS.
His ego has gotten the best of him. He’s making winners out of the insurance companies and losers out of all of us. If he doesn’t like socialism than he doesn’t believe in Social Security or Medicare either. He built a great business he should keep his political opinions to himself. He doesn’t have to help the less fortunate, we can have our poor starving to death while the rich get richer.
August 15th, 2009 at 9:06 am
My celiac disease support group, which has almost 50 member families, voted last night to stop shopping at either of our local Whole Foods, where literally all of us have done our shopping until now, routinely spending an average of $400 per family each week due to our special needs.
Blaming this on the Journal or anything else doesn’t help. The fact is, you made a conscious decision to associate yourself, and therefore your brand, with a strong, polarizing stance on an issue that clearly has a greater direct impact on some of us much more than it does on you. No CEO in their right mind would allow this to happen, and yet you invited this by simply agreeing to write the article in the first place. Hopefully, other CEOs will learn from this and understand that, sometimes, they just need to shut up.
August 15th, 2009 at 9:09 am
Mr. Mackey,
A compassionate, well written, informed, spot-on article. Thank you for speaking-out and thus, you’re willingness to “take the hits” from the uninformed. I’m afraid that you’re wise words, based on the concepts of Freedom & Liberty, will be lost on the majority who’ve unwittingly embraced socialism generations ago.
Our grand experiment with Freedom is nearly over. Being drowned out by the masses who demand more & more government services and social “benefits”. I would offer one suggestion to every reader who disagrees with you: READ THE CONSTITUTION.
Congress has NO constitutional authorization to enact nationalized (socialized) health care.
Apparently, the majority are afraid of Freedom, and always have been. Because, quite frankly they don’t understand it. Or, are unwilling to accept the requisite personal responsibility in entails. They demand their government safety net are willing to trade-in their freedom to have it.
By the way, thank you for bringing fresh, local, healthy, organic, non-GMO foods to my neighborhood.
August 15th, 2009 at 9:09 am
I used to make the trek out to WF to buy GFCF foods for my autistic daughter. No more. You’ve completely lost my business.
August 15th, 2009 at 9:25 am
Could someone who objects to ’socialism’ offer a way to provide health care coverage to 75-year-olds without it.
Most of Mr. Mackey’s proposals are just cut-and-pasted from various anti-reform efforts. Nothing much was interesting at all in them. The high-deductible program works if your employee base is younger than the average employee base.
There is absolutely nothing that stops insurance companies from selling insurance in every single state. If they don’t sell in a particular state, it was a decision on their part not to seek the right to sell in that state because they did not want to deal with the consumer protection regulations that have been developed over many years in response to insurance companies. HMOs are different, but they also have special federal protections.
The tort reform complaint ignore how much malpractice goes on in medicine. If doctors cleaned up their act, there would not be a problem.
I agree that some things like chiropractic should not be covered by health insurance, but repealing all mandates leaves people with no idea what they have purchased. It’s a bad idea.
It was irresponsible to offer misleading claims about health care in other countries. Of all of the developed nations, the United States spends twice as much per capita, has the highest rate of uninsured and has the poorest health outcomes. We do not have a very good health care system at all. Why do you want to keep it?
August 15th, 2009 at 9:27 am
What irresponsible drivel!
1) In promoting high deductible health savings accounts, you allege that significant savings can be offered through the plan and that insureds can quickly save $2,500 with careful spending decisions the first year. Unfortunately, people can not “carefully” apportion health care expenses. These programs offer savings to healthy, young singles who forego annual medical check ups and doctor visits. Others find, as I did, that one trip to the ER with an asthmatic four-year old will eliminate any “savings” and leave behind a mailbox full of bills.
2) Offering impoverished or working class people a tax deduction for health insurance is not a viable solution. The problem with this proposed “solution” is that it requires people to divert money from their paychecks to fund insurance they can’t afford. People who live paycheck-to-paycheck will not be able to spend $8,000 to $12,000 for insurance – even if they don’t have to pay taxes on the money. Mr. Mackay, the fact that you would even proposed this as a “solution” shows you are out-of-touch with the plight of the uninsured in America.
3) The proposal of allowing insurance companies to sell policies nationwide is also unacceptable and would likely lead to a degradation of available coverage. State regulations for insurance companies vary widely and, if permitted, all insurance companies would base their organizations in the state that offered the least oversight and restrictions. As a result, all other states would lose the opportunity to govern and regulate the companies to protect their own citizens. I am surprised to find that any opponent of healthcare reform would support a position that would eliminate “state’s rights” in this way.
4) Allowing insurance companies the opportunity to choose what conditions they will cover is an amusing suggestion. One can imagine how eagerly insurance providers will offer to cover conditions such as cancer, diabetes, or heart disease. Only the savviest – and richest – consumer would be able to parse through competing policies to ensure that a policy afforded the broadest possible coverage. Caveat emptor — and read the fine print for hidden exclusions.
5) There is no need in this country for further tort reform to reduce medical malpractice claims. Although public perception in this area is lagging far behind the realities of practice, there is no widespread abuse by plaintiff’s lawyers in bringing frivolous claims against hospitals and doctors. Medical malpractice claims are so excruciatingly expensive to file and time consuming to handle, that plaintiff’s lawyers only accept “slam dunk” cases. These are cases in which the malpractice is patently obvious to even a lay person and the damages are horrific. It should be noted, however, that if our country managed to reduce the costs of health care, malpractice awards that include costs of continued care will necessarily be reduced.
6) The only proposal that you have suggested to have any merit is for transparency in the costs of medical treatment. On that issue, we can agree.
7) If Medicare is headed for bankruptcy as you assert, certainly we are in dire need of immediate, comprehensive health care reform. We must urge our senators and representatives to act without delay. Medicare provides excellent coverage to many who would otherwise join the ranks of the uninsured. It is important that all U.S. citizens be afforded the luxury of comprehensive coverage.
August 15th, 2009 at 9:29 am
flaming I wonder what type of tax abatements you extort out of local towns cities etc. to bless them with your commerce.
I wonder what kind of tax dodges your accountant sets up for you annually at your level of salary.
I wonder what the level of health care is for you vs. your employees.
Just another box store CEO who is pontificating on what is good for the American people.
Well for me that would be passing your store to go to the local farmers market.
Not another dime.
Doubt this will see daylight on your soapbox.
