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Whole Foods, Part 2

Uncategorized   August 24, 2009 at 10:49 am ObamaNerd

wholefoods2As I complained last week, it seemed like Obama’s 13 million-person email network wasn’t mobilizing around health care, climate change or anything for that matter.  It was particularly discouraging to see that (up to that point) the only major organized effort to combat some of the lies and misconceptions about our health care system was a Facebook boycott of Whole Foods.

But ObamaNerd, you say, it is 12,000 people strong!  Yes, but what are you actually going to do with those 12,000 people? Twelve thousand ain’t shit unless they are “doing shit.” And yes, for the impending comments thread, I understand boycotting is, in a way, ”doing shit,” but it’s not going to change the health care debate or make much of a dent in the already big pocketbook of Whole Foods looney tunes Chief Executive.

Also discouraging was a Washington Post article I read over the weekend about Obama’s post-election grassroots organization, OFA, dispatching their 2 whiz kid organizers to various pockets around the country to drum up support for Obama’s health care plan.  The article is a great read and the work is inspiring.  Awesome work, Team OFA.  Super sincerely, I mean it. However, at this rate, we should have health care by 2012.

What is it going to take to get some activity, that high energy-magic we saw in the last campaign cycle, to combat this shit?  What can we do to mobilize our people (and by “our people,” I mean the rational, cognitive adults who elected this country’s awesome kickass President. Heart you, O!) and get some mojo back?

For one, stop relying on email. I get about 50 emails a week on “Republican Lies” or “The Truth about Health Care.”  Pick up a phone and call.  Organizing people means live interaction.  Make people commit live on the phone or face-to-face.

Seize on the Whole Foods hullabaloo and catalyze people around the fact Whole Foods is a bad corporate player and out of touch on health care.  And I mean apart from your laptop.

Oh wait – someone is already!  And that someone is our old friend, the Labor Movement.  Labor has money, they have organization and they have big balls.  And not man-scaped ones either.

Join UFCW Local 21 today at the South Lake Union Whole Foods (2210 Westlake Ave) from 11 am – 1 pm to educate shoppers on the bad business practices of Whole Foods.  Can’t make it today?  No worries, it’s going on all week, but help them make a splash today.  And they aren’t just doing it in South Lake Union, they are taking this shit regional, baby.  And right wing dipshit Michelle Malkin has a copy of the handout on her website.  Anything that makes her panties twist is right-fucking-on in my book.  Awesome leaflet UFCW 21!

Now, that’s what you do with 12,000 people.  Keep it up, UFCW 21!


  • grass rooter

    look the OFA e mail this week told me to go to the king county labor day picnic in september, that’s the big organizing push OFA is asking us for in Seattle. What a total waste of time.

    They also asked me to go to a medicare for all rally.

    Um, that’s not the president’s plan.

    OFA is a clueless elephant.

    There is NO grass roots activity being organized by Obama and this is helping cause the failure of health care reform.

    Btw having various labor unions and alt media posts try to pick it up doesn’t help. That Whole Foods rally….just attakcs Whole Foods. Without the president pushing a particular plan and committing to the public option, without him getting better words for that instead of the lame policyspeak, there’s NOTHING to organize FOR.

  • grass rooter

    look the OFA e mail this week told me to go to the king county labor day picnic in september, that’s the big organizing push OFA is asking us for in Seattle. What a total waste of time.

    They also asked me to go to a medicare for all rally.

    Um, that’s not the president’s plan.

    OFA is a clueless elephant.

    There is NO grass roots activity being organized by Obama and this is helping cause the failure of health care reform.

    Btw having various labor unions and alt media posts try to pick it up doesn’t help. That Whole Foods rally….just attakcs Whole Foods. Without the president pushing a particular plan and committing to the public option, without him getting better words for that instead of the lame policyspeak, there’s NOTHING to organize FOR.

