HYDE SQ.—An anti-Whole Foods Market group is attempting to boycott the grocer and will sing Christmas carol parodies against it in a Dec. 21 demonstration.
Whose Foods? Whose Community? aims to get the grocer to sign a community benefits agreement (CBA) with the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council (JPNC), even though the council has abandoned that effort.
“I know [some] folks wish we would go away and Whole Foods wishes we would go away,” said Whose Foods’ Ben Mauer. But, he said, the protesters remain concerned that the grocer is pushing the gentrification of Hyde Square.
Whole Foods Market did not respond to a Gazette email.
Mauer said Whose Foods believes it can create leverage for Whole Foods Market to return to the negotiating table with the JPNC.
Whose Foods protested the grocer’s arrival at 413 Centre St., including a Halloween costume protest on its Oct. 31 opening day. The protest next week will include “cheeky, funny” parody carols such as “Whole Foods the Snotty Neighbor” sung to the tune of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” Mauer said.
Whose Foods’ attempted boycott began on Thanksgiving and is continuing. It has drawn roughly 300 supporters, Mauer said. A petition backing it on the website Change.org had 116 as of this week, though many were from outside the neighborhood and even from “United States Outlying Islands.”
The boycott is detailed at whosefoods.org.
View Comments (6)
Perhaps the carollers should redirect their protest to Bank of America, which just paid the highest fine in our country's history for discriminating against black and hispanic borrowers, many of whom really did lose their homes and their savings, rather than continue to blame Whole Foods for some imagined harm.
I will have to make some popcorn to go watch the latest episode in this little reality show. Actually, I'm hoping it will be a sleeper and everyone will just ignore the 'singers'. Or perhaps there will be (at least) one voice saying "Boooooo!" like in The Princess Bride."
Here's a fine example of the mind-squandering nonsense the "carolers" have planned for the community: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oQrynfqEy0
Not only is this insulting to
the senses, it's insulting to the neighborhood and perhaps most
important, the employees who will be working that evening who are in fact happily employed by Whole Foods.
Perhaps I read this wrong...on the
21 of December a group of malcontents are going to sing 'anti-Christmas'
carols in front of the new Whole Foods...yes??!! .
"“cheeky, funny” parody carols"...really..... OK...& is this anti-Christmas?...& would that be anti-Christian??! Aren't these the SAME people who WANT organic/non-GMO/healthy, small Farm alternative produce??...I am very confused. You can't have it both ways.
O yeah,...it's about 'gentrification'. Does that mean ALL the non-'whites' who invest in JP because...well, they can?? Does that mean that anyone who wants to see this neighborhood thrive is to be protested against??!
Go after the greedy realtors & developers who jack prices up for their own gain & have been doing so since the Artist Loft above Heath Street had that 'mysterious' fire in '75.
The owner of the Hi-Lo put it on the market....yes??! GO SING TO THEM .
& as goes these 'protesters', may I humbly suggest that you get down on your knees & THANK GOD that you can still waste time doing this. Look over your shoulders boys & girls...the World Depression is barreling down upon America & very soon you won't be able to buy.......
................you get it ...RIGHT!!....& mocking CHRISTMAS in front of a FOOD store will be the last thing on your mind.
MERRY CHRISTMAS J.P.,
& May you be humbly grateful that this town is still standing,
it is NOT under water, or Marshall law.
Thanks for the article. The boycott is on the entire chain, not just the JP store. And "JP Gal", the caroling isn't traditional caroling, the songs are to be rewritten to bring light to the ways that Whole Foods can contribute to and has acted towards our neighborhood, as I understand it. Traditional caroling at assisted living and retirement homes...a different topic, but go for it, those who enjoy it. (My guess is many of them have programmed this kind of thing.)
I thought this couldn't get even more embarrassing, but I guess I was wrong. How about Christmas caroling at any (or all) of these places instead? Many of the residents will not be with family over the holidays and would really appreciate the visit!
125 Amory Street, Elderly/Disabled Housing, Boston Housing Authority. Info: 988-4200.Armenian Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, 431 Pond St., 522-2600.Forbes Building, 545 Centre St. Info: 522-8181.Franklin Park Villa, 131 Morton St. Income limits apply. Info: 1-617-983-5554.Florence House, one block from Roslindale Village, 327-1503.Goddard House, 201 S. Huntington Ave. Info: 522-3080.Laurel Ridge Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, 174 Forest Hills St. Info: 522-1550.Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for Aged, 1200 Centre St. Info: 325-8000.Julia Martin House, 90 Bickford St. Info: 983-0052.Landmark at Longwood, 63 Parker Hill Ave., assisted living, respite care, Alzheimer’s suite. Info: 975-0110, http://www.landmarkseniorliving.com.Mount Pleasant Home, 301 S. Huntington Ave., professional support, pleasurable dining. Info: 522-7600, http://www.mountpleasanthome.org.Nate Smith House, 155 Lamartine St. Info: 522-2424.Pond View Nursing Facility, 81 S. Huntington Ave. Info: 277-2633.Rogerson House, 434 Jamaicaway, offers assisted living and respite care. Info: 983-2300. http://www.rogerson.org.Sherrill House, skilled nursing and rehabilitative care, 135 S. Huntington Ave. Info: 731-2400, http://www.sherrillhouse.org.Snow Place, affordable retirement community. Info: 325-7900, http://www.snowplacelikehome.org.Springhouse, assisted living retirement community, 44 Allandale Street. Info: 522-0043, http://www.springhouseinfo.org.Boston Housing Authority Grandparents Housing Program, Info on applying and program eligibility requirements: 988-4539.Longfellow House, 885 South St, A historic building transformed into 44 subsidized apartments for the elderly. Info: 983-2300, http://www.rogerson.org.