Man fired for catching shoplifter This story is so bizarre, it could easily have made it into one of my "Weird, Wild, and Wacky" editions. I didn't want to skimp on the details, though. I'm sure by now most of you are familiar with Whole Foods Market. The growing grocery chain remains a champion of organic and natural foods movement, and its many aisles are stocked with the foods that are just what your body needs for good health (and a bunch of soy-based junk food that will be the death of you…). But soy isn't the only area that they're lacking a little common sense. A few weeks ago, Whole Foods Market fired one of its employees because he tried to stop a shoplifter. Believe it or not, John Schultz of Ann Arbor, Michigan claims he was fired because he violated a company policy that prohibits employees from physically touching customers. He says that this policy has been enforced even though the customer he "physically touched" was carrying a bag of stolen goods-and was not even on the company property. You read that right. Whole Foods Market would rather fire their well-meaning employee than risk legal action from the would-be shoplifter that the employee tried to stop. If you have a problem with this, you can thank your local chapter of the American Bar Association, because this story has corporate "asset protection" written all over it. The story goes like this: Schultz says he had just punched out for a break one evening when he heard a commotion at the front of the store. Being a good employee, he rushed to the aid of a store manager who had yelled for help. Schultz, the manager, and another employee were then able to corner the would-be shoplifter in the store's parking lot. When the shoplifter went to escape, Schultz chased him down and held him, saying he was making a citizen's arrest until the police arrived. Here's where the story gets odd. The manager ran up to Schultz and his quarry. But instead of telling Schultz he'd done a good job, the manager told him to release the shoplifter. Schultz complied and, naturally, the shoplifter ran off, escaping into the night. The next day - Christmas Eve, no less! - Schultz was called into the manager's office and informed that he was fired for violating the company's "no physical contact" policy. Whole Foods Market is unapologetic about their action. According to Kate Klotz, a Whole Foods Market spokesperson, "The fact that [Schultz] touched [the shoplifter], period, is means for termination." The fact that Schultz acted as a private citizen on property that didn't belong to Whole Foods didn't matter one iota to the ever-reasonable Ms. Klotz. "He is still considered an employee of Whole Foods Market regardless of where he was and what was happening," she said. If that last statement makes one lick of sense to you in light of the details of the incident, be sure to email me and explain how, 'cause I'm baffled. The result? Whole Foods Market is out about $346 worth of food and other products, and one employee who'd been there for FIVE YEARS. Of course, the shoplifter was never caught. You can't keep a bad bean down, apparently. It hasn't been that long since I told you about the slide in the popularity of the useless and toxic "food" known as soybeans, but it seems that they're not going to be vanishing from the scene any time soon. They're simply too profitable to go away. Because of the bean's incredible profitability, many U.S. farmers are shifting as much as four million of their six million available acres to soybeans instead of corn crops. And while corn fetches a good price at $4 a bushel, soybeans sell for a staggering $11 a bushel and more - nearly twice as much as the price last year. You do the math. And this in spite of the fact that the overall popularity of soy-based consumer goods is trending downwards. And in spite of the fact that, as I've told you before, soy is dangerous stuff. Study after study has linked soy protein to deadly maladies like heart disease, cancer (especially breast cancer), reduced immunity, thyroid dysfunction, calcium deficits, reproductive disorders, mental decline … it's bad stuff. But when there's a profit to be turned, health concerns be damned. According to Farm Futures Magazine, soybean acreage will jump by six million this year. Soybeans are, on the whole, cheaper to grow than corn, which just adds to their profitability. A recent University of Illinois study factored in expenses like seed, fertilizer, chemicals, fuel, labor, and machinery repair, and projected that the cost of growing the average acre of corn was about $330. For soybeans, the cost was only $200. You can hardly blame the farmers for making this decision. | 
