Larry Austin, store team leader of the
West Bloomfield Whole Foods
Whole Foods
Dispels Internet
Rumor That It Is
Boycotting Israel
ESTATE & JEWELRY BUYERS
W
hole Foods wants its
customers to know some-
thing: It is not anti-Israel.
For the past month, a rumor on the
Internet suggested that Whole Foods
was engaged in a boycott of the Jewish
state and refused to stock products
originating from Israel.
That rumor began about the same
time as Whole Foods' Ramadan
marketing campaign, according to
Larry Austin, store team leader of
the 14 Mile and Orchard Lake/West
Bloomfield location. The store, which
has a section dedicated to kosher
foods, has a large Jewish clientele, he
added.
"Over the last few weeks, I've been
getting a lot of questions," Austin said.
"I want to assure my customers that
those rumors are false."
The rumor, which coincidentally
began circulating on the Internet at
the same time Whole Foods buy-
ers were on a sourcing trip to Israel,
was recently dispelled by the Anti-
Defamation League, which called it an
"urban legend."
"Whole Foods Market has made it
unequivocally clear that it has not and
will not engage in boycotts against
the State of Israel;' said Abraham
H. Foxman, national director of the
ADL. "In fact, they continue to carry a
number of Israeli products and have
assured us that they do so with pride."
In a letter to ADL, Jim Spiers, global
vice president of procurement for
Whole Foods Market, wrote, "The
rumor that Whole Foods Market has
boycotted products from Israel is
absolutely not true. We have never
boycotted products from Israel or any
other country for that matter. Whole
Foods Market is discerning when it
comes to high quality and taste, not
country of origin. We are proud to
carry great-tasting products what
meet our high-quality standards from
countries around the world, including
Israel:'
Your neighborhood experts
for the
Purchase and Sale of
Estate Jewelry, Precious Metals,
Coins and Valuables
Phone: 248.723.4653
33366 Woodward Avenue
Birmingham, MI 48009
(Just north of Fourteen Mile, east side of Woodward)
www.estateandjewelrybuyers.com
cectembPr I
2011
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