I work at whole foods and the company started to give higher discounts for team members that didnt smoke, had low chloesterol, low bmi, and low blood pressure. i have been looking at forums where people discuss if this is discrimination or not.

what bites my butt is that people think that if you are fat, you must be a misshapen behemoth of a person. i think that media portrayals have added to people's distortion of what a larger body looks like. when you see news reports, they make sure to show folks who classify as morbidly obese. i mean no disrespect or am trying to single out folks who are, just bear with me. large breasted women are similarly distorted (E's on up).

not all fat people are slobs that spend all of their time eating, nor are they lazy. I outperform many thin people on a daily basis and have for many years. I wake up and get started moving early in the morning, don't nap (unless i'm sick), zoom around a 750,000 sq ft store at least once every hour, and can carry an extra 100 pounds in addition to my own weight. I have had thin people wimp out, tire too easily, and complain when they try to follow me step for step, and I'm still 100 pounds overweight!

these jerks have no right to judge anyone! in a better world we'd be able to punch these folks i the face. in a great world we wouldn't have to deal with this at all.

maybe i'm just violent, or my sense of justice is too strong, but people like these need to do something better with themselves.

I totally agree! Preach on sister!

Wow . . . in the process of trying to go for a health-conscious image (this is all PR and has nothing to do with actually trying to offer people incentives to get healthy), they're discriminating against those who may be trying hardest to eat healthy or those who may need it most.

This is utterly ridiculous. I may not be an employee but I'll certainly think long and hard before I ever even consider shopping there again.

Okay.. I get it... I think it should go by "test results" not JUST image of course. But for example: You get a lower rate on Health Insurance if you are healthy, right? what's teh difference. I agree not all "heavy/overweight" people are unhealthy. But if you have low cholestral, low blood pressure,perform a physical and pass- I understand. Maybe I am being too nice. It is teh time of the month and im more sensative haha. But, get my idea?

Well, at least with the insurance argument, you've got direct costs - higher weight or weight related complications = greater healthcare, and health insurance, costs, so charging more for insurance is arguably just fair business. But a discount on groceries? Your groceries don't cost any more whether you're fit or fat, and arguably, those who are heavier or unhealthy might need the healthy grocery discount more than those who are fit, not less.

Exactly. This is a quote directly off the poster for the upcoming discount program:

"The goals of this voluntary program are to encourage and reward Team Members for making healthy, positive lifestyle changes and to reduce the costs of our health plan."

So they basically feel it's ok to deny "unhealthy" employees that extra discount as a way to encourage them to lead a healthier lifestyle? Why not offer an equal discount all around (since all their food is supposedly healthy anyway) and instead provide an option for their employees to be educated on leading a healthy lifestyle?

that is really illogical. if their goal is to encourage healthy habits and lower their health care plan costs, the people with the bad habits should be helped with a discount, not the people who are already healthy. but then that doesn't help the people with good habits. I'd suggest having a voluntary health information program and anyone who participates gets a discount.

I think ine thing i did not post is that the screening for a higher discount is voluntary. no one had to do participate if they did not want to.