On Monday, June 30, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby that some family owned companies with religious objections may opt out of an Affordable Care Act requirement to pay for contraception coverage if the company chooses to offer employee health insurance. Michael Potter, CEO of Eden Foods, has been outspoken on this issue. The company has a similar case, Eden Foods v. Burwell, pending in court. Outpost sells Eden Foods products. Because of this, Outpost has received some comments from shoppers questioning whether or not the co-op should continue to stock Eden products. 

Our cooperative serves a very diverse customer base, 70% of which are owners, and there are individuals on both sides of this issue. As a result, we feel that we can best serve our community by