  • grass rooter

    look the OFA e mail this week told me to go to the king county labor day picnic in september, that’s the big organizing push OFA is asking us for in Seattle. What a total waste of time.

    They also asked me to go to a medicare for all rally.

    Um, that’s not the president’s plan.

    OFA is a clueless elephant.

    There is NO grass roots activity being organized by Obama and this is helping cause the failure of health care reform.

    Btw having various labor unions and alt media posts try to pick it up doesn’t help. That Whole Foods rally….just attakcs Whole Foods. Without the president pushing a particular plan and committing to the public option, without him getting better words for that instead of the lame policyspeak, there’s NOTHING to organize FOR.

  • grass rooter

    look the OFA e mail this week told me to go to the king county labor day picnic in september, that’s the big organizing push OFA is asking us for in Seattle. What a total waste of time.

    They also asked me to go to a medicare for all rally.

    Um, that’s not the president’s plan.

    OFA is a clueless elephant.

    There is NO grass roots activity being organized by Obama and this is helping cause the failure of health care reform.

    Btw having various labor unions and alt media posts try to pick it up doesn’t help. That Whole Foods rally….just attakcs Whole Foods. Without the president pushing a particular plan and committing to the public option, without him getting better words for that instead of the lame policyspeak, there’s NOTHING to organize FOR.

  • http://twitter.com/fattailed Fat-tailed

    Having union staff leaflet a single store for a couple hours a day for a few days isn’t really “doing shit” either. It’s a press event, not organizing.

    Is there something we can be *for*?

  • http://twitter.com/fattailed Fat-tailed

    Having union staff leaflet a single store for a couple hours a day for a few days isn’t really “doing shit” either. It’s a press event, not organizing.

    Is there something we can be *for*?

  • http://twitter.com/fattailed Fat-tailed

    Having union staff leaflet a single store for a couple hours a day for a few days isn’t really “doing shit” either. It’s a press event, not organizing.

    Is there something we can be *for*?

  • http://twitter.com/fattailed Fat-tailed

    Having union staff leaflet a single store for a couple hours a day for a few days isn’t really “doing shit” either. It’s a press event, not organizing.

    Is there something we can be *for*?

  • GottaBeKidding

    Thanks for the heads-up on UFCW 21 at WF SLU. I’ll be there!

  • GottaBeKidding

    I think UFCW at WF SLU will be outstanding. A lot of “innocent” people sit outside WF and eat their lunch, thinking they’re smart and earth-friendly and liberal. A UFCW action outside WF will wake up some of those during WF’s busiest time. Nice thinking UFCW! Thanks, Publicola, for letting us know about this.

  • GottaBeKidding

    I think UFCW at WF SLU will be outstanding. A lot of “innocent” people sit outside WF and eat their lunch, thinking they’re smart and earth-friendly and liberal. A UFCW action outside WF will wake up some of those during WF’s busiest time. Nice thinking UFCW! Thanks, Publicola, for letting us know about this.

  • what the

    Yes, clearly we need to see large-scale, on the ground kick ass grassroots organizing around Obama’s health care plan and Organizing for America needs to kick it up about ten million notches- on the phones, at doors, everywhere. That much is very clear.

    But, @2, don’t knock UFCW’s efforts to actually get out there and “do shit”. I’m not sure what meets your apparently very strict definition of organizing, but press events are one (very important) way of building momentum, raising awareness, getting people inspired, fired up and engaged. Yes, it’s just one part of the organizing equation and clearly not going to change the tide but it’s something and should be commended, not dissed.

  • what the

    Yes, clearly we need to see large-scale, on the ground kick ass grassroots organizing around Obama’s health care plan and Organizing for America needs to kick it up about ten million notches- on the phones, at doors, everywhere. That much is very clear.

    But, @2, don’t knock UFCW’s efforts to actually get out there and “do shit”. I’m not sure what meets your apparently very strict definition of organizing, but press events are one (very important) way of building momentum, raising awareness, getting people inspired, fired up and engaged. Yes, it’s just one part of the organizing equation and clearly not going to change the tide but it’s something and should be commended, not dissed.

