Whole Foods

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">----</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">bezos amazon owns (also anti-union)</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">neglected</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see mackey for old</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">medium matt hunt</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://medium.com/@MatthewTHunt/whole-foods-hired-far-right-wing-activist-as-union-buster-dd46bee7c854">https://medium.com/@MatthewTHunt/whole-foods-hired-far-right-wing-activist-as-union-buster-dd46bee7c854</a></font></div><div><p id="c8fc" class="pw-post-body-paragraph jp jq ih jr b js jt ju jv jw jx jy jz ka kb kc kd ke kf kg kh ki kj kk kl km ia gi" data-selectable-paragraph="" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 2em 0px -0.46em; word-break: break-word; line-height: 32px; letter-spacing: -0.003em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">documents from the <a class="au kn" href="https://olms.dol-esa.gov/query/orgReport.do?rptId=646059&rptForm=LM10Form" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards</a> show that <b>Whole Foods Market hired the union busting company</b> <a class="au kn" href="http://uskulture.com/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">Kulture Consulting, LLC</a> back in 2016. According to the documents Whole Foods began an “oral” agreement with Kulture Consulting on May 23, 2016. The company was paid $109,246. Three days before a union <a class="au kn" href="https://www.nlrb.gov/case/12-RC-176657" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">election</a> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">was filed by the Chemical Production Workers Union Local №30 at a Whole Foods distribution center located at Pompano Beach in Florida. One document states that Kulture “presented informational meetings to company employees relative to the process of unionization, the role of the NLRB, and collective bargaining.”</span></font></p><p id="9b91" class="pw-post-body-paragraph jp jq ih jr b js jt ju jv jw jx jy jz ka kb kc kd ke kf kg kh ki kj kk kl km ia gi" data-selectable-paragraph="" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 2em 0px -0.46em; word-break: break-word; line-height: 32px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Whole Foods legal representation during the election was handled by a <a class="au kn" href="https://www.ebglaw.com/jeremy-m-brown/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">Jeremy M. Brown</a> from <a class="au kn" href="https://www.ebglaw.com/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">Epstein Becker & Green P.C.</a> On the law firms <a class="au kn" href="https://www.ebglaw.com/labor-management-relations/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">website</a> they list having experience “…representing private sector, not-for-profit, and government employers in all aspects of labor-management relations, including union organizing campaigns; union corporate campaigns; representation and decertification cases before the NLRB and state agencies.” The election ended in a defeat. Documents show the agreement with Kulture was terminated June 16, 2016 and payment was delivered on August 22nd of that year.</font></p><p id="f4f2" class="pw-post-body-paragraph jp jq ih jr b js jt ju jv jw jx jy jz ka kb kc kd ke kf kg kh ki kj kk kl km ia gi" data-selectable-paragraph="" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 2em 0px -0.46em; word-break: break-word; line-height: 32px; letter-spacing: -0.003em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Peter List is the founder and CEO of Kulture Consulting. List was part of a secretive group of far-right activists known as Groundswell. Behind the scenes <a class="au kn" href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/07/groundswell-rightwing-group-ginni-thomas/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">Groundswell’s mission</a> was to “…cook up battle plans for their ongoing fights against the Obama administration, congressional Democrats, progressive outfits, <em class="ko" style="box-sizing: inherit;">and</em> the Republican establishment and ‘clueless’ GOP congressional leaders.” The group included people such as <a class="au kn" href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/heres-how-breitbart-and-milo-smuggled-white-nationalism?utm_term=.bnA2vML0lg#.tqvrxeX5ab" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">Steve Bannon</a>, <a class="au kn" href="https://www.thenation.com/article/what-congress-can-do-to-check-a-war-mongering-lunatic/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">John Bolton</a>, <a class="au kn" href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/04/clarence-thomas-is-moving-closer-to-the-trumpist-fringe-his-wife-ginni-is-already-there.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">Virginia Thomas</a> and <a class="au kn" href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/frank-gaffney-jr" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">Frank Gaffney Jr</a>. <b>List also runs the websites <a class="au kn" href="http://laborunionreport.com/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">laborunionreport.com</a> and <a class="au kn" href="http://workplacereport.com/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">workplacereport.com</a>. The websites are filled with anti-union propaganda, far-right wing politics and a clear admiration for Ayn Rand.