If you’re wondering about all the people breaking their Whole Foods habit and searching out other markets, the answer is here. The boycott was spurred by an op-ed piece on health care reform in the Wall Street Journal, written by Whole Foods CEO John Mackey. The main eyebrow-raisers in the article came here:

“While all of us can empathize with those who are sick, how can we say that all people have any more of an intrinsic right to health care than they have an intrinsic right to food, clothing, owning their own homes, a car or a personal computer? Health care is a service which we all need at some point in our lives, but just like food, clothing, and shelter it is best provided through voluntary and mutually-beneficial market exchanges rather than through government mandates.”

and then, here:

“Most of the diseases which are both killing us and making health care so expensive-heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and obesity, which account for about 70% of all health care spending, are mostly preventable through proper diet, exercise, not smoking, minimal or no alcohol consumption, and other healthy lifestyle choices.”

Mackey printed an unedited version of the piece on his blog here, which is drawing plenty of response, both pro and con. Slogging through the 1,000+ comments on his site, once you get past the heroic-freedom-lover-vs.-evil-socialist white noise, my favorites are these:

1. “Why not suggest we go to a for-profit police force? $9.99 for the first reported crime, $5.00 for each additional crime. If you want us to go after the man who robbed your house, that’s an extra $49.95 - but check for coupons in your ValPak! What about a privately-owned Fire Department? Firefighting is $400/hr. (Fire trucks aren’t cheap!) If you can’t pay … well, there’s your garden hose, knock yourself out. And if the fire was due to ‘pre existing conditions’ like faulty wiring, then forget about it even if you do have the cash. Get the marshmallows and make the best of it.”

2. “Health care is a service that we all need, but just like food and shelter it is best provided through voluntary and mutually beneficial market exchanges.” Few would agree with this if Americans were routinely denied access to food and shelter because they had eaten before or had a history of sleeping indoors.”

3. “Healthy people, who live healthy lives, get hit by cars, still get cancer, inherit health problems, and lose jobs.” 

and, finally,

4. “That sound of gleeful cackling you hear is from the Trader Joe’s boardroom.”

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