  • http://twitter.com/fattailed Fat-tailed

    @5 Point taken — that’s fair. I do think there’s a fundamental difference between 1) a real effort to actually disrupt the income & business of Whole Foods and 2) an effort to get an article in the local paper. #1 is hard, slow, rewarding & potentially transformative. #2 is a quick hit that gets communications pros a piece for their clip file. I suspect this Whole Foods effort is in the latter camp, but I hope I can stand corrected.

  • http://twitter.com/fattailed Fat-tailed

    @5 Point taken — that’s fair. I do think there’s a fundamental difference between 1) a real effort to actually disrupt the income & business of Whole Foods and 2) an effort to get an article in the local paper. #1 is hard, slow, rewarding & potentially transformative. #2 is a quick hit that gets communications pros a piece for their clip file. I suspect this Whole Foods effort is in the latter camp, but I hope I can stand corrected.

  • http://www.barackobama.com/ Dustin Lambro
  • http://www.barackobama.com Dustin Lambro
  • Jensopolis

    Michelle Malkin is encouraging people to shop at Whole Foods.

    …how is that sentence not imploding in upon itself? What’s next, Sean Hannity passing out Grateful Dead CDs to his staff? Nancy Grace recommending emotional restraint and respect for due process? Dennis Kucinich eating a living baby Panda on national television?

  • Jensopolis

    Michelle Malkin is encouraging people to shop at Whole Foods.

    …how is that sentence not imploding in upon itself? What’s next, Sean Hannity passing out Grateful Dead CDs to his staff? Nancy Grace recommending emotional restraint and respect for due process? Dennis Kucinich eating a living baby Panda on national television?

  • ObamaNerd

    @7 – good story, except the unfortunate misspellings. Sorry I missed it. You should add ObamaNerd to your distributions. obamanerd@live.com. I would be happy to post things like ‘doing shit’ anytime you do that. I think my advice on the calling vs emails still holds though.

  • ObamaNerd

    @7 – good story, except the unfortunate misspellings. Sorry I missed it. You should add ObamaNerd to your distributions. obamanerd@live.com. I would be happy to post things like ‘doing shit’ anytime you do that. I think my advice on the calling vs emails still holds though.

  • jns

    This boycott annoys me.

    Who among you didn’t already know that Mackey was a libertarian with a mean streak? Who didn’t know he was anti-union? If you’re just finding this out, then shame on you for not doing your homework before you started shopping there. It says to me you don’t know sh*t about any of the other places you shop either, or who runs them, and you should probably boycott them too. Good luck finding any place you can support.

    As for the union’s efforts to “educate shoppers on the bad business practices of Whole Foods,” what are those, pray tell? Please elucidate.

    As a former WF employee with no axe to grind, I can tell you that 1) we were never actively discouraged from unionizing or discussing unionization, and 2) with the exception of termination practices, our pay and benefits were the same or better than the union. The difference was, we didn’t have to pay union dues to get them.

    All of the literature I’ve seen criticizing WF as anti-union has been produced by unions. A little skepticism, please, people.

  • jns

    This boycott annoys me.

    Who among you didn’t already know that Mackey was a libertarian with a mean streak? Who didn’t know he was anti-union? If you’re just finding this out, then shame on you for not doing your homework before you started shopping there. It says to me you don’t know sh*t about any of the other places you shop either, or who runs them, and you should probably boycott them too. Good luck finding any place you can support.

    As for the union’s efforts to “educate shoppers on the bad business practices of Whole Foods,” what are those, pray tell? Please elucidate.

    As a former WF employee with no axe to grind, I can tell you that 1) we were never actively discouraged from unionizing or discussing unionization, and 2) with the exception of termination practices, our pay and benefits were the same or better than the union. The difference was, we didn’t have to pay union dues to get them.