August 15th, 2009 at 9:29 am
Thanks for sharing to a wide audience your logical and effective alternatives to the current health care “reform” proposals. There is no Whole Foods grocery in our town, but my wife and I drive to Whole Foods to stock up when possible. We appreciate your efforts and will make every effort to patronize Whole Foods as frequently as we are able.
August 15th, 2009 at 9:29 am
So sorry you are a right-wing shill. Good-bye to your store. My local corporate market carries most of the same products and at least have the good sense to keep their politics hidden. Who knew someone with such a nice chain of feel-good stores doesn’t do his homework? Obviously, right-wingers are rallying to try to undo your besmirched reputation, but they are found out before too long in their crude, transparent efforts to trumpet their “patriotism.” Pathetic.
August 15th, 2009 at 9:34 am
John Mackey is entitled to his opinions on health caare reform. I just wish he could see how extreme he is becoming and how irrelevant.
August 15th, 2009 at 9:35 am
I have a growing family. We had recently been shopping at WF more and more frequently. Never again.
You’ve made it clear that Whole Foods is more concerned with advocating narrow libertarian ideological purity than meaningful health care reform.
We will never step foot in a WF store so long as you remain CEO.
August 15th, 2009 at 9:36 am
For years I’ve wondered why Whole Foods constantly reduced the number of foods it stocked that were actually healthy so that it could fill the shelves to overflowing with chocolate, the same “nutrition” bars I can find at the A&P, and non-organically grown produce. Now I have a clearer sense of it. Listen, I can buy organic produce at WalMart and get the same political advice. Any health care reform that doesn’t cover the uninsured and doesn’t make sure that sick people won’t lose their insurance – and your suggestions do neither of those things – is not the right solution. And nothing will change as long as doing the right thing is less important to these clowns than getting re-elected is.
August 15th, 2009 at 9:46 am
I am all for a preventive diet, one needs vegetables and fruits and they should comprise most of what we eat.
However, they do not prevent car accidents.
Few employers care what happens to their corporate slaves and the insurance industry functions as death squads living to deny benefits and make profits.
Single payer, coverage for everyone is the only compassionate way to go.
August 15th, 2009 at 9:54 am
Thank you for your WSJ piece. I was having trouble convincing my wife to join my boycott of WF over your stand against the Employee Free Choice Act. As she said, you can’t boycott every evil corporation, and the fish is good.
But your WSJ editorial attacking health care changes my family needs has turned the tide.
You’ll not be seeing us … or our friends if things go well … soon.
Too bad … good food, bad prices, worse social policies.
August 15th, 2009 at 9:55 am
flaming In case anybody has forgotten what kind of foolishness we can expect from Mackey: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/12/business/12foods.html
This latest is of course, much more serious. The man needs to go. (Unless that is, those commenting in support of his op-ed really start shopping at Whole Foods.)
Elizabeth
August 15th, 2009 at 9:55 am
The IDEA of “humanitarianism” is one thing–the inevitable economic REALITY of a system with backwards incentives is another. I love your suggestion about donating to Medicaid, SCHIP if you so choose. To all the disgruntled liberal customers: If you truly believe in helping with other people’s healthcare, then donate YOUR money or volunteer YOUR time at a free clinic or nursing home. Don’t tell physicians what they can or cannot charge for their services, or how insurance companies (some of which, by the way, are NON-PROFIT) can assess risk. Medical care is a SERVICE, not a God-given right.
In short, THANK YOU for your courage and common sense. My nearest Whole Foods is an hour away, but I’ll be making the trip on Monday in your honor!
August 15th, 2009 at 9:59 am
I am tired of the lucky people who think they are healthy because they eat right and exercise. I have never smoked, I have a glass of wine twice a week, I eat right and exercise. I have ulcerative colitis, an auto-immune disease. There is no cure and they do not know the cause. I do not know what I would do without health insurance. One pill that I must take 3x per day costs $8. per pill. Good luck Mr. Mackey, I will not be shopping at your store until you show some compassion.
August 15th, 2009 at 10:02 am
John-
As a former WF customer, I read your comments in WSJ with increasing dismay. You say you want an open dialogue on health care, unfortunately your first quote about Socialism from Thatcher belies that fact and is the same talking point that the opponents of reform use. You are correct that eating right and exercising are a part of prevention but there are also heredity factors that determine one’s health.From what you write, those people, including myself, are out of luck.Perhaps your company should lower their prices and build a store in a lower middle class area so the poor can benefit from your healthy organic food. From what you write, those people, including myself, are out of luck.
We are the only first world country that does not see health care as a right for everyone…most of these countries have better mortality rates then the US. As a “socially progressive” company, I’m not sure where you’re ideas come from but they aren’t the same values as most of your customers.
You are well within your right to voice your opinion. But I hope you recognize that as a CEO, your values reflect on your company. Which why is why I’m joining the boycott.
August 15th, 2009 at 10:03 am
It seems like we ALL spend a tremendous amount of time stating our own opinions, views and experience with less and less practical experience of ‘walking a mile in another man’s shoes’.
August 15th, 2009 at 10:06 am
I find it hilarious that several people who agree with your position try to ridicule those of us who disagree and choose to vote with our wallets against the position you took. I am sure that if you took a liberal stance in the same way, using the Whole Foods brand throughout the article, not just in the unapproved headline. This is not just you and I having a private discussion and disagreeing on our politics. If that were the case, I would likely still shop there. I also do not understand why it is okay for the government to reimburse you as a business owner for offering an insurance plan which is not affordable to people. Isn’t that a displacement of resources that we all pay for? I also do not see how tort reform is supposed to make us more free. It seems that lawsuits are frivolous unless it is someone’s grandmother or child. Frankly, Mr. Mackey, you are entitled to your opinion but as the CEO of a company, when you use your brand so publicly to try to block the type of health care reform that makes health care more affordable and accessible for regular middle class people like me, I vote with my pocketbook. It’s nothing personal and I do not find anything you said to be hateful. No one is forcing anyone in the proposed bill to consider the government plan for themself if they are happy with their HMO or can afford to pay full price for their health care. Frankly, I feel that the health care for profit business is failing the people and this country. I believe that anyone who is trying to block efforts to make health care accessible and affordable for me, a hardworking middle class person who would like an affordable government insurance plan, to be stomping on my rights. It is ludicrous that health care has become a luxury in this country, and THAT is our primary problem. I loved shopping at Whole Foods. I definitely spent over $200 a week in there. I am now going to drive further and support my local organic grocer and hopefully we can keep any potential political differences off the table.