</b></font></p><p id="2407" class="pw-post-body-paragraph jp jq ih jr b js jt ju jv jw jx jy jz ka kb kc kd ke kf kg kh ki kj kk kl km ia gi" data-selectable-paragraph="" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 2em 0px -0.46em; word-break: break-word; line-height: 32px; letter-spacing: -0.003em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">According to the South Carolina Secretary of State List is also the registered agent at Kulture LLC, and Kulture Media LLC which was previously Labor Union Report LLC. The DOL documents show that </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Kulture Consulting’s union-busting raked in about <a class="au kn" href="https://olms.dol-esa.gov/query/orgReport.do?rptId=635827&rptForm=LM20Form" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">4.3 million dollars</a> in 2016 and <a class="au kn" href="https://olms.dol-esa.gov/query/orgReport.do?rptId=667820&rptForm=LM20Form" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">3.5 million</a> in 2017. The documents also show persons listed as employed by Kulture Consulting for the Whole Foods union busting, besides Peter List, as a <a class="au kn" href="https://olms.dol-esa.gov/query/orgReport.do?rptId=622431&rptForm=LM20Form" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">Ronn English and Luisa Perez</a>. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ronn is listed as VP Western US Operations for Kulture, LLC on Linkedin.</span></font></p><p id="8911" class="pw-post-body-paragraph jp jq ih jr b js jt ju jv jw jx jy jz ka kb kc kd ke kf kg kh ki kj kk kl km ia gi" data-selectable-paragraph="" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 2em 0px -0.46em; word-break: break-word; line-height: 32px; letter-spacing: -0.003em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Whole Foods has long maintained that the company is not anti-union but non-union, and that they are beyond unions. Employees are known to be treated to a power-point presentation during their hiring or employment explaining why the company is non-union. A non-Black and non-LGBTQ business is clearly just racist, bigoted, homophobic and has no respect for civil rights. Whole Foods is not “non-union” it hates unions and hates workers’ rights.</font></p><p id="35db" class="pw-post-body-paragraph jp jq ih jr b js jt ju jv jw jx jy jz ka kb kc kd ke kf kg kh ki kj kk kl km ia gi" data-selectable-paragraph="" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 2em 0px -0.46em; word-break: break-word; line-height: 32px; letter-spacing: -0.003em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">It should be no surprise that Whole Foods would hire a union-buster with such views considering John Mackey, co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods, has long expressed his disdain for unions and love of far right economics. </b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Mackey years back stated that “the union is like having herpes. It doesn’t kill you, but it’s unpleasant and inconvenient, and it stops a lot of people from becoming your lover.” </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">From a 2009 <a class="au kn" href="https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/blog/john-mackeys-blog/health-care-reform-full-article" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">blog post</a> Mackey wrote “…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?” </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">It is safe to assume that it takes the average Whole Foods employee a lot longer than twenty four days to accumulate $109,246</span></font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">amazon worker Smalls fired for protest </font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">a<a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/03/amazon-and-whole-foods-workers-move-to-strike-against-unjust-and-unsafe-practices/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.4; display: inline !important;">mazon and Whole Foods workers move to strike against unjust and unsafe practices</a></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/author/julia-conley/" title="Posts by Julia Conley" class="author url fn" rel="author" style="text-align: right; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Julia Conley</a><span style="text-align: right;"> </span><span style="text-align: right;">/</span><span style="text-align: right;"> </span><a href="https://www.alternet.org/author/common-dreams/" title="Posts by Common Dreams" class="author url fn" rel="author" style="text-align: right; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Common Dreams</a></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/03/grotesque-level-of-greed-jeff-bezos-whole-foods-wants-workers-to-pay-colleagues-sick-leave-during-coronavirus/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2020/03/grotesque-level-of-greed-jeff-bezos-whole-foods-wants-workers-to-pay-colleagues-sick-leave-during-coronavirus/</font></a></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 919 in a booming economy?</font></p><div class="mag-header" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 19px; padding: 0px; position: relative; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h3 class="magcat-titlte entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" sans-serif="sans-serif" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" px="px"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/09/jeff-bezos-abruptly-cuts-health-benefits-for-nearly-2000-part-time-whole-foods-workers-this-is-disgusting/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; display: block; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.4;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"> Bezos abruptly cuts health benefits for nearly 2,000 part-time Whole Foods workers: ‘This is disgusting’</font></a></h3><div class="grid-post-box-meta mag-meta" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 7px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="author-italic author vcard" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/author/eoin-higgins/" title="Posts by Eoin Higgins" class="author url fn" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Eoin Higgins</a> / <a href="https://www.alternet.org/author/common-dreams/" title="Posts by Common Dreams" class="author url fn" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Common Dreams</a></font></span></div></div><div class="mag-excerpt entry-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on Thursday cut benefits for part-time workers at his grocery chain Whole Foods.