Whole Foods CEO takes organic approach to health care

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Now is the time for all good capitalists to shop at Whole Foods.

Not only will you get great produce, fresh meat, fish and healthy to-go meals, but you'll irritate those who think that President Obama's health-care plan isn't quite progressive enough.

It seems that John Mackey, co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market Inc. — green missionary and exemplar of corporate compassion — has riled hard-core reformers by endorsing free-market principles over government-managed health care.

Well, knock me over with a wakame frond. (That's seaweed for you tofu-averse.) In an op-ed article for The Wall Street Journal, Mackey not only insisted that personal responsibility and choice are preferable to bureaucratic dispensation of health benefits, he went so far as to assert that health care isn't a right, any more than food or shelter are.

Mackey went on to list alternative policy reforms that would do much to improve our health care system (and maybe even our health). His ideas include repealing state laws to allow insurance companies to compete across state lines; tort reform to end "ruinous lawsuits" that force doctors to pay exorbitant insurance premiums that drive up the cost of health care; Medicare reform; revision of tax laws so that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned insurance carry the same tax benefits.

He urged removing legal obstacles to allow creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts such as those his employees enjoy.

Supporters of Obama's massive health-care overhaul have declared Mackey an apostate (take a number, honey), and are calling for a boycott of his stores.

If you're unlucky enough to live in a city or state without a Whole Foods store, you may not be able to fully appreciate the deliciousness of this little food fight. When it comes to corporate responsibility, Mackey has few peers. His company's core values read like a Happy Face Manifesto, pledging allegiance to sustainability, caring about our communities and environment, even "delighting our customers." But also — brace yourself — "creating wealth through profits & growth." Is there room in a post-compassionate-conservative nation for a caring capitalist?

Whole Foods, as the name suggests, is what we used to call a "health food store," though Mackey's creation feels relatively mainstream compared to the early granola boutiques that made you feel like you had to assume the lotus position to gain entrance. The company's focus is on whole foods rather than those (processed by man — white bread, chips, cookies) with sweeteners, preservatives, trans fats and artificial additives.

Abundant research has established the link between processed foods and weight gain. As Mackey points out, most of our degenerative diseases, and therefore our exorbitant health costs, could be reduced with better diet. In the U.S., two-thirds of the population is overweight or obese. Fifteen percent of children between ages 6 and 19 are overweight, and 10 percent of those between 2 and 5.

In 2007, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health predicted that at the current rate of weight gain, 24 percent of children and adolescents will be overweight or obese by 2015 and 75 percent of adults will be overweight, with 41 percent being obese.

A good rule for food consumption also applies to federal legislation:

If you read the label (or the bill) and can't make sense of the contents, it's probably not good for you. Take 2-hydroxybiphenyl, for instance. Or acetylated distarch phosphate. Yum.

Or, say, this random excerpt from the House bill: (B) EXCEPTION FOR LIMITED BENEFITS PLANS. — Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to an employment-based health plan in which the coverage consists only of one or more of the following:

(i) Any coverage described in section 3001(a)(1)(B)(ii)(IV) of division B of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Got that?

"Comprehensive" may be the scariest word in the English language when it tumbles from the lips of a politician. Instead of trying to revamp every aspect of the health-care system, Congress should follow Mackey's lead and tackle a few fixable problems with consensus and support from Americans, who, though frustrated with the status quo, aren't quite ready to surrender self-determination.

Mackey's ideas aren't necessarily the only route, but they offer a path that is pro-market, pro-individual and pro-choice — all concepts that are organic to America and, like spinach, good for you.

Kathleen Parker is a syndicated columnist for the Washington Post Writers Group. E-mail her at kathleenparker@washpost.com.

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