August 15th, 2009 at 10:07 am
Thank you for an insightful and constructive addition to the health care debate! I am a regular Whole Foods customer and will continue to patronize your stores.
It is interesting and revealing that many who disagree with you are intolerant of an opinion different from theirs and want you to shut up.
August 15th, 2009 at 10:09 am
I find it hilarious that several people who agree with your position try to ridicule those of us who disagree and choose to vote with our wallets against the position you took. I am sure that if you took a liberal stance in the same way, using the Whole Foods brand throughout the article, not just in the unapproved headline that many of them would feel very differently. This is not just you and I having a private discussion and disagreeing on our politics. If that were the case, I would likely still shop there. I also do not understand why it is okay for the government to reimburse you as a business owner for offering an insurance plan which is not affordable to people. Isn’t that a displacement of resources that we all pay for? I also do not see how tort reform is supposed to make us more free. It seems that lawsuits are frivolous unless it is someone’s grandmother or child. Frankly, Mr. Mackey, you are entitled to your opinion but as the CEO of a company, when you use your brand so publicly to try to block the type of health care reform that makes health care more affordable and accessible for regular middle class people like me, I vote with my pocketbook. It’s nothing personal and I do not find anything you said to be hateful. No one is forcing anyone in the proposed bill to consider the government plan for themself if they are happy with their HMO or can afford to pay full price for their health care. Frankly, I feel that the health care for profit business is failing the people and this country. I believe that anyone who is trying to block efforts to make health care accessible and affordable for me, a hardworking middle class person who would like an affordable government insurance plan, to be stomping on my rights. It is ludicrous that health care has become a luxury in this country, and THAT is our primary problem. I loved shopping at Whole Foods. I definitely spent over $200 a week in there. I am now going to drive further and support my local organic grocer and hopefully we can keep any potential political differences off the table.
August 15th, 2009 at 10:14 am
I respectfully disagree with your positions on health care, except for the point that many people need to change their lifestyles. But I hardly think organic sugar-loaded cookies and cake from Whole Foods is going to make a difference in their health. As you said, you also sell a bunch of junk. There is plenty healthy food available in other stores too. Frankly, I find it much less expensive and of equal or greater quality elsewhere. I also think it’s inappropriate to use the company as a forum for your personal politics as you are doing here. If you wanted to keep your views separate from the company, you should not have used the corporate website to once-again publish your views.
August 15th, 2009 at 10:24 am
Dear Mr Mackey, What have happen to you. Are you trying to vanish the success you build, for your self and for the communities? my question is ,when did you go to England and wetness people protesting against their health care system.
You are hurting us (your customers)and your self for the insurance companies.
You need to stop getting the facts from FOX NEWS. they are misleading the public
and dividing the country, just like other main stream media.
August 15th, 2009 at 10:24 am
I would like to see you also write a piece on the wrongs committed by insurance companies.
Also, to start off with a quote from Margaret Thatcher is the first frightening sign that I will no longer be able to buy my soy milk at your stores. Thatcher is a woman who destroyed so many lives plus the educational system in England.
Your ensuing arguments listed here are one-sided, manipulative, and lack a complete comprehension of what it is to be poor. When you are trying to pay your rent and feed your children, high deductibles can be a suicide sentence.
Because I once could not afford health insurance, I could not afford annual eye examinations. When my new job’s benefits kicked in, it was discovered I had glaucoma, which was thankfully caught in time. Otherwise, I’d be typing this to you on a braille keyboard.
I was so looking forward to shopping at your store that was opening on the Upper West Side later this month, a store that has been built in a neighborhood with a high percentage of poor and uninsured inhabitants. I hope many West Siders will boycott your new enterprise. YOU ARE YOUR STORE.
To have to do this hurts me deeply, especially because I have been obsessive about your “365″ frozen fruit bars lately.
Sincerely,
Heartbroken
August 15th, 2009 at 10:25 am
I have been a loyal customer at your Rockville and Silver Spring stores for years. That is the last you will be seeing of me and my money. Harris Teeter, My Organic Market and Giant will be receiving my grocery dollars from now on. There are so many things wrong with your editorial it is difficult to know where to begin. How about this: the current system and the one you are advocating allow for no protections for consumers in the individual market. Insurance companies can find any pretext to deny a claim, and the consumer has little practical recourse. I hope your revenues take a big hit on this, you deserve it.
August 15th, 2009 at 10:27 am
I was disappointed to read both versions of your O)p-Ed, as submitted and as published. you have the right to your opinion, but I am relieved you are not in a position to implement it. Classic “let them eat cake” attitude clothed in the platitudes of freedom. Today, most Americans have no freedom to choose, and no ability to obtain, basic healthcare. Healthcare has been corrupted from a professional medical institution to a for-profit private enterprise. those with the means to afford it- and I am one- are paying far too much, for far too little. Those who cannot afford it go without. The high costs of our present system do not come primarily from phantoms like litigation costs or regulation- there is actually too little of either to force the system to be responsive. Instead, health care has become a commodity, from which those who add little or no value profit the most. Health care reform will do what you, Mr. Mackey, appear to fear most: it will take health care away from an unregulated marketplace, and give it back to health care professional s and their patients. Sorry to part ways with Whole Foods, but just as you have the freedom to speak your mind, we have the freedom not to subsidize views we believe exemplify the attitudes that lead to our economic collapse and have nothing constructive to offer our society.
August 15th, 2009 at 10:33 am
Why would you say this in public Mr. Mackey about whole foods “sell a bunch of junk” ? Your true colors have come out. Thanks you for letting us know what you really think so we can take our business else were.
I agree with Ben Wyskida of The Nation Magazine when he writes, “The bottom line for me, reading Mackey’s op-ed, is that by shopping at Whole Foods I’m giving money to a Republican and I am supporting by proxy a donation to the RNC and to health-scare front groups like Patients First. I don’t give money to Republicans, so I will have to cross Whole Foods off my list.”
August 15th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Sorry, Mr. Mackey, but hiding behind the fact that the WSJ changed your headline doesn’t change the reality that the content of your op-ed was completely out of step with the core values of your most dedicated patrons. Starting off with a reference to socialism, you then managed to reference most of the right-wing talking points out there about health care reform. Here’s the reality: My wife just got laid off. If I lose my job, we lose our insurance. Period. Your “pass the hat” solution to our potential loss of insurance provides me zero confidence.
