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Sweetgreen CEO Jonathan Neman deleted a LinkedIn post he posted on Tuesday after it caught fire on social media for suggesting obesity played a significant role in the COVID outbreak.
“78% of hospitalizations due to COVID are from obese and overweight people,” Neman wrote in the post, apparently referring to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on hospitalizations from March 2020 to December 2020. “There is there an underlying problem that we could possibly have not paid enough attention to? Is there another way to think about how we approach “healthcare” by addressing the root cause? Neman goes on to explain how “we quickly put in place mask and vaccine warrants, but have no conversation around HEALTH MANDATES,” saying we “are focusing on the root cause and using this pandemic as a catalyst. to build a healthier future. “
Neman goes on to suggest that the government tax processed foods and refined sugar to “pay for the impact of the pandemic.”
Sweetgreen, a salad chain founded in 2007 that now has 121 branches, was valued at $ 1.8 billion after a funding round earlier in the year. Investors include tennis star Naomi Osaka, T. Rowe Price, Lone Pine Capital and D1 Capital Partners.
While the CDC has confirmed that obesity can worsen the severity of COVID, Neman’s position that “no vaccine or mask will save us” has done him a disservice – especially since Sweetgreen filed for its IPO in June of This year. His comments angered many, especially those who were quick to point out that his position would benefit his business. In an editorial, Jonathan Chait of New York Magazine points out that obesity poses a modest health risk compared to not being vaccinated.
“As an anti-COVID intervention, anti-obesity measures have absolutely no advantage over vaccination, unless you factor in the secondary benefit of doing a lot of business Neman’s way. “he writes.
In an article titled “Vaccines and Masks Won’t Save Us, But Salads Could,” vice-writer Edward Ongweso Jr. also draws attention to the myopia of Neman’s argument to tax processed foods.
“Meanwhile, Neman is proposing to financially punish people who eat cheap but unhealthy fast food (rather than expensive but ‘healthy’ Sweetgreen),” he writes. “It should be noted that Neman does not mention, for example, the reluctance to fully fund a social safety net that includes food stamps or to provide free nutritious meals to the millions of people who regularly go without or who go without them. are forced to eat cheaper and often less healthy options. “
People also called Neman on Twitter. Amanda Mull, a writer for The Atlantic, was quick to point out that Neman’s take excluded issues with much deeper roots (and that her beliefs were practical for a “millionaire salad”). Others pointed out that Neman’s ideas amounted to hatred of the poor and the disabled.
Newsweek reports that Neman acknowledged some of the backlash in comments to the post before deleting it, saying he had no intention of offending, but believes “we have work to do to make healthy food more accessible and affordable “.
Yahoo reached out to Sweetgreen and Neman for comment and did not receive a response until the post.
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