Author Archives: Laura Hertzfeld

Trouble at the checkout

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The arugula left has been up in arms about Whole Foods CEO John Mackey’s recent opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal stating that simply eating right would avoid the need for health care reform. The column resulted in a grassroots call to boycott the nationwide chain of health food stores.

Knowing your audience is key, Patchwork Nation director Dante Chinni notes. He looked at the effect of the grassroots campaign on the typically affluent areas where Whole Foods puts its stores.

“As CEO, Mackey must be aware of his customer’s political leanings. But a look at where Whole Foods markets are located in Patchwork Nation might have done more to convince him that sometimes discretion is the better part of healthcare opinionating.

The wealthy and educated “Monied ’Burb” communities have by far the most Whole Foods in them – 101 to be precise. That’s hardly surprising, considering the chain’s high prices (which lead some people to call the store “Whole Paycheck”).”

While areas that are more to the right have fewer Whole Foods stores, these neighborhoods have started staging ‘buycotts’ in response to the boycott.

“It may seem odd for people to buy organic produce as a way of protesting against current healthcare-reform plans. But is there a place the “buycott” might have especially long legs? Yes, the growing and diversifying “Boom Towns.”

Play audio interview: Dante Chinni talks about the Whole Foods Nation

The boycott/buycott has sparked a huge amount of press. This Los Angeles Times opinion piece by Michael Hiltzik looks at the concept of boycotts and whether they further the political discourse.

“But a wider discussion of healthcare reform, devoid of the misrepresentations and irrelevancies for which Mackey’s article has been properly criticized, is exactly what’s needed in this country,” Hiltzik writes.

Michael Pollan, food historian and author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, responded to the debate, saying he’d still patronize the Austin-based chain:

“I haven’t examined the political views of all the retailers who feed me, but I can imagine having a lot of eating problems if I make them a litmus test.”

And an article in GOOD Magazine entitled “Boycott the Whole Foods Boycott”, notes:

“Whole Foods has built itself on image and its “pander[ing] to… customers’ political prejudges” and Mackey should have been more careful with his brand. But the boycott movement feels like a distracting sideshow in the debate over the U.S. health care system.”

By garnering attention, can a boycott and resulting ‘buycott’ create a more informed discussion issues, or is it all just noise?

Laid off, not laid back

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I recently spoke with two Los Angeles residents who are turning their time out of work into a chance to try something new. Jamie Rubin, a former online news producer is now designing nursing shirts for new moms at Milkstars. Brian Zeno was in sales and is now managing rock bands. The story was on today’s Morning Edition on NPR.

Some of the tens-of-thousands of Americans who have lost their jobs in the recession are turning crisis into opportunity. Instead of searching for a new job in the same field, they are turning their passion into a paycheck.
Lose Your Job? Follow Your Passion

Less is more

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Credit: Flickr/Rob_Cornelius

Home office. Credit: Flickr/Rob_Cornelius

It’s Wednesday, and don’t you wish tomorrow was the last day of the workweek? Shortening the traditional five-day workweek has been floated for years as a way to reduce layoffs and bring down overhead costs. Could it work as a national policy to stimulate the economy?

Paul Solman at the NewsHour Business Desk responds to this question with a response from Dean Baker at the New York Daily News, who suggests a tax break for employers who reduce the workweek:

“How would this help the economy? The tax break would allow the employer to compensate workers for fewer hours up to some limit, say a maximum of $2,500 per worker. That would cut work hours but maintain staffing levels.”

Time Magazine reports this week that Utah’s state government is trying out a four-day workweek experiment that’s getting praise around the state so far.

The Paid Vacation Act is going before Congress soon, and WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show looks at the work-life balance and how giving folks a break could mean saving money for employers and saving sanity for employees.

In France, the 35-hour work week and at least four weeks vacation are the norm, and The Daily News’ Baker says that this doesn’t just sound good to overworked Americans – in fact it can increase productivity.

“The advantages of a so-called 4-10 schedule are clear: less commuting, lower utility bills. But there have been unexpected benefits as well, even for people who aren’t state employees. By staying open for more hours most days of the week, Utah’s government offices have become accessible to people who in the past had to miss work to get there in time.”

But the lack of time in the office could force businesses to do what many have already had to learn in these hard times – how to do more with less. This NPR piece from last July talks about the challenges businesses face with a smaller number of workers at a given time.

Financing the fires

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Station Fire, Los Angeles. Credit: Anthony Citrano/ZigZagLens.com

Station Fire, L.A. Credit: Anthony Citrano/ZigZagLens.com

The fires burning in the Angeles National Forest near Los Angeles have already cost two lives and thousands of acres of protected land. How much will the emergency spending to control the disaster cost the already bankrupt state?

Patt Morrison of Pasadena-based public radio NPR station KPCC reported this morning that the California Department of Finance has spent $106 million out of a $182 million emergency firefighting fund.

Even before the latest fire, California’s resources were burned out on fire control costs. In this piece from last July, the LA Times reported that fire service costs had grown exponentially:

“Wildfire costs are busting the Forest Service budget. A decade ago, the agency spent $307 million on fire suppression. Last year, it spent $1.37 billion. Fire is chewing through so much Forest Service money that Congress is considering a separate federal account to cover the cost of catastrophic blazes. In California, state wildfire spending has shot up 150% in the last decade, to more than $1 billion a year.”

At the time I wrote this blog, the biggest fear for radio and television stations in the region is the threat the fire poses to Mt. Wilson, where most of LA’s communications towers are set up. Media blog LA Observed reports that “Several area radio stations without backup sites at other facilities could be especially vulnerable, although information coming out of the fire area is understandably incomplete.”

PBS station KCET has a warning ticker on their its Web site, noting that services could be interrupted due to fire damage on Mt. Wilson. By the time you read this the fires could have already consumed Mt. Wilson. In fact, fire officials were predicting that such an occurrence was only a matter of when, not if, it would happen. Endangered fire fighters were already pulled from the top of Mt. Wilson for safety reasons.

For the latest on the Station Fire, follow LA public media resources SoCal Connected (on Twitter, @socalconnected) and KPCC’s Patt Morrison (@patt_Morrison). KPCC is also asking readers to send in their images of the fires and stories from the local area.