Ithaca's counterculture clash: Wegmans rejects political message on yogurt

Ithaca Journal ^ | Originally published Saturday, March 1, 2003 | By DAN HIGGINS and KELLI GRANT

[Behind Liberal Lines]

ITHACA -- Barbara Smith thinks we're living in a dark time for unpopular ideas, especially if you print them on your home grown yogurt.

Smith said she got a quick lesson in free speech Friday when the supermarket chain Wegmans said it wouldn't accept the latest shipment of her family's Meadowsweet yogurt, which bore new labels that read: "Stop the War on Iraq."

[Behind Liberal Lines]

...the company, which has stores in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, is strict about its "no causes" policy...[but]...A quick visit by a reporter to the Wegmans store in Ithaca on Friday evening revealed a number of products whose labels seem to espouse causes, in direct violation of Wegmans policy [including] ....saving endangered species...Boxtops for Education...Keep America Beautiful...compassion, and action for people, animals, and the environment.

Notice that the other messages all tend to be generic "feel good" causes, not direct political action "to gain publicity for the antiwar movement and the upcoming rally."

The fact that neither the reporters or these freaks are able (or deliberately unwilling) to draw the distinction speaks volumes.

Also, the picture (not posted) that accompanied the article noted that the Smith farm is in Lodi, not Ithaca. Lodi is (was!?!?) one of the more conservative areas in the Finger Lakes. Now freaks like this are migrating out of Ithaca to live there. Infesting the surrounding, conservative, area is just one more reason Ithaca is the City of Evil.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

City of Evil

[cynicom]

This broad (yogurt maker) tickles me. Use a capitalist venture to make the good money, and in turn do her best to wreck the very system that benefits her the good life.

Danny Wegman being a jew and an astute businessman is not about to become a willing partner is such anti-Americanism.

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

City of Evil bump.

BTW: any news on the Cornell e-mail fiasco?

[speedy]

Wegman's is a great grocery store. One of the few things I miss about living in Onondaga County. No offense. It's just the weather.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

BTW: any news on the Cornell e-mail fiasco?

The Ithaca Journal, faced with national press on the matter, finally printed the AP story. As a general rule, they try to avoid printing anything that might anger "the master on the hill," but it finally became inevitable. Of course, they sort of buried the article.

[ez]

Natale said that company policy clearly prohibited products or any members of the public from "soliciting funds or support, or distributing written materials for any organization, activity or cause," she said, quoting the company's policy manual.

To be fair, according to the statement above, the other products named ARE soliciting funds or support. However they are for politically neutral causes like Keep America Beautiful.

I wish I could say that if Wegmans were to sell anti-war products I would stop shopping there, but I stopped several years ago.

Something about Wegmans just feels like utopia yuppieville to me. I get a bad vibe there, so I switched to Tops.

Also Wegmans was the first in our area to have the Grocery Shopping Card which lets them record all your purchases and sell the information. They pushed the cards on the public by not allowing uncarded shoppers to participate in sale items, an act which really frosted me. Now it's commonplace and you can't escape it, but at the time it caused Wegman to lose my buisness.

FWIW...

[mewzilla]

Smith, her husband, and five children make the yogurt themselves in a kitchen attached to their barn

Bet a visit from a health inspector couldn't hurt.

[jalisco555]

Danny Wegman being a jew and an astute businessman is not about to become a willing partner is such anti-Americanism.

Actually I believe the Wegman family is Catholic. They have donated millions to Rochester, NY Catholic charities including the parochial school system. That being said Danny Wegman is certainly a terrific businessman and Wegmans is the only supermarket my family will shop in.

[jalisco555]

Something about Wegmans just feels like utopia yuppieville to me. I get a bad vibe there, so I switched to Tops.

Funny thing is that that's what I really like about Wegmans- the upscale feel of the place. And the amazing produce section. The only supermarket I'll shop in. Too bad it's not a public company- I'd buy stock and get back a little of the money I've spent there over the years.

[cynicom]

Danny is jew...Wegmans has been rated as the countries number one super market a few times. Now living in the south, I miss their first rate stores.

[cynicom]

If I remember correctly, Tops is foreign owned. Belgians or Dutch perhaps. My only choice is Food Lion which is Dutch owned and very poorly run.

[hellinahandcart]

Smith said she got a quick lesson in free speech Friday when the supermarket chain Wegmans said it wouldn't accept the latest shipment of her family's Meadowsweet yogurt, which bore new labels that read: "Stop the War on Iraq." ...The yogurt labels also told people how to buy bus tickets to attend an antiwar rally scheduled for March 15 in Washington.

Your giggle for the day...

[Keeper of the Turf]

One of the few things I miss about living in Onondaga County. No offense. It's just the weather.

Whats wrong with 7 months of cold and the occasional boat-load of snow? :) Wegman's is a great store, though. It does get a little crowded at times - especially the Dewitt store. It can be like shopping on a sidewalk in Manhattan.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

...the Dewitt store...

I actually drive up there once in a while. It's the only Wegmans I know of that sells the 12 oz (as opposed to 25 oz) bottles of Hennepins beer.

Mmmmm....Hennepins.....

[ez]

Funny thing is that that's what I really like about Wegmans- the upscale feel of the place.

To me it feels like shopping at the country club. As a musician, I feel more comfortable in the "outer city" stores and not the suburbs where eveybody is on the same schedule, and has 2.5 cars and a camper, and a play "tower" in the back yard.

[ez]

If I remember correctly, Tops is foreign owned. Belgians or Dutch perhaps. My only choice is Food Lion which is Dutch owned and very poorly run.

As far as I know, the Wegmans family here in Rochester still owns the chain unless they sold it. I used to shop Food Lion when I lived down south.

[jalisco555]

Wegman's is a great store, though. It does get a little crowded at times - especially the Dewitt store

Hey, that's where I shop too. Crazy place sometimes. I would have thought the big new P&C would have made a dent but no. Wegmans could teach other businesses about customer loyalty.

[SirFishalot]

Tops is owned by Royal Ahold which is a Dutch Company

What exactly does Danny Wegmans religion have to do with anything? I thought only liberals feared religion.

[jalisco555]

To me it feels like shopping at the country club. As a musician, I feel more comfortable in the "outer city" stores and not the suburbs where eveybody is on the same schedule, and has 2.5 cars and a camper, and a play "tower" in the back yard.

LOL. That's me all right. Although the kids have outgrown the play tower.