My wife and I enjoyed going to your Oregon stores, shopping in Tualatin and Portland about once a month. No more. We’ll be taking our money to LifeSource and Trader Joe’s.
August 15th, 2009 at 10:41 am
You are spot on with your assesment Mr. Mackey. Competition and choice are the corner stones for achieving effective, lower cost health care. These results can only be achieved by getting the government *out* of the way rather than further in it. Less government intervention is truly the only approach to bringing good health care to all.
I applaud your willingness to state your opinion despite the fact that Whole Foods clientele is likely skewed towards more well-off, liberal folks who are in favor of government run health care. I am happy to be a continuing Whole Foods customer.
August 15th, 2009 at 10:45 am
I thought your editorial was reasonable and nonpartisan. Why would anyone on the left object to making the healthcare “system” less corporate?
At any rate, I currently shop at Whole Foods for wines and other specialty items but I intend to give your stores even more of my shopping dollars — not for the content of your editorial, but because it has also spurred me to think more about my food choices.
August 15th, 2009 at 10:46 am
Dear Wholefoods
Believe it or not my household spends in excess of about $450 a week at the Colorado Springs store. We visit probably 5 times a week and often one or two of us are there at different times on the same day.
We are happy to sacrifice on other items but not our food for lunch and dinner.
I am from Australia – we have an excellent health system which has a strong vibrant public sector which Australians are really proud of.
Your comments are naivie in the extreme and seek to perpetuate a system that suits the rich ie you. Decent afforable health care is in fact a right and an obligation for every competent government. This does not equate to unfettered access to every test, every new drug and every intervention fad. However it does mean that everyone has the righ to the same level of health care that you enjoy John.
Your list of solutions might well be rational but without a mechanism to spread the risk across the whole population a new scheme could not work and your current health services will be subsumed by the unchecked and mishandled/misdirected demands on the system.
Just as you believe people (ie poor people – and in this case the working middle class) are not entitled to assume access to decent health care then nor should you feel entitled to assume that I wish to keep providing you fat profits so you can work to undermine the interests of fellow Americans and more incredibly the sentiments of your loyal customers.
Thankfully we have a new organic option that just opened up on Dublin and Academy.
I think highly of the WF stores and I would be happy with the company disowning itself of the opinions you wrote.
I will go into the store and complain loudly and clearly to management and explain why we are going to spend as much as we can elsewhere.
I hope that you enjoy as much consumer backlash that the health system here causes. Until we hear a retraction from Wholefoods we will look to move us much as our purchasing power away from you.
I am disgusted
Oliver Scofield
August 15th, 2009 at 10:58 am
John, your solution is to keep millions of Americans uninsured and hope that healthy lifestyles and savings accounts fulfill the need for health care. Great ideas if you have 20-30 years of intense education and a change in the way corporate America runs our country.
Until then, children will go without adequate health care…but hey, I guess it’s their fault and responsibility, right?
I used to shop at WF 2-3 times a week. The thought of going there now and paying the exorbitant prices you charge…well, it makes me sick.
August 15th, 2009 at 11:00 am
I don’t think you’re a villain by any means, but I disagree with your argument. I won’t be shopping at Whole Foods for a while.
August 15th, 2009 at 11:05 am
If your editorial were in a story by Charles Dickens we would all be squirming at the mean spirited words you wrote. Think “A Christmas Carol” for a moment. We would also smugly say that we are not like that.
But you are. True, there is no specific right to health care in our Constitution. But we have always been a generous country. Our “socialist” programs (Social Security, Medicare) have helped millions.
If you think a better answer is to get richer people to donate money you are in lala land. Reform of our current programs, including “end of life” issues, which irresponsible folks on your side of the issue have called Death Panels, will help save plenty of money.
I have spent fortunes overpaying at Whole Foods because I believe in healthy eating in general and as as a preventive way to keep health costs down. But I will be taking my business elsewhere from now on.
You have truly turned me off Whole Foods.
August 15th, 2009 at 11:10 am
I don’t understand the outrage leveled against you. The point of shopping at Whole Foods is to rely on healthy living to avoid the medical system as much as possible. A government medical plan is going to disproportionately subsidize the very people who eat junk food and let themselves go.
Those of us who shop at Whole Foods for health reasons benefit the most from a free market system. I guess I overestimated the number of pretentious people who shop there only to make themselves feel socially conscious.
I’m happy that you stood up for the consumer and I’ll be back to Whole Foods again and again.
August 15th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Sir: You need to return to undergraduate economic theory. Haven’t you ever heard of the “price inelasticity of demand?” If not, look it up.
From Wikipedia: “In simpler words, demand for a product can be said to be very inelastic if consumers will pay almost any price for the product, and very elastic if consumers will only pay a certain price, or a narrow range of prices, for the product. Inelastic demand means a producer can raise prices without much hurting demand for its product, and elastic demand means that consumers are sensitive to the price at which a product is sold and will not buy it if the price rises by what they consider too much.
Drinking water is a good example of a good that has inelastic characteristics in that people will pay anything for it (high or low prices with relatively equivalent quantity demanded), so it is not elastic. On the other hand, demand for sugar is very elastic because as the price of sugar increases, there are many substitutions which consumers may switch to… Demand for an antibiotic, for example, becomes highly inelastic when it alone can kill an infection resistant to all other antibiotics. Rather than die of an infection, patients will generally be willing to pay whatever is necessary to acquire enough of the antibiotic to kill the infection.”
When people cannot pay the price for medical care, they go to the emergency room – where treatment is mandated. The cost is enormous. People will rarely choose death as an option.
Let’s face it – medical care, like policing, the military and public education – is not subject to the normal supply-demand economic theories of free market capitalism. We need a public option – for that very reason. Capitalism cannot fix it on its own. The insurance industry has had many years since the ill-fated HillaryCare program to fix the problem – and they didn’t. They had their chance.
Funny thing – I actually like the HSA/Higher Deductible strategy you employ in your company – but that is not something that is available to most people. You have a good idea that is lost when you turn your personal prejudices loose on the rest of the country with your unfortunate Op-Ed in the WSJ.
Your stores waste too much food anyway. Who buys all of that stuff? It’s impossible – most of it is destroyed and the cost is passed onto your customers. Talk about lack of a social conscience. Demand for your products is, unlike medical care, elastic – I’ll take my business elsewhere.