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/07/investors-consumers-and-workers-are-changing-capitalism-for-the-better-by-demanding-companies-behave-more-responsibly/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/07/investors-consumers-and-workers-are-changing-capitalism-for-the-better-by-demanding-companies-behave-more-responsibly/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Investors, consumers and workers are changing capitalism for the better by demanding companies behave more responsibly</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Written by The Conversation<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>July 27, 2019</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Capitalism’s days may be numbered – at least judging by recent polls.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A majority of millennials reject the economic system, while 55% of women aged 18 to 54 say they prefer socialism. More Democrats now have a positive view of socialism than capitalism.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One problem interpreting numbers like these is that there are many definitions of capitalism and socialism. More to the point, people seem to be thinking of a specific form of capitalism that deems the sole purpose of companies is to increase stock prices and enrich investors. Known as shareholder capitalism, it’s been the guiding light of American business for more than four decades.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As a scholar of socially responsible companies, however, I cannot help but notice a shift in corporate behavior in recent years. A new kind of capitalism seems to be emerging, one in which companies value communities, the environment and workers just as much as profits.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The purpose of business</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nearly 50 years ago, the economist Milton Friedman proclaimed that the sole purpose of a business is “to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Within a decade, Friedman’s claim became accepted wisdom in corporate boardrooms. The era of “shareholder primacy capitalism” had begun.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One result has been remarkable growth in the stock market. But critics argue companies and the “shareholder value theory” are also complicit in exacerbating many economic, social and environmental problems, such as income inequality and climate change.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Milton Friedman won prizes for his research on consumption analysis and monetary history.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">They also note that putting profits first actually harms shareholders in the long run by encouraging managers to take actions that may eventually reduce earnings.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The rebellion</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Many consumers, workers and socially conscious investors have also noticed these shortcomings and increased pressure on corporations to change.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">For starters, more Americans no longer find it acceptable for companies to exclusively seek profits. A 2017 poll found that 78% of U.S. consumers want businesses to pursue social justice issues, while 76% said they would refuse to buy a product if the business supported an issue contrary to their beliefs. Almost half the respondents said they had already boycotted a product for that reason.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Workers increasingly expect their employers to share their values. A 2016 study found that most Americans – particularly millennials – consider a company’s social and environmental commitments when deciding where to work. Most would also be willing to take a pay cut in order to work for a “responsible” company – and are demanding their current employers behave that way.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>For example, workers at online furniture company Wayfair recently walked out when they learned it had sent beds to detention centers at the U.S.-Mexico border</b>. More than 8,100 Amazon employees signed an open letter supporting a shareholder resolution urging the retailer to do more to address climate change.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Finally, investors are becoming more socially aware and putting more of their money behind businesses that behave in sustainable and responsive ways. At the beginning of 2018, portfolio managers held US$11.6 trillion in U.S. assets using environmental, social and governance criteria to guide their investments, up from $2.5 trillion in 2010.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Laurence Fink, founder and CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, summed up the growing sentiment when he said, “To prosper over time, every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The corporate response</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Presumably realizing how important these constituencies are to their bottom lines, businesses are paying attention.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dick’s Sporting Goods, Kroger, Walmart and L.L. Bean, for example, responded to growing concerns over mass shootings by restricting the sale of guns. Proctor and Gamble, a major sponsor for U.S. Soccer, expressed support for the quest of the women’s team for equal pay and donated $500,000 to help narrow the pay gap with men.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Airlines including American, United and Frontier refused to knowingly fly children separated from their parents at the border following outrage over the Trump administration’s policy. And even though Amazon shareholders rejected the worker-supported shareholder resolution described above, Amazon set stronger goals for reducing its carbon footprint after the resolution was introduced.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Unilever found that its ‘sustainable living’ brands such as Ben & Jerry’s are growing faster than its other products.