    All of the literature I’ve seen criticizing WF as anti-union has been produced by unions. A little skepticism, please, people.

  • T. Chen

    I don’t personally shop at Whole Foods because I can’t afford to, but why boycott Whole Foods just because its CEO has a different opinion? Yes, the Sarah Palin/Rush Limbaugh “death panel” Nazi stuff is despicable, cynical and logically incoherent. Mackey has not been part of that.

    In contrast, Mackey is actually contributing to the debate. He is actually presenting a reasonable alternative to lower health care costs that he puts into practice. And his plan was misrepresented in the last Publicola post about it. The post failed to mention that WF puts $1,800 per year into an HSA for each employee, so the gap would be $700/year for a $2,500 deductible. The money can also be carried over for years where you are healthy.

    I personally support a single payer system, but what bothers me is intellectually dishonest, fear-mongering attempts to scare people and mislead them. That is not what Mackey has done. I’m afraid it is a slippery slope to start down when you boycott every business where its leadership has a legitimate philosophical difference with you.

  • T. Chen

    I don’t personally shop at Whole Foods because I can’t afford to, but why boycott Whole Foods just because its CEO has a different opinion? Yes, the Sarah Palin/Rush Limbaugh “death panel” Nazi stuff is despicable, cynical and logically incoherent. Mackey has not been part of that.

    In contrast, Mackey is actually contributing to the debate. He is actually presenting a reasonable alternative to lower health care costs that he puts into practice. And his plan was misrepresented in the last Publicola post about it. The post failed to mention that WF puts $1,800 per year into an HSA for each employee, so the gap would be $700/year for a $2,500 deductible. The money can also be carried over for years where you are healthy.

    I personally support a single payer system, but what bothers me is intellectually dishonest, fear-mongering attempts to scare people and mislead them. That is not what Mackey has done. I’m afraid it is a slippery slope to start down when you boycott every business where its leadership has a legitimate philosophical difference with you.

  • Amaliada

    Actually, the best organizing, and fundraising, around health care/insurance reform is being done by ActBlue getting the word out through Firedoglake, DownWithTyranny, and many other progressive bloggers.

    In less than a week they’ve raised nearly $400,000 for the 60+ Representatives who signed a letter pledging not to vote for a health care bill that didn’t include the public option.

    Obama is in this for the glory and the insurance companies. He has never mentioned holding premiums down, just out of pocket costs – premiums are not considered out of pocket costs by the insurance companies. He has never supported single payer (Medicare for all) which would definitely reduce costs, administrative costs being a large part of what we pay the insurance companies to provide.

    So OFA isn’t supposed to be doing anything and so they’re not.

  • Amaliada

    Actually, the best organizing, and fundraising, around health care/insurance reform is being done by ActBlue getting the word out through Firedoglake, DownWithTyranny, and many other progressive bloggers.

    In less than a week they’ve raised nearly $400,000 for the 60+ Representatives who signed a letter pledging not to vote for a health care bill that didn’t include the public option.

    Obama is in this for the glory and the insurance companies. He has never mentioned holding premiums down, just out of pocket costs – premiums are not considered out of pocket costs by the insurance companies. He has never supported single payer (Medicare for all) which would definitely reduce costs, administrative costs being a large part of what we pay the insurance companies to provide.

    So OFA isn’t supposed to be doing anything and so they’re not.

  • joshuadf

    This just in: the “Tea Party” folks are planning to “Buycott” Whole Foods in support of Mackey! Should be hilarious in places like Berkeley:
    http://www.teacottwholefoods.com/

  • joshuadf

    This just in: the “Tea Party” folks are planning to “Buycott” Whole Foods in support of Mackey! Should be hilarious in places like Berkeley:
    http://www.teacottwholefoods.com/

  • GottaBeKidding

    Thanks for the heads-up on UFCW 21 at WF SLU. I'll be there!