August 15th, 2009 at 11:19 am
Thanks for showing me the true face behind the warm, sustainable, fair-trade facade of Whole Foods.
You are saving me the 30-minute journey to your store as I will never spend another dime there.
My double-income-no-kids money will go to my local health-food store which I know is not run by a clueless, out-of-touch right-wing tool.
August 15th, 2009 at 11:20 am
I was so incensed by Mr. Mackay’s “let them eat cake” attitude that I wrote a comment to the Whole Foods Corp. on their website. They kindly responded with a summary of their health coverage pertaining to their own employees. I then researched Mr. Mackay’s op-ed reprint on this site. First, I think I remember that during the political campaign Pres. Obama was criticized for shopping for arugula, something too elite for the everyday consumer. I was appalled then and I am appalled now, your target group is the consumer drawn to “green, organic and environmental choices. I hate to tell you this but those are liberal minded citizens. Case in point my husband and I left a lexus dealership because they didn’t want to be bothered with “cash for clunkers”, however another lexus dealer welcomed our business and were more than happy to sell us our new vehicle. We are one of those who are concerned not just for our own well being but for all Americans. So we won’t shop at Whole Foods, like we won’t buy products from advertisers who appear on Glen Beck’s program. If we won’t be heard as voters in support of private AND public health care for all, then we will be heard with our purchasing dollars. You’re missing your market.
August 15th, 2009 at 11:22 am
We had bad produce from your store the last three weeks in a row. We’ve basically given up on the raspberries. Now we learn that you’re just another out-of-touch CEO. The reason there area mandates on coverage is that health insurers keep writing plans that buried coverage limitations in the fine print so that when people actually needed insurance it wasn’t there. Read Sarah Wildman’s article in Slate:
http://www.doublex.com/section/news-politics/health-insurance-woes-my-22000-bill-having-baby While I’m sure you have an army of lawyers and actuaries to read through and score these plans, most of do not and must rely on the government to protect our interest. Consumer driven health care is a conservative fantasy. Deciding whether one needs a procedure or test is very hard -that’s why we rely on doctors. Deciding to buy a 5$/pound tomato is easy. This wholefood shopper will be taking his money elsewhere.
August 15th, 2009 at 11:23 am
This is just plain bad management. You are risking a nation-wide boycott of your brand, which will drive sales down and reduce profit for your stockholders.
Are you trying to weasel yourself into the GOP’s political morass?
August 15th, 2009 at 11:29 am
That quote from Margaret Thacher is ridiculous. The problem with socialism is that it makes the filthy rich 1% less better off and it makes the poor 50% more better off. America has the highest disparity of all time between rich and poor, greater than that during the great depression. What I see here is an ultra rich guy who has unlimited wealth telling the poor to go to hell. When I pay $4 for an Orange, I expect that the company will be able to provide for it’s workers. I don’t expect the CEO to spend his time lobbying in the wall street journal to ensure that the poor continue to be screwed by the mega wealthy. I might still shop at the store, but maybe not, but now I’m leaning towards Central Market.
August 15th, 2009 at 11:29 am
“This “right” has never existed in America.” As far as you are concerned, it should never exist. Your statement on health care has shown me a side of WholeFoods, Inc. I’ve never seen before, a negative one. I’m going to shop Trader Joe’s from now on. I don’t want my money to fund your politics. If it had been up to you, Medicare would never have been enacted.
August 15th, 2009 at 11:33 am
You need to attempt to get private healthcare. Local farmers that you so strongly advocate are being denied private healthcare.If you don’t own your home you can get medicaid but there is no safety net for the middle class. I find you to be like all members of the ceo class not grounded in reality.Even with an extremely healthy lifestyle cancer can nail your family- go to your local cancer hospital and see all the fit people with it.We have all been exposed to horrible chemicals in our air & water.We need access to health ins.
August 15th, 2009 at 11:34 am
While some of your ideas are supportive of the health care debate they do not dismiss the need for some option of universal health care. For those who have no insurance you have not offered any option. What happens to your employees after they leave Whole Foods. If they have some health care issues they become immediately uninsurable and regardless of your political point of view – these are the people that end up at the emergency room and we end up paying for their health care in the most expensive way.
And no matter how many times people say we have the best health care in the world there is no information to support that myth. Most world assessments put us somewhere in the down in the list of health in the thirties.
While I agree that we as a country should focus on health and prevention not providing health care does not address that either.
August 15th, 2009 at 11:36 am
You have gained a customer here. I will go out of my way to shop at WF.
Everyone is vilifying private insurance, yet, like the housing bubble and credit crunch, they are created, if not encouraged, by foolish government policies and regulations.
There are many reasons that private insurance is in need of reform, and you touched on a few of them very clearly in your op-ed.
People who complain about denied coverage or the price of their premiums have no recourse. Thanks to idiotic tax laws that drive employers to provide insurance to their employees, the market has been perverted. The individual market hardly exists and it is prohibitively expensive.
Free the market and you’ll increase coverage. How on earth can anyone believe that free market principles have anything to do with the status quo American healthcare system? For example, one, 1!, insurance company controls 55% of the healthcare dollars in the state of Connecticut. And thanks to stupid federal laws, we aren’t allowed to buy insurance directly from a company outside of the state we live in.
So, we’re stuck with our employer’s plans, if we’re lucky enough to be employed by a corporation that can circumvent the silly interstate commerce restriction and strike a deal with a big insurance company.
There is so much in need of reform, but putting a so-called “public” option in play is going to do nothing but either ratchet up costs or drive down options.
We hear plenty of people talking about healthcare as a fundamental right. What does that mean? What does the term healthcare mean to people who think this way? Is it just enough care to keep you alive? To keep you well? Where does personal responsibility end and public responsibility begin? There are so many twists and turns and moral questions to be addressed in a declaration so broad as calling healthcare a right.
We’ve done things similar to this public option mindset with education. Isn’t education another fundamental right? I don’t think anyone wants healthcare to be handled the way we have handled education over the last 50 years, do we? Sure, some “public schools” are fantastic. But some are awful. Mediocrity is more likely the order of the day for most. But we seem to tolerate it; after all, we don’t measure deaths from a lack of education. I can’t imagine we’ll tolerate the same sort of results in healthcare.
August 15th, 2009 at 11:38 am
I for one cannot in good conscience support a business whose CEO’s views on an ongoing national debate are so diametrically opposed to mine. Mr. Mackey is entitled to his opinion on the matter, and the last thing I want is for him to hold back. The op-ed was a risk, and he will live with any consequences.
