Whole Foods CEO's Health Care Views Provoke Some Customers to Boycott Store

Calls to boycott Whole Foods Market are growing louder and more sophisticated following a Wall Street Journal opinion article by the company's chief executive, John Mackey, in which he criticized President Obama's health care plan and offered his own alternative.

Mackey's article first prompted individuals to threaten taking their business elsewhere. But now the Progressive Review, an online alternative publication, is calling for a formal boycott, and campaigns are popping up all over, including on Facebook, a popular online social networking site.

Protesters are hoping a boycott will cut into the success of Whole Foods, the 10th largest food and drug store in the U.S., which reported sales of $1.8 billion for the last quarter, a 2 percent increase from the previous quarter.

As of Saturday, the Whole Foods Internet forum had more than 4,000 postings. One commenter thanked Mackey for revealing his political views.

"While it was a horrible business move, it was a great courtesy," a commenter identified as boycottwf wrote. "Now, I know that my dollars spent at whole foods are going to fund your misguided conservative views."

The commenter added, "Until you publically apologize to the nation and pledge that you will provide better benefits to your employees, I will not spend another dime at your store."

Another commenter identified as Betrayed, who claims to have been a customer for nearly 20 years, said, "I was so shocked to read Mr. Mackey's horrible, horrible opinion in the WSJ. I hope this severely hurts his profits. His customer base is mostly liberal Democrats who will, like me, be horrified at what we have been supporting all this time."

Phone messages left Saturday seeking a comment from Whole Foods were not immediately returned.

In the opinion article, published Wednesday, Mackey offered eight reforms for the health care system and outlined Whole Foods' employee health insurance policy.

Click here to read the Wall Street Journal article.

Whole Foods pays 100 percent of the premiums, but not the deductibles, for all employees who work 30 hours or more per week, or about 89 percent of its workers, and gives each employee $1,800 per year in "health-care dollars" that can be used for health and wellness expenses, according to the article.

Among the recommendations he made: equalizing tax laws for health insurance benefits; repealing all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines; repealing government mandates regarding who they must cover; and enacting tort reform and Medicare reform.

Mackey argued that health care is not a right, noting that neither the Declaration of Independence nor the Constitution guarantees it.

"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?" he wrote.

"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," he continued.

Mackey's opinion article started with a quote from former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher: "The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money."

Mackey's article appeared to be consistent with the views of dozens of doctors and business executives who have weighed in on the controversial bill. But Mackey's comments have drawn a much harsher reaction and is being compared to an "organized campaign to defeat a single payer health insurance system."

Yet Mackey did draw supporters as well on the forum who said they would start shopping at Whole Foods because of Mackey's article. A commenter identified as Guns & Liberty wrote that he will start shopping there to "support this man who understands the real needs of this country and it isn't paying for doctors for a bunch of lazy smelly hippies who need a bath."