Whole Foods CEO Mackey Endorses Cato Book
Here’s an excerpt from “Whole Foods CEO Mackey Endorses Cato Book - No More Corporate Crime Prosecutions” by Russell Mokhiber
Most people who shop at Whole Foods are liberal yuppies.
They have enough money to spend $9 on a pound of cherries.
They believe that shopping for groceries at Whole Foods instead of Safeway or Food Lion or Giant or Wal-Mart is the politically correct thing to do.
They probably believe that the President and CEO of Whole Foods is a liberal like themselves.
To see the full article by Mokhiber, published recently at Commondreams, see: http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0629-21.htm
You heard it here first. Regarding John Mackey, readers are urged to revisit what we said one year ago:
Friends of Animals’ Corporate Spin Alert: Whole Foods Market and the Artifice of Compassion
For the consumer with everything, now comes the “Animal Compassion” brand. Wall Street analysts say “the plan to sell more humanely harvested steaks and chicken breasts will help the bottom line,” but Whole Foods Market hopes to make the purchase of animal products seem like a charity donation.
The chain is working with animal welfare groups to create the ideal environments and conditions, they say, to support every animal’s needs.
Friends of Animals president Priscilla Feral responded, in an open letter to the grocery’s CEO, “What matters most here is that we have the ability to decide whether to keep bringing other animals into existence simply to be sold as food, while using up land and water resources that could be left to animals who really could have free and full lives.”
Making animal products look good is an affront to animal advocacy. It also thwarts principles of good health, of addressing world hunger, and of preserving the global environment before it’s too late.
Much of the world’s land surface is already being used for animal agribusiness. Especially as our population grows, expanding the space we allot for confined animals will worsen the situation for free-living animals.
And free living is the very essence of animal rights.
We think it’s time to question the idea that progressive activism is compatible with the corporate search for niche markets in animal products. For more, our full article is freely available at:
http://www.friendsofanimals.org/actionline/summer-2005/whole-foods-market.html
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9 Comments
On June 30, 2006, Cathy wrote:
I am a little confused by this article. It seems to bash Whole Foods for trying to help those animals raised as food. I live in Hawaii and don’t have this store available. I hate to see animals treated cruelly in the meat industry although I know people will never stop eating meat. It seems to me a good thing that people are becoming more conscious of both the meat we eat and the lives of the animals that are sacrificed. Everyone can’t be vegan, but everyone can become educated and thereby develop compassion which may make them eat less meat, eat with thoughtfulness and support those businesses which are humane (although I admit humane in this sense of the word is rather ironic)
[Blog editors’ note: We prefer to call it a critique. And Cathy, think about this, because it’s a very liberating idea: Everyone can be vegan in any region where Whole Foods Market has branches. This grocery chain, like most, tries to help animals right into your shopping cart.]
On June 30, 2006, laura wrote:
You have made my day,Whole Foods! Inspite of the fact that I was approached by a woman last week(in your Phx/Scottsdale store)that took issue with my “Mother’s Opposing Bush-MOB” button,complementing my attire that day.
Her line was “Well,Im a conservative….”.Needeless to say I gave her a lesson,entitled “Thinking 101”.
FOA-keep up the passionate and necessary activism.I support whenever I can and always,always stay active and involved. I honor your efforts.
On June 30, 2006, Virginia Schaffer wrote:
Hi
I don’t know were you get your information but I am a Conservative and I have been shopping at Whole foods for many years. I bought organic food and meat in California when it was Miss Gooches (I think that is how it was spelled). Both myself and my daughter buy all organic and my daughter raised and is still raising her children on it, 18 years, for there good health not because it is politically correct.
Virginia
On June 30, 2006, gwen wrote:
I agree with Virginia. I buy at Whole Foods because it’s healthier, not politically correct. I do it for my personal health as I don’t want to put toxins in my body. Not everyone wants to be a vegan…it’s a choice that you have made. i enjoy eating meat, fish, chicken as long as it’s hormone free. I didn’t fight to the top of the food chain to eat like a rabbit. No offense. Call me a hypocrite because i’m against animal testing and cruelty…but if Whole Foods is trying to find a humane way to put it on my plate, then bless them!
On June 30, 2006, Darian Ibrahim wrote:
Readers might be interested in my new paper on animal law, which criticizes Whole Foods. It can be downloaded free of charge at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=912815.
[Blog editors’ note: The synopsis of the paper explains, “When faced with the realization that animal foods can only be made affordable through factory farming, society is left with a dichotomous choice: either we stop purchasing and consuming animals, or they will continue to suffer in our factory farms. There is no middle ground. Improving animal welfare in any meaningful way requires shifting societal preference toward abolishing animal use altogether. Corporations and markets can be used to aid in this transition if consumers are enticed to ‘vote with their dollars’ against those corporations that use animals for profit — and vote for those that do not.”]
On June 30, 2006, Joe wrote:
I’m sorry Gwen, but you didn’t “climb your way to the top of the food chain” - you were born human (you did not climb anything to get there) and humans are not at the “top of the food chain.” Humans are potential food for alligators, leopards, sharks, anacondas and other animals, whether it makes you uncomfortable to believe so or not.
And also, contrary to what Whole Foods or those following an omnivorous lifestyle care to believe, nothing can ever be “humane” about treating animals as if they are mere commodities and killing them for the temporary and unnecessary satisfaction of someone’s taste buds.
I truly hope all animal eating humans learn to respect animals and see what incredible individuals they can be. But to respect animals one must stop wishing harm upon them, and to stop wishing harm upon them one must first stop eating them.
On July 1, 2006, Shirley wrote:
I think people should stop eating meat. I have weaned myself to eat only chicken and fish. Soon I hope to be a vegetarian.
Someone should make a movie with the CEO of Whole Foods being put in the place of an harvested animal.
On July 20, 2006, Julie Buckner wrote:
how can someone reconcile being against animal testing and cruelty…but still “enjoy” eating meat? it sounds like that person is “against” animal testing and cruelty just for the good moral feeling gained out of proclaiming to other people. The treatment of animals today is a serious issue and I think humans as rational beings have the ability to change the world by starting with the small things, like themselves.
On July 28, 2006, V wrote:
I work for corporate Safeway and the company is pushing their “O” organic line to compete with Whole Foods and is now promoting humane farming practices, etc., etc. Whether the latest consumer trend is organic consumption or guilt-free animal consumption, it’s all about the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and always will be. And if consumers became vegans, then corporate marketing would go that direction too, with lesser emphasis on meat.
Whole Foods is simply saying “well, if we want to still profit on consumer consumption of animal products to counter this, let’s show people that our suppliers cuddle and pet them and let them run around or swim and be happy and free until the slaughter gun, axe, or pitch hook ends their life. You can ease your conscience knowing this sentient creature was ‘humanely treated’ before it was killed by being shot and degutted, boiled, bled to death, or choked for your dinner plate.”
The end result is still the same.