viable and independent, we are also com-
mitted to producing books that speak to
the real needs of women — not to male
assessed market potential,” the company’s
catalog declared.
And in 1978, John Mackey and Renee
Lawson — who had met while living at a
vegetarian cooperative house — launched
a vegetarian and organic food store called
SaferWay in Austin, Texas. Mackey
described his politics as “social demo-
cratic,” and he felt “alienated from society.”
He and Lawson bonded by “question[ing]
our nation’s values. While the Vietnam
War was foremost in many of our minds,
human rights, food safety and environ-
mental deterioration were major concerns
as well.”
The young couple opened SaferWay,
seeking to “make our country and world a
better place to live.” Mackey was a mem-
ber of several cooperative groceries and
believed that “business and corporations
were essentially evil because they selfishly
sought only profits.” The name “Safer-
Way,” of course, spoofed the supermarket
company Safeway and indicted the social,
economic and environmental dangers
of corporate chains. Within two years,
Mackey merged SaferWay with a compet-
ing store to form a new business he and his
partners would call Whole Foods Market.
Operating in different areas of the
country and selling different products for
different reasons, these businesses shared
a critical commonality, one that placed
them at