USA: Whole Foods boycott

Whole Foods Market is threatened by a mass boycott after founder and ceo John Mackey has written an article in which President Obama's planned reform on the healthcare system in the USA has openly been criticised. Mr Mackey’s comment is available at the online edition of the Wall Street Journal’s Opinion Journal . The opinion piece aims to present the case for a free-market alternative to Obama’s plans for socialized healthcare access. After quoting Margaret Thatcher “The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money," Mr Mackey questions whether Americans “have any more have of an intrinsic ethical right to health care than they have an intrinsic right to food, clothing, owning their own homes, a car or a personal computer”.

The article has provoked a storm of protest of previous Whole Foods customers. Protestors expressed their disgust at Mackey’s comments, and a Facebook page titled "Whole Foods Boycott" has found almost 25,000 fans, Natural Products Online reports. According to Whole Foods, Mr Mackey was giving personal opinions in the article and the company had no official position on the issue. The retailer has opened a discussion forum on its website and has generated more than 17,000 comments. Mr Mackey has found supporters and critics on the healthcare reform issue, and maybe even has gained some new customers. But according to Ileana Abreu, one of the shoppers who picketed a store in Washington, Whole Foods was expensive but people shopped there because they identified with the social conscience of the company, and now it turned out that ethos had just been a marketing exercise.

Natural Products Online