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">These actions have sometimes hurt the bottom line. The decision to restrict gun sales cost Dick’s Sporting Goods $150 million. Delta lost a $50 million tax break in Georgia after severing ties with the NRA.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But these and other companies didn’t back down. The CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods explained that when something is “to the detriment of the public, you have to stand up.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Companies are also setting tougher social and environmental goals for themselves and then reporting their successes and failures. Tesla, Unilever, Nike and <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Whole Foods</span> are among nine companies with annual revenues of at least $1 billion that “have sustainability or social good at their core.”</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2018, 86% of Standard & Poor’s 500 companies reported on their environmental, social and governance performance and achievements, up from less than 20% in 2011.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">And companies have found that putting more emphasis on social justice can pay off. Unilever, for example, said in 2017 that its “sustainable living” brands, such as Ben & Jerry’s, Dove and Hellmann’s, are growing much faster than its other brands<b>. Companies with the best scores on their sustainability reports generally perform better financially than those with lower scores.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The end of shareholder capitalism?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Skeptics can be forgiven for believing these corporate “changes” are not real or are simply public relations stunts designed to appeal to a new generation.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Businesses can, of course, say they will be responsible citizens while doing the opposite. Few sustainability reports in the United States are externally audited, and the companies are asking us to take them at their word.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Even if they are well-meaning, intentions are not enough to create systemic change. A 2017 study showed that many companies with climate change goals actually scaled back their ambitions over time as the reality clashed with their lofty goals.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But businesses can’t afford to ignore their customers’ wishes. Nor can they ignore their workers in a tight labor market. And if they disregard socially responsible investors, they risk both losing out on important investments and facing shareholder resolutions that force change.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The shareholder value doctrine is not dead, but we are beginning to see major cracks in its armor. And as long as investors, customers and employees continue to push for more responsible behavior, you should expect to see those cracks grow.  The Conversation</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Elizabeth Schmidt, Professor of Practice, Nonprofit Organizations; Social & Environmental Enterprises, University of Massachusetts Amherst</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.</font></div></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">10/18</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">45 min training video on early warning signs of union eg hang out, use words livable wage ralph nader radio</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h2 class="node-title" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; width: 164px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/amazons-minimum-wage-hike-not-what-it-seems" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 700; outline: none;">Amazon’s Minimum Wage Hike Is Not What It Seems</a> AN</font></h2></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">$15/hr employees whole food, what about contractors? bernie BEZOS bill</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">amazon just hit 1 trillion value?</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...<span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">On August 2, the day the report [dead zone?] was released, those public concerns found a voice as citizens, environmentalists and sustainability advocates gathered outside Whole Foods headquarters in Austin, Texas, to deliver </span><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">95,000 petition signatures demanding that the company hold its meat suppliers accountable for their role in destroying the environment.</span></font></p><p data-evernote-id="623" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Grocery stores like Walmart and Whole Foods and meal outlets like McDonald’s and Burger King have the power to set and enforce standards requiring better farming practices from suppliers,” states the report, which Mighty Earth says is the “first comprehensive assessment of major US food brands on their environmental standards and performance for sourced meat.”</font></p><p data-evernote-id="623" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Feeding the Nation, Failing the Environment</font></strong></p><p data-evernote-id="624" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ranking the largest food companies in the US based on their sustainability policies for meat production, the report found that the biggest players in the food industry — including major fast food, grocery and food service companies — are failing to protect the environment from the impact of their supply chains. Remarkably, the researchers found that not a single one of the 23 major brands surveyed have policies in place to require “even minimal environmental protections from meat suppliers.”</font></p><p data-evernote-id="625" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Even more startling is that so-called “green” brands like Whole Foods that have built their reputations on providing sustainable food options have, according to the report, “failed to commit to environmentally responsible farming practices that protect drinking water, prevent agricultural runoff and curb climate emissions.”