Boycotting Whole Foods is dumb

Radley Balko deconstructs the called-for boycott of Whole Foods by some on the left for this anti-single-player op-ed by its CEO:

Let me see if I have the logic correct here: Whole Foods is consistently ranked among the most employee-friendly places to work in the service industry. In fact, Whole Foods treats employees a hell of a lot better than most liberal activist groups do. The company has strict environmental and humane animal treatment standards about how its food is grown and raised. The company buys local. The store near me is hosting a local tasting event for its regional vendors. Last I saw, the company’s lowest wage earners make $13.15 per hour. They also get to vote on what type of health insurance they want. And they all get health insurance. The company is also constantly raising money for various philanthropic causes. When I was there today, they were taking donations for a school lunch program. In short, Whole Foods is everything leftists talk about when they talk about “corporate responsibility.”

And yet lefties want to boycott the company because CEO John Mackey wrote an op-ed that suggests alternatives to single payer health care?

Exactly. Boycotting groups or businesses for reasons that have nothing to do with that group’s or business’s core mission is asinine. John Mackey’s company provides low skilled employees with great wages and excellent health care at no cost to the government (i.e., to you or me). And you want to hurt those low skilled workers by boycotting Whole Foods, by reducing its gross and forcing the company to hire fewer employees? Real smart, guys. Real smart.