Like previous posters, I believe that you and your company’s communications department are being disengenous about the op-ed’s motivation; one does not invoke the words “socialism” in this day in age without blatantly attempting to stir the pot. The more I think about it, the more I believe the piece was an exercise in expanding his company’s customer base past the arguably progressive clientele that Whole Foods has and maybe will continue to enjoy.
If that is indeed the case, I wish Mr. Mackey and his company luck with his new-found customer base.
August 15th, 2009 at 11:43 am
There is so much in need of reform, but putting a so-called “public” option in play is going to do nothing but either ratchet up costs or drive down options.
Did I use either/or? It will likely do both.
August 15th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Health care is expensive mostly because of government cotrol and intervention. Tax subsidies, regulation, and public financing lead people to make decisions they otherwise wouldn’t make.
More federal government involvement is a problem masquerading as a solution. Thanks for your good ideas Mr. Mackey.
August 15th, 2009 at 11:48 am
It’s certainly your right as an individual to express your views, but it was inappropriate for you to do so while associated with Whole Foods. I loved shopping there, but won’t be returning while you’re still at the helm.
August 15th, 2009 at 11:52 am
flaming You better stock up on pork skins and cheese whiz in your stores, with all the new right-wing customers you’re getting.
I’ll spend my liberal dollars elsewhere.
August 15th, 2009 at 11:54 am
My wife and I have been shopping at Whole Foods for some years now. We are also self-employed, and are having difficulty paying health insurance on our own. When the HMO got to be as high as our mortgage, we dropped it and bought catastrophic coverage, which means we now pay our own medical bills. If the sworn enemies of the USA (prisoners at Gitmo) get free health care, on my taxpayer dime, I don’t see anything wrong with hardworking citizens having the same option. I don’t see anyone in Congress complaining about the coverage they receive. I assume Mr. Mackey will also work hard along with his insurance company-owned right wing legislators to repeal Medicare. As long as insurance companies line the pockets of legislators, there will never be reform in this country. It is common knowledge that we are the only industrialized nation without universal health care. So, ALL of those other countries got it wrong? Yes, they have their issues. Filing bankruptcy to pay medical bills isn’t one of them. The American Health Care System shall continue. It’s called “Don’t Get Sick.” Since we no longer intend to put one penny of our hard-earned cash into the pocket of a right wing Palinista who will never know what it is like to struggle to pay health costs, we will never set foot in Whole Foods again. Ever. Since most of the comments here are praising the rich CEO who has no health care worries, I doubt this will be posted.
August 15th, 2009 at 11:56 am
I don’t agree with your list, because personal responsibility only covers a tiny fraction of the problem, but I do appreciate that your position was manipulated in the WSJ. Thank you for clarifying.
Now, a little personal info to tell you why I don’t buy the argument that the fundamental problem lies with individuals not making good choices for themselves.
I had health insurance (perfect health record) right after college. It cost as much as my rent. After a while, I simply couldn’t afford that any longer, despite having few other expenses (no car, vegetarian diet, etc.). When I was starting a family, I applied for catastrophic-only coverage. I was turned down with the written excuse that there was “the possibility that I might become infertile in future”….when I was 4 months pregnant with my oldest child. No, the policy wouldn’t have covered maternity care or infertility services anyway. The next insurance company I applied to told me that their office staff knew better than my doctor on how to read medical test results (I’d had a false positive on a test, which was confirmed as false repeatedly by subsequent tests), so I couldn’t get catastrophic-only coverage from them either. I finally got catastrophic-only coverage after I allowed an insurance agency to test my genes to make sure I would never in my life have medical problems that could be predicted.
I would have to pay $10,000 in medical costs per family member per year before our insurance would kick in, over and above the insurance premiums themselves.
We barely see our doctors except for annual visits because we’re all so healthy (fortunately), so we pay the full cost of our medical care, plus insurance.
I’ve only had one job in my life that offered health insurance. As you know, most smaller companies can’t afford it.
Based on all this, how exactly can *I* be more responsible? And why is there nothing about corporate responsibility on your list?
These are two serious questions. I believe they are fundamental to the issue.
August 15th, 2009 at 11:58 am
Dear Mr. Mackey,
Interesting business strategy: take a successful company with a customer base that is largely Democratic and socially responsible, and attempt to abruptly switch it for a customer base that is largely Republican and socially self-interested. Sort of like switching sides of the road that you drive on at midnight of an appointed date, as they did, I believe, in Scotland. Good luck with that. You have certainly lost my business. But I do have to say I admire your ballsiness, however misguided. By the way, you are right about the need for Americans to change their diet from one of processed foods to whole foods, but you neglect to factor in a major reason for that diet: economic inequality (whole foods are too expensive for most of the population) and a food industry (of which you are part) that is driven above all else by bottom line profit motive, not by the quality of the food they sell or by the well-being of the planet. Your company has been better than some, in that regard, but based upon what you just wrote it seems that social responsibility and personal responsibility are interchangeable concepts. I’ve got news for you: they’re not. It’s never too late to evolve, but I have to say that at this point I think you’ve dug yourself a pretty deep hole in that regard.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Dear Mr. Mackey,
Thank you for adding your voice to the debate on health care reform in this country. I was especially struck by the following lines:
Many promoters of health care reform believe that people have an intrinsic ethical right to health care-to universal and equal access to doctors, medicines, and hospitals. While all of us can empathize with those who are sick, how can we say that all people have any more of an intrinsic right to health care than they have an intrinsic right to food, clothing, owning their own homes, a car or a personal computer? Health care is a service which we all need at some point in our lives, but just like food, clothing, and shelter it is best provided through voluntary and mutually-beneficial market exchanges rather than through government mandates.
I disagree deeply with the position you’ve outlined here. Access to quality healthcare, like access to clean air and water, an adequate education, safety, and (yes) food, are fundamental human rights. I’ve shopped at Whole Foods every week for years, but I won’t be spending my family’s money in your stores any longer. The position you put forward–that access to health care should be based on being able to afford it, and that those who lack the means to pay for treatment should do without–lacks compassion and insight into the lives of others. A healthy and vibrant culture takes care of its sickest and weakest, and is proud to do so.
I will no longer spend money in your stores.
Regards,
David Rutschman
Providence, RI
August 15th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
flaming Mackey is typical of the CEOs in AMerica who got rich by selling to liberals and progressives. Behind the scenes they are always working to hurt the very people they are selling to.
