NEWS RELEASE October 6, 2008 Contact; Fred Karger 619-592-2008
“Don’t Buy Bolthouse” Washington, DC Demonstration Held At Whole Foods
3rd Demonstration in Last 3 Weeks
WASHINGTON, DC – At its third demonstration in 3 weeks, an enthusiastic group of dedicated volunteers spent Sunday afternoon in front of the Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFMI) in the heart of Washington’s Gay Neighborhood. This protest follows similar ones held in Los Angeles and New York the previous two weekends. The demonstrations against Bolthouse Farms are because of a $100,000 contribution from William Bolthouse, Jr. to California’s Protect Marriage – Yes on Proposition 8 Campaign. If passed, Proposition 8 would eliminate same-sex marriage in California.
Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC http://www.mdcp.com/ a Chicago based private equity firm, currently owns 72% of Bolthouse Farms and Bolthouse family members own 28%. William Bolthouse, Jr. owns Bolthouse Properties, and leases over 7,000 acres to Bolthouse Farms that is used to grow their crops.
“Don’t Buy Bolthouse” Washington, DC Demonstration Held At Whole Foods
3rd Demonstration in Last 3 Weeks
WASHINGTON, DC – At its third demonstration in 3 weeks, an enthusiastic group of dedicated volunteers spent Sunday afternoon in front of the Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFMI) in the heart of Washington’s Gay Neighborhood. This protest follows similar ones held in Los Angeles and New York the previous two weekends. The demonstrations against Bolthouse Farms are because of a $100,000 contribution from William Bolthouse, Jr. to California’s Protect Marriage – Yes on Proposition 8 Campaign. If passed, Proposition 8 would eliminate same-sex marriage in California.
Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC http://www.mdcp.com/ a Chicago based private equity firm, currently owns 72% of Bolthouse Farms and Bolthouse family members own 28%. William Bolthouse, Jr. owns Bolthouse Properties, and leases over 7,000 acres to Bolthouse Farms that is used to grow their crops.
Demonstrators held up signs and handed out “Don’t Buy Bolthouse” flyers to hundreds of shoppers entering the Whole Foods Market. The flagship store is located just a few blocks off DuPont Circle in the heart of the capitol’s heavily gay district. The store is 40,000 square feet and is the largest Whole Foods in Washington, DC. Whole Foods carries Bolthouse Farms Drinks in the produce section of its store.
William Bolthouse’s huge financial support was one of the main reasons that this constitutional initiative qualified for the November 4th ballot. His money helped enable Protect Marriage to hire hundreds of paid professional petition circulators to collect the signatures necessary to qualify this initiative for the ballot.
Mayita and Anderson the Mighty Duo Out Front of Whole Foods
Andrew and John, Who Have Been Together for 7 Years, Live in Salt Lake City, But Joined in the Demonstration
Joey, Jason and Ward Ready for the Next Shopper“We will continue to work hard to get the message out to the gay and lesbian community and our millions of friends, family members, neighbors and co-workers all over the United States to “Don't Buy Bolthouse.” In the weeks ahead, more demonstrations may be held around the country. Everyone across the United States will be aware of Mr. Boathouse’s $100,000 contribution to eliminate marriage in California,” said Fred Karger, Campaign Manager of Californians Against Hate, which organized Sunday’s Washington, DC demonstration and the two held the previous weekends at Ralphs Supermarket in Los Angeles and Whole Foods Columbus Circle in New York.
Metro Photographer Taking His Shot
Anderson Explaining Why to Not Buy Bolthouse There are many other juices, carrot brands, coffee drinks and salad dressings available without the Bolthouse name attached. Right next to the Bolthouse drinks at Whole Foods you can choose from Odwalla, Purity, Naked Natural Energy, Jamba and Evolution. Lots of options – just “Don’t Buy Bolthouse.” Check out our web site for more on “Don’t Buy Bolthouse” http://www.dontbuybolthouse.com/
Mayita Met Two Californians Happy to Hear About the Public Awareness Campaign
DC Greg Proclaiming the Marriage Should be For All And go to our blog for more great pictures from our Washington, DC. New York and Los Angeles demonstrations: http://californiansagainsthate.blogspot.com/
“William Bolthouse’s $100,000 contribution is an insult to gay and lesbian Americans,” concluded Karger. Why should we spend our hard-earned money buying Bolthouse Farms’ products only to have it used against us?”
On September 20, 2008, Fred Karger released a letter explaining our actions and the reasons for “Don’t Buy Bolthouse” in a letter that was faxed to Bolthouse Farms Chairman, Andre Radandt (William Bolthouse’s son-in-law) and William Bolthouse, Jr. A copy of the letter can be found at: http://www.dontbuybolthouse.com/letter.html
“William Bolthouse’s $100,000 contribution is an insult to gay and lesbian Americans,” concluded Karger. Why should we spend our hard-earned money buying Bolthouse Farms’ products only to have it used against us?”
On September 20, 2008, Fred Karger released a letter explaining our actions and the reasons for “Don’t Buy Bolthouse” in a letter that was faxed to Bolthouse Farms Chairman, Andre Radandt (William Bolthouse’s son-in-law) and William Bolthouse, Jr. A copy of the letter can be found at: http://www.dontbuybolthouse.com/letter.html
Bolthouse Farms likes to say that William Bolthouse, Jr. is not involved in the company, but a quick look on its web site http://www.bolthouse.com/html/trade_company_history.html says that the third (William Bolthouse, Jr.) and fourth Bolthouse generations (Andre Redandt, his son-in-law) operate the company.
-- end --