</font></p><p data-evernote-id="626" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The <a data-evernote-id="340" href="https://www.mightyearth.org/meat-scorecard" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">23 companies surveyed</a> were evaluated on their requirements for meat suppliers regarding where they source their animal feed, how they process their animals’ manure and how they manage their greenhouse gas emissions.</font></p><p data-evernote-id="627" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a data-evernote-id="341" href="https://www.mightyearth.org/meat-scorecard" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">All but one of the companies scored an “F”</a> overall for their environmental policies (or lack thereof) for meat sourcing. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The only company to score better than an “F” was Walmart, which received a “D” due to its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions across its supply chain, as well as the launching of programs meant to improve the management of manure and </span><a data-evernote-id="342" href="https://thinkprogress.org/is-walmart-the-key-to-making-american-farming-more-sustainable-37af74a3ce22/" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">increase the sustainability of corn and soy farming</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></font></p><p data-evernote-id="627" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p><a href="https://www.alternet.org/food/whole-foods-fails-consumers-again-delaying-gmo-labeling"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/food/whole-foods-fails-consumers-again-delaying-gmo-labeling</font></a></p><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">huffpo</font></b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">his Monday, <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/video-shows-abuse-at-whole-foods-turkey-supplier-activists-say-1448328713" target="hplink" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">animal advocates released a shocking investigation</a> showing widespread cruelty at what some would consider the most unlikely of places ― a top-rated <a href="http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Whole Foods</a> turkey supplier.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://directactioneverywhere.com/" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Direct Action Everywhere (DxE)</a>, the organization that conducted the <a href="http://directactioneverywhere.com/deadly-feast" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">investigation</a>, saw turkeys suffering from inflamed crops, swelling, open wounds, severe feather loss, and leg injuries. The birds trampled each other in the massive crowds. Feces covered the floor, up to six inches deep in some places.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.diestelturkey.com/" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Diestel Turkey Ranch</a>, the target of the investigation, holds the highest animal welfare rating, Step 5+, given out by the <a href="http://www.globalanimalpartnership.org/" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Global Animal Partnership</a>, a nonprofit organization that received over 90% of its funding from Whole Foods in 2014. As of 2013, <a href="http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/mission-values/animal-welfare/collaboration-global-animal-partnership" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">only 3 of the 2156 suppliers</a> in the program held this rating.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">These issues and others appear to violate several of Whole Foods' own minimal standards, and that Whole Foods' advertising of Diestel is based on only one of their facilities, which doesn't actually raise any turkeys for commercial use. Investigators visited this "showcase" facility and others, noting stark differences between the locations.</font></p></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><h3 class="yiv3311573242null" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1444152066363_5613" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 22.5px; letter-spacing: -0.5px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://ecowatch.us7.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=214ab5fbb3f6015d74ffab4ec&id=bb52d09904&e=c2e8fdabfa" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1444152066363_5612" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; outline: none; overflow-wrap: break-word; background: transparent;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Watch Colbert Mock ‘Cage-Free’ Whole Foods for Getting Caught Using Prison Labor</font></a></h3><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><br style="line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><span style="line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Whole Foods is in the midst of yet another controversy. This time, it's over...</span></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">==</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> 6/15</font></p><h1 class="article-title" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0.2rem 0px 10px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://grist.org/food/organic-farmers-whole-foods-is-an-unfair-grader/" class="hover-no-underline" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Organic farmers: Whole Foods is an unfair grader</font></a></h1><p class="article-excerpt" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Like many certification systems, the Whole Foods ratings have some downsides, and some farmers say the system is costly and flawed.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">With products labeled and marketed as organic, fresh, pesticide free, natural, gluten free, Whole Foods Markets (“Nothing Artificial, Ever”) present themselves as distinctive, trustworthy sources to customers seeking local, healthy and pure foods.  Nonetheless, as Mike Adams of <em>Natural News</em> reports, “Whole Foods deceives consumers into unknowingly buying GMOs while financially supporting a GMO supply chain that ultimately enriches Monsanto.”</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">An “Organic Spies” video documents Whole Foods employees from twelve Los Angeles area stores explaining the company’s policies on products that contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs).  Some of those interviewed sound scripted, others just uninformed.  The video openly accuses Whole Foods of “deceptive marketing” and says the company knowingly “trains employees to tell customers that they do not sell any GMO food.”  According to Organic Spies, approximately 20-30% of Whole Foods products contain GMOs.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mike Adams of Natural News reports disturbing connections between Whole Foods and Monsanto, and he notes that Whole Foods did not donate to support California’s Proposition 37, which would have required labeling all foods with GMO ingredients.</font>

<strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sources</font></strong>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mike Adams, “Whole Foods knowingly engages in massive GMO deception, says undercover video by ‘Organic Spies,’ ”NaturalNews, September 26, 2012, <a href="http://www.naturalnews.com/037329_Whole_Foods_GMO_undercover_video.html">http://www.naturalnews.com/037329_Whole_Foods_GMO_undercover_video.html</a></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mike Adams, “Whole Foods caught in GMO marketing deception, false advertising – here’s the proof,” Natural News, October 8, 2012, <a href="http://www.naturalnews.com/037467_Whole_Foods_Marketing_Fraud_GMO.html">http://www.naturalnews.com/037467_Whole_Foods_Marketing_Fraud_GMO.html</a></font>

</span></strong> </font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Student Researcher:</strong>  Kim Southwell (College of Marin)</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Faculty Evaluator:</strong> Susan Rahman (College of Marin)

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<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Similar Posts:</font></h3>

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<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/24/whole-foods-ceo-climate-change_n_2511482.html?view=print&comm_ref=false"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/24/whole-foods-ceo-climate-change_n_2511482.html?view=print&comm_ref=false</font></a>

<h1 class="title-news"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Whole Foods CEO On Climate Change:<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> John Mackey Says Warming Is 'Not Necessarily Bad'</span></font></h1>

<div class="comments_datetime_new border_none relative v05"><span class="posted-and-updated"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Posted: <span itemprop="datePublished">01/24/2013 </span></font></span></div>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Whole Foods CEO John Mackey <a href="http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/whole-foods-ceo-john-mackey-to-guardian-climate" target="_hplink">shared his views on climate change</a> recently, saying that he is "not a 'climate change skeptic,'" but, contrary to the scientific consensus, suggested that "climate change is perfectly natural and not necessarily bad."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mackey, who founded the supermarket chain in 1980, told Mother Jones, "<a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/whole-foods-market-john-mackey-interview-conscious-capitalism?page=2" target="_hplink">climate change is clearly occurring</a>." He added, "What I am opposed to is trying to stop virtually all economic progress because of the fear of climate change." He suggested, "we will be able to successfully adapt to gradually rising temperatures."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dr. Thomas E. Lovejoy, the Biodiversity Chair of the H. John Heinz III Center, recently explained in The New York Times, "At current global warming of 0.8-0.9 degrees [Celsius], the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/22/opinion/global/the-climate-change-endgame.html" target="hplink">fingerprints of climate change can be seen virtually everywhere</a> in nature." He believes the internationally agreed upon warming limit of two degress Celsius "is actually too much for ecosystems." Lovejoy wrote, "The <a href="http://www.carbontracker.org/" target="hplink">Carbon Tracker</a> organization has examined fossil-fuel investments around the world (including 1,200 new coal plants) and determined that they would lead to a 6-degree world."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mackey later clarified his stance, <a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/off-the-cuff/whole-foods-founder-says-global-warming-not-big-224803744.html" target="_hplink">telling Yahoo! Finance</a>, "I guess my position on it is that I don't think that's that big a deal."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Climate advocacy group <a href="http://forecastthefacts.org/" target="hplink">Forecast the Facts</a> responded to Mackey's assertions, <a href="https://twitter.com/ForecastFacts/status/293501554596651009" target="hplink">tweeting</a>, "[Whole Foods] recognizes that #climate change is caused by CO2 pollution -- why doesn't CEO John Mackey?"</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In his second inaugural address this week, President <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/01/21/inaugural-address-president-barack-obama" target="_hplink">Obama suggested that addressing climate change</a> is an important matter. "We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A recent study from the World Economic Forum found that "the world <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/21/curbing-climate-change-world-economic-forum_n_2521275.html" target="_hplink">must spend an extra $700 billion a year</a>" to curb climate change, reported Reuters. This figure is in addition to five trillion dollars which is projected to be spent annually on global infrastructure projects through 2020.</font></p>

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