Just like the Waltons of WalMart. Always pushing for legislation (and buying it) that hurts working people and poor people.
Why make these class warfare ruling elite any richer?
Buy from your local farmer’s market.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
You aboslutely have the right to voice your comments and you may in fact have a few seeds of good ideas, but to begin with imflamatory rhetoric like “socialism?” Well, you lost the argument. There is nothing in any proposed bills that can remotely be called socialist. A single payer system, which is not in any bills, isn’t even socialist – so I’m not sure why you and others are even bringing up the canard of socialism, except as the wosrt kind of rhetorical tool. I am sorry that you do not fully understand what millions of Americans are going through and as a business man don’t understand the pulse of your customers. I will now exercise my right to choose my retailer. You have lost a weekly customer.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
While a healthy diet can prevent a multitude of health issues, it does nothing to stop accidents that require health care. I believe you and your company would have been better off staying out of the debate.
Former employee and Sunflower Market shopper.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Thank you! After your op/ed I read some comments and one in particular struck me. It expressed anger at you for voicing your own opinion/beliefs rather than the majority ‘of your shoppers’. Funny since I doubt this individual polled all WF shoppers to determine what the majority believes. And – also funny (odd, pathetic) that this person thinks you should stifle your personal beliefs. It’s called free speech and I’m glad to see any one (even CEO’s) express it – even if I don’t agree…as long as I can express mine. Which is – there is a WFM in our city. Not as close as 2 other markets but I WILL make an effort to shop at WF in order to show my support for you, your company, and for free speech! Thank-you!
August 15th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
off topic Dear Mr. Mackey,
We appreciate the fact that you are speaking out.
Recently many companies pulled their ads during the Glenn Beck show on fox stating that their standards did not match that of Mr. Becks. The American people love Glenn Beck because he is one of few that will tell it truthfully to the American people. I would like to suggest that perhaps you pick up an ad campaign during his time slot on fox, I believe you will see growth to your business beyond your wildest expectations, because mr. Becks ratings are soaring, and people of America are mad as heck at the way we are being lead down a path we don’t want to go with money we don’t have. please consider my suggestion, Thank You, Beverly Huffman
August 15th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
I was one of more than 100 attorneys fired by the the former San Diego City Attorney, who subsequently lost his reelection campaign. Unfortunately, I was 60 when he fired me, and I discovered that the job market for elderly women attorneys is not very good.
Thankfully, for three years I was able to take advantage of COBRA, which is expensive enough. However, I now pay $660.00 for health insurance through AARP. I am grateful that I am able to pay this outrageous amount plus my high co-pays. However, because I am a patriot and a decent person, I worry about the people who cannot afford to buy their own insurance.
I have worked hard and been a good citizen all my life. For years I have exercised every day; I have never smoked or used illegal drugs, and I do not drink. I always wear my seat belt; I am not overweight, and I have been a vegetarian for the past 40 years. On June 1, 2010, I will finally be eligible for Medicare, whose enactment, like that of Social Security, was strongly opposed by Republicans.
I am amazed to learn that you are a proponent of the vicious kind of capitalism that has taken over our country. I wonder what people like you would say to people in my situation who cannot afford to pay $660.00 a month for their health insurance.
For years I have been a Whole Foods customer and have always enjoyed going into my local store. Even though your prices are higher than those in larger stores, I chose to shop at Whole Foods. Sadly, I must now choose not to.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Most of the people who shop at whole foods are well off financially[myself included] and can afford any type of health insurance, so our opinion is worthless. As to european socialized medicine, most of what Mr. Mackey spews is second hand rhetoric. I lived in europe for ten years and can personally attest to the very high quality care with reasonably speedy service. When it comes to boycotting retail stores, every day is election day. Mr. mackey may be asking for some bail out money soon.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
John, you have wrecked your company. Not only with this idiotic move. But now many more of your customers are learning about your business tactics and they just don’t like them. Bet you thought the Wild Oats scandal just faded away. But it didn’t really.
All of the little independents are now more unified against you then ever before. We are encouraging our customers to Boycott. You’ve given us the ammunition.
You will certainly have to downsize. But at least the shoppers in your remaining stores will be of your same mindset. You can spend your shift hours commiserating.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
There is a Whole Foods a couple miles away from my house in Southeast Portland (Oregon). I’ve never shopped there (there are alternative supermarkets closer to my house), but I will be doing all my shopping at Whole Foods while this boycott persists.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
I’m proud to be a Whole Foods Team Member.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
I supported Whole Foods before, now even stronger with a CEO who is not afraid to speak out even on controversial subjects, that is the beautfy of our American right of free speech, though I do not 100% agree with 100% of the points he raises, I wholly support his position in general, and his courage to raise his position in a public forum thanks again, and well I will be seen in Whole Foods a “lot” more now
August 15th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Sorry, sir, but anyone who so casually throws out the term “socialism” is part of the problem and not part of the solution. I appreciate your comments, but still cannot take you seriously. I will be boycotting your overpriced store until universal health care with a public option is the standard for all Americans and not just the rich and the politicians.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
I’ll have to drive a little bit further to get to Trader Joes, but that is where I will be doing my shopping from now on Mr. Mackey. It’s unfortunate that you cannot see the benefits in a system that the rest of the developed world has embraced.
It must be comforting to see legions of Back and Limbaugh fans coming forth to defend you, but you well know that these are not the people who are your regular customers, and that their support doesn’t extend much beyond posting insults on the internet.
Your main demographic was progressive liberals, educated enough to afford your overpriced goods. That support was given out of the idea that you were doing something good, now it’s clear you do not really hold those ideals.
No more of my money will go to Whole Foods until you are gone Mr Mackey.
August 15th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Great Article!!! I’m glad someone is making some sense in this healthcare debate!
August 15th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Dear Mr. Mackey:
You certainly have every right to express your opinion on health care reform, even if that opinion is little more than the discredited talking points of the Republican party, which your WSJ points, for the most part, echo. What I find utterly distasteful and shameful though is your invoking such dishonest canards as “socialism” and the Canadian and UK systems, which none of the current proposals in Congress resemble in the least, to bolster your arguments.
I live but a stone’s throw from your flagship store in Austin. I have often brought visitors to our city to the store as point of pride. No longer. I will be joining the thousands who intend to stop giving Whole Foods their business. There is no excuse or room for dishonesty and scare mongering in democratic debate.
