The Green Quote: Whole Foods CEO John Mackey Offers Healthy, Veggie Advice

by Michael Parrish DuDell August 20, 2009
Categories: People
Tags: john mackey.

John Mackey WHOLEmug-1

“Unfortunately many of our health-care problems are self-inflicted: two-thirds of Americans are now overweight and one-third are obese. Most of the diseases that kill us and account for about 70% of all health-care spending—heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes and obesity—are mostly preventable through proper diet, exercise, not smoking, minimal alcohol consumption and other healthy lifestyle choices.”

“Recent scientific and medical evidence shows that a diet consisting of foods that are plant-based, nutrient dense and low-fat will help prevent and often reverse most degenerative diseases that kill us and are expensive to treat. We should be able to live largely disease-free lives until we are well into our 90s and even past 100 years of age.”

- Whole Foods CEO John Mackey offering some plant-powered advice to the Wall Street Journal. Mackey is vegetarian and almost vegan (he eats eggs from the chickens he keeps on property) and believes the key to good heath is lots of plant-based foods. That’s funny…so do we!

Categories: People
Tags: john mackey.

http://RawfoodsRetreat.com erin raw foods

Funny time to write about John Mackey as he’s in the news now for some pretty controversial topics (besides admittedly bad mouthing Wild Oats on web boards before closing them down and buying them out you can see articles in the Times, Wash Post etc about his Whole Foods Devotees lashing out at him for his views, his company being a monopoly and “just like Wal Mart” and so much more. I’ve been boycotting Whole Foods and know I’m doing the right thing. I support Mom and Pop places instead…..

Here’s a few links to huge articles this week “Whole Foods Uproar” and ones that call him the “new Walmart Monster” (very fitting and I think they got it about right)

Down with Mackey.

http://news.google.com/news?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=s&hl=en&source=hp&q=whole%20foods%20wal%20mart&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wn
http://RawfoodsRetreat.com erin raw foods

Just two quotes about him and his right wing views from the pieces

They have stormed Twitter, Facebook and the blogosphere to vent their rage at John Mackey, the chief executive. In an op-ed column in the Wall Street Journal last week, he argued for health-care savings accounts and declared that health care is not an intrinsic right– ideas with a conservative bent, which made Whole Foods’ liberal customer base go ballistic.

- Washington Post

Now there are some places that disagree

http://www.businessinsider.com/threatening-to-boycott-whole-foods-is-scandalously-dumb-2009-8

Anyway thought this might be an exciting story….

E
http://severedforever.blogspot.com/ Dan

Or how about the time he told everyone that his stores sell “a bunch of junk”.

http://www.thelondonpaper.com/thelondonpaper/news/london/whole-foods-boss-we-sell-a-bunch-of-junk
Jim Harben

Go John Mackey..I will increase my shopping at whole foods
http://www.twitter.com/melissak85 Melissa Kay

Wow, definitely nice to see all these opinions into the Whole Foods situation. I saw twitter abuzz with talk of John Mackey’s comments, but I didn’t really look into it further. Interesting insights in the blog and in these comments.

I’ve never been to a Whole Foods, but frequent Trader Joe’s. Hopefully a better choice?
Joe

John Mackey can say whatever he wants about health care. All I know is that without my local Whole Foods, it’s nearly impossible to find good organic fruits and vegetables. Anyone who boycotts Whole Foods over his comments on health care is doing more harm than good. I will always support the store that keeps so many organic farms in business. Without Whole Foods, there’d be a lot less organic farming going on. And that’s the big picture.
http://RawfoodsRetreat.com erin raw foods

Actually without Whole Foods there might be room for other stores to grow (If Mackey didn’t admittedly trash them online anonymously, get them shut down and then buy them out-like Wild Oats)

Also most smaller stores tend to carry more local stuff. Whole Foods is finally starting too but still carries lots of stuff from outside the US. (local is better than organic shipped several zillion miles to the US)

Ya Go John Mackey! He bad mouths shuts down and buys out other chains, sells mostly “junk” (as even he admits) is the new “Wal Mart Monster” (Wash Post) in how he treats his employees AND his wife has how many husbands? (Oh I’ll let you do your own research on the last one

Erin
Jennifer

@ erin… Really–boycotting Whole Foods? Not only is he correct, can’t you pick your battles? Aren’t there bigger, more offensive battles in the world to fight? Get off of your PC high-horse. Oh wait, did I just offend your PC-ness with my old-fashioned “high horse” comment? And yes, I’m vegan, so shut up with that bs you were about to say.