John Mackey and Michael Pollan Send Different Camps in One Common Direction

The author of the Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan, and Whole Foods CEO, John Mackey, inspired and entertained audiences at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall last night with a casual debate that has been brewing for months since Pollan’s book was published. In it, he attacked some practices of the upscale grocery chain, which Mackey subsequently found to be exaggerated. But perhaps the most impressive aspect of their discourse is how the corporate grocer humbly admitted that the critic was right about some of his accusations and plans to instigate some changes in quality assurance and animal welfare.

Since Pollan has had months of media attention to illustrate his investigations, Mackey’s presentation got the bulk of the time with a 45 minute lecture on the sorted history of agriculture, focusing on the up and coming ecological era that Whole Foods is arguably a major leader in influencing.

Even though Whole Foods may not be the grass fed, local, family farm Mecca that critics aspire it to be, Pollan challenged the audience not to see this as a fight between “the good guys and the bad guys.” Mackey’s five-minute video of industrial animal cruelty was a good reminder that everyone’s ultimate goal at this lecture is to move away from the previous generation’s animal husbandry. Pollan conceded that there is not only one true way to sustainably produce and eat, and if consumers think through the impact of their food choices, they are supporting a sustainable future.

Whole Foods has taken some hard hits since The Omnivore’s Dilemma came out. Mackey teased Pollan by suggesting, amongst other factors; Pollan is to blame for Whole Foods lower stock prices and loss of revenue. It wasn’t clear if there was truth behind the jab. Mackey did claim that after the book hit shelves, customers demanded products that Whole Foods could not provide quickly enough, such as grass fed beef.

Mackey encouraged the audience to let go of the “Whole Paycheck” cliché and see Whole Foods as a more dynamic corporation. For example, those higher prices go to programs that benefit small family farms world wide, fair trade practices and purchasing from poverty-stricken areas.