Last year, Whole Foods opened up a wonderful superstore right down the street from me in Venice, CA. Since it opened, the store has consistently ranked as the highest volume store in their Southern Pacific region, with weekly sales of nearly a $1 million a week. And I can personally attest that a sizable chunk of those earnings came out of my pocket.... :-)
Today, John Mackey co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market Inc. wrote an editorial in the Wall Street Journal dismissing American's basic right to adequate health care, claiming "A careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter."
I will be boycotting my neighborhood Whole Foods and shopping at Trader Joe's until Mackey either retracts his position or we get real health care reform passed through Congress.
We have a chance to make a very powerful statement to Corporate America - and to our leaders in Washington - that the majority of Americans really do want real health care reform, and that we're ready to put our money where our mouth is. Today we'll be voting with our wallets. In 2010, we'll be voting.
Pretty much the only way to get the attention of corporate fat cats and the Senators and House members they own is to hit them in the pocket book. Remember when Sinclair Broadcasting was planning to air the anti-John Kerry "documentary" in 2004? The "sell Sinclair stock" meme was born and spread through the tubes and the stock started going down. Soon, plans for airing the documentary "changed." If a boycott of Whole Foods plan spreads, even if it is targeted for, say, the rest of August, they will notice. Similarly, a sell Whole Foods stock (WFMI) might also be effective.
I would ask you to pass this on to anyone you know who has a Whole Foods in their neighborhood.
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