Yesterday I wrote about a company (CIT Bank) that made me mad when it changed the terms of our contract and raised the interest due on the outstanding balance of my Dell account. I was very unhappy with the development, and rightly so.
However, I did not mean to imply that I was against the company acting
"all corporation-y" (watch at your own peril) or that I was complaining about so-called abuses of capitalism. I'm sure that somewhere in our original contract is a clause that gives the financial institution the right to change the terms whenever economic conditions necessitate. It's probably in the very small print that most of us don't read. That's fine. It's also fine that the company exercised that clause.
It's even more fine that I exercised
my option to cancel the contract. The company took the risk that I would when they raised my interest rates. It is definitely too bad, though. I have never had a problem with Dell products. I still don't. It's their financing division that I complained about.
Today is a different story. Many of you may have heard about an op-ed piece written for the Wall Street Journal by John Mackey, founder and CEO of Whole Foods. In the article, Mackey, who is a libertarian, proposed a free-market health care alternative to the one being pushed by our current administration. He has come under fire for speaking his mind (and no doubt for daring to challenge the current proposal), and for challenging what seems to be the prevailing view that health care is a right.
Those who disagree with Mackey's views have vowed to boycott Whole Foods, thereby cutting off their hummus to spite their falafels. They have every right to do so. A boycott is one of the surest ways to get one's opinions across about how a company is performing. It hits them where it hurts, in their balance sheets. I decided to boycott Dell, or at least CIT Bank, didn't I?
I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal and I read Mackey's piece. The link to his op-ed article is
here. Read and decide for yourselves. In it, Mackey states:
"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. A careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter. That's because there isn't any. This 'right' has never existed in America."I agree with Mackey. So, instead of boycotting Whole Foods, I decided to champion them. I can't afford to shop them every day, but they have stuff I want, and stuff I need. I should say that one of the things that I have discovered about this neck of the woods is that I don't like the grocery stores here. If you have ever shopped at the Taj - Ma - Teeter on Friendly Avenue in Greensboro, you will know what I am missing. And the blue laws in Colorado are such that I can't even buy wine in the grocery stores I
do shop in!!!
This morning I had to go into town (Boulder). While there, I visited the newly rennovated Whole Foods store on Pearl Street. I am gluten intolerant (the stuff I
need), and Whole Foods has loads of GF products, and they are all extremely yummy. They are a bit pricey, but since time is money, and since I don't have time to do as much baking as I would like, today I spent my money instead. The Whole Foods products are worth it.
I also bought all the items I have not been able to find in the Safeway or the King Soopers (the stuff I
want). Such as: really good salsa and very thin, crispy tortilla chips, some beautiful fresh basil, two gorgeous swordfish steaks, some Szechuan peppercorns (I have a recipe for a smoked chicken that uses these, which absolutely cannot be made without them), and some gluten free baked goods. I know I could have gotten some of these items in a farmers' market, but it is only open one day of the week, and today wasn't that day. And it is not open in the winter months.
Speaking of open air markets, I dream of the ones I shopped at in France in 2006. Never in my life have I been so overwhelmed by the choices. I like food, can you tell? But I digress.
Whole Foods has a dedicated gluten free bakery in Durham, NC. They make these:
Gluten Free Vanilla Cupcakes! They also make chocolate ones!
I also found this from a local Denver bakery, Udi's:
Gluten Free White Bread!
And guess what? It's soft! Most GF breads have to be toasted to be palatable. This one claimed it didn't. But I was skeptical. As soon as I got it home, I opened the bag, took out a slice, and gave it a sniff. Good. Then I twisted it. Better - it
was soft. I held my breath while I loaded up a slice with peanut butter. I folded it, and took a bite. OMG. Or as Homer Simpson would say, "aarrrmmmph, aarrrmmmph, aarrrmmph." For twenty years I have been craving a gummy peanut butter sandwich. The kind that gobs up in your mouth when you eat it. And today I got it.
I grilled the swordfish for dinner. I served it with a chimmichuri sauce made from the fresh basil. It was delicious. I think I will have a cupcake for dessert.
Not all corporations are "corporation-y." The one run by John Mackey is one of the best ones I know. Whole Foods gives its customers choices - lots of them. It doesn't force you to buy the $15.00 a pound swordfish. But it offers it to you if you want it. It doesn't make you buy their house brand of canned artichoke hearts, but it sits on the shelf if you want it. It doesn't tell you that you need its goat cheese, fresh spinach, locally grown yams, fresh anchovies, grass-fed beef, warm baguettes, Indian breads, fresh pizza dough, or gluten free cupcakes. But they are all right there if you want them, and are willing to pay the price.
Today, I was, and I did. Tomorrow I might need to go to Costco for my paper towels and my olive oil. But it's my choice. And I'm glad I can still make it.
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