Most of the arguments as to why your proposals are not an adequate solution to the health care crisis we face have already been set forth in other comments hear. I urge you to read them and to read more on this topic.
I would like to address your comments regarding free markets and the Constitution with regard to health care. They seem to demonstrate both a lack of understanding of the Constitution and the limits and efficiencies of markets. You stated:
“Health care is a service which we all need at some point in our lives, but just like food, clothing, and shelter it is best provided through voluntary and mutually-beneficial market exchanges rather than through government mandates. A careful reading of both The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter, because there isn’t any. This “right” has never existed in America.”
It’s really time we got beyond the argument of whether health care is a “right” or not and whether it is in the constitution, as if that has any bearing whatsoever on the issue. It is a red herring raised by right-wingers to distract from the real debate.
That the reasons, generally, that “governments are instituted among men” is to secure their “inalienable rights” does not mean that governments can only act where fundamental individual rights are concerned. Rather their limits to act are defined by the “just powers” derived from the “consent of the governed.” In granting power to this federal government 220 years ago, we the people, did so in order that it, explicitly, might act to “promote the general welfare.” It has done so in innumerable ways since its founding that have nothing to do with whether an individual or “constitutional” right was implicated.
You mention that health care is not mentioned in the constitution. Neither is radio and TV broadcast licensing, food inspection, air traffic control, nor a myriad of other things not contemplated by our founders. Neither is the free market, by the way. Or capitalism.
So when should the government act to promote the general welfare? One could argue whenever the people decide it should. But that skirts the deeper philosophical issue. I think it’s safe to say that government should step in when markets fail. And traditionally that has been the valued role of government in our society for many years. And its a good and noble role.
One place where the free market has utterly failed is in health care coverage. Under your definition, Mr. Mackey, Medicare would be a socialist form of health care and therefore, by definition, bad, I assume. Do you honestly believe that the free market would provide affordable health care coverage for our citizens over 65? Those who are entering the most costly phase of their health care coverage lives? What insurance company would pick up coverage on such a risk pool except at some altogether unaffordable premium rate?
Don’t get me wrong. I am a firm believer in the free market. But I also believe government must act to promote the general welfare when markets fail. Insurance is not at all like food and shelter and that is why “voluntary and mutually beneficial market exchanges” do not do a good job of allocating goods and services in this industry (47 million uninsured). You deal in the commodity of food. The more food you push through your system to your customer, the higher your profits. More goods sold equals more money made. Same with “shelter” (housing). If I sell houses, the more I sell the more money make. Good for both of us.
In the health insurance industry, on the other hand, the road to higher profits depends on delivering less. My incentive to drive up my profits is to deny coverage for specific procedures for those I have insured and avoid insuring higher risk patients altogether. Not a good outcome for the consumer. And clearly an arena where the free market simply cannot allocate services in an efficient and beneficial way.
Like so many libertarians, you let ideology stand in the way to good, common sense governance. You ideology has not cost you my business, my dollars, but your dishonest presentation certainly has. I wish you luck. You’re going to need it.
August 15th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
flaming/attack Firstly, I was digusted and actually hurt to near tears to read that Mr. Mackey quoted the likes of Margaret Thatcher (aka ‘Milk Snatcher’ as she was once called in the UK) and a quote of hers which truly illustrated the “I got mine, you go to hell” Tory idealogy.
Why I felt so betrayed and hurt that the CEO of my favorite supermarket would take the position that he did with respect to health care reform and do so in that pipe organ of all things Ruport Murdock-like and neo-conservative (god, I hate that term) really shouldn’t have been a surprise to me.
I mean, isn’t Whole Foods a member of the National Retail Federation (NRF) along with the infamous Starbucks — the avowed enemy of anything pro-employee, pro-union, pro benefits, despite their false PR campaign touting otherwise?
And wasn’t it the NRF that got all up in WalMart’s ‘grill’ what that retail giant wrote POTUS back in June stating their SUPPORT of health care reform?
Why I was shocked and hurt, I can’t imagine.
Had Mr. Mackey chosen to chime in on the health care reform debate by constructively indicating the the bloody-minded mobs carrying disgusting and frightening images of the President of the United State of America and spewing hatred and vitriol with respect to his and the Speaker of the House being both Nazis and Socialists at the same time (seriously conflicting ideologies, btw, as ’socialism’ therein, or, in German, ‘Nationalsozialismus’ or ‘National Socialism’ comes from the citizen-nation relationship, whereby the term is meant to be realized through the common duty of the individuals to the German people) is totally cutting off any intelligent debate on the matter, and intended to do just that with malice aforethought, might have been better.
My family drops a fair piece of change each week in Whole Foods. Until a few days ago it was our main ‘go-to’ store for our shopping needs.
No more.
I forsook the little, independent health food store closer to my home to shop at Whole Foods for the selection, quality, etc.
Not anymore.
Mr. Mackey, I can assure you that Margaret Thatcher, even under different circumstances, would NOT be a parton of your stores.
You’ve gotten your demographics all wrong.
Does anyone know if the url, ‘firejohnmackey.com’ is taken?
August 15th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
It appears from reading these posts that your new customer base will be more along the lines of Wal-Mart shoppers that will ‘try your store out’ or ‘never heard of Whole Foods,but it must be worth trying because of your stance against the health care reform’ types. These people will not be loyal long term cumtomers once they see that the Wal mart slave labor from China tactics are not used at your store. They will not continue to shop and pay much higher prices. You may have to open up a hunting department and start selling ammo, to keep your new customers coming back.
For the people who have been customers for many years, shopping at Whole Foods is usually a conscious decision and the willingness to pay higher prices is not just about getting healthier food, but also about contributing to the greater good in society and the world, of treating people right. Some of your cutomers have had to make sacrifices in other areas of their lives to be able to shop at WFs. But you have shown that WF does not contribute to the greater good as much as your advertising, fair trade signage etc want us to believe. I am also very irritated that my stock will take a dive,even though the stock prices survived the economic downturn. You realy shot yourself on the foot.
August 15th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Thank you for standing up for America. I shop at Whole Foods and will continue to do so, even more frequently now.
August 15th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Dear Mr. Mackey,
Thank you for your editorial. While it is obvious you are very good at making big profits (we don’t call you Whole Paycheck for nuthin’), you have revealed yourself forever as being eager to enrich yourself without care or concern for your fellow citizens. As you are an en