Protesting Whole Foods: What About a Boycott?

[Omaha Steve]

http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2009/08/29/wholefoods/

Posted on August 29, 2009 by dsalaborblogmoderator

by David Knuttunen

Boston DSA members helped round out a group of about 25-30 protestors outside a Cambridge Whole Foods store, on Friday Aug 21. We were protesting Whole Foods CEO John Markey’s Wall St Journal op-ed which attacked “Obamacare” and offered, instead, Libertarian “alternatives” to real health care reform. The rally was called by Massachusetts Jobs with Justice’s Health Care Committee, and had been organized in only 3 days. The United Food and Commercial Worker’s Union had held a similar rally at a Framingham, MA Whole Foods store earlier that day.

The group in Cambridge was energetic and enthusiastic, holding signs and chanting continuously. One of the initial chants, which claimed that “Whole Food’s Greed” was showing was changed to “Whole Foods, We Say ‘NO!’. The CEO has got to GO!” We feared that the earlier chant would be taken by Whole Foods’ workers as an attack on them personally, which should not be our intent; our target was John Mackey, not “Whole Foods”. Whole Foods’ employees and customers, after all, do not necessarily share his positions, and our job should be to get them on our side. The 20″x30″ poster board sign I had made for the occasion, in fact, read “CEO Mackey’s VALUES are NOT HIS CUSTOMERS’. HEALTH CARE REFORM NOW! – Democratic Socialists of America“. It was by far the biggest sign at the rally.
What About a Boycott?

A sort of a movement has arisen to boycott Whole Foods over this issue. It apparently started with a single individual on Facebook, whose group now claims over 31,000 members. I have very mixed feelings about this. Boycotts should not be called casually. Boycotts have “opportunity costs” – they potentially waste the resources of your friends, who must either do without things, or look for other sources. The extra time we spend running around shopping for alternatives is time we could have been making signs, or phone calls, or whatever. This cost only make sense if your boycott is actually going to be successful – if it will change something. What are the chances this boycott will actually change anything at Whole Foods? Also, collateral damage must be considered. What is the effect of a boycott on workers? Or on their perception of you, and your goals?

On the other hand, 31,000 people is nothing to sneeze at. In the past, I would have argued that successful boycotts take a powerful cause, a vigorous, costly campaign, and a long time to work. Has the internet changed all that? I tried to find some sort of estimate of how large Whole Foods’ customer base is. I didn’t find one, but I did find (on the company’s web site) that they have over 270 stores, so 31,000 people is over 100 people per store. Also, if I’m reading their annual report correctly, in 2008 the company reported gross sales of almost $8 billion. If the average customer spends about $200 a week, that would give an estimate of over 700,000 customers, worldwide, and the Facebook group represents some 4% of the companies customer base, not a bad start for a few weeks worth of online organizing. (Of course, we can’t be certain how many of the Facebook group members were actually Whole Foods customers before joining the boycott call. And my $200/week estimate may be way off base.)

FULL story at link.

[aquart]

1. I'm not doing anything formal.

Last week I stopped in, as usual, but did not buy. I usually buy. I'm very sorry not to be buying their products because I like them very much and it took a long time to find them. But I would rather have health care. And it is, sadly, either or.

[ret5hd]

2. Just go in and eat their free samples.

[Walk away]

5. That's a great idea! Free organic health! n/t

[aquart]

6. I did. It was a lovely antipasto.

[Warpy]

3. AFAIK, anybody who's aware of Mackey's loony libertarianism

and his refusal to approve the rest of us getting what his employees have is already finding alternatives.

One large investor in WF is already seeking his ouster.

He simply failed to consider his target demographic when he popped off in the Wall Street Urinal.

[Walk away]

4. I sent out an email pledges to my friends and clients.

I only sent to clients who I suspected agreed with me on HCR and all of my friends and family. I received 28 pledges back not to shop at Whole Foods. All of them used to shop there at least occasionally.

I couldn't do the actual physical boycott so I did an email one instead. I got the message out to over sixty people and almost half of them have already replied and committed.

I used the info that Omaha Steve posted here (he said I could) and just asked that they pledge not to shop there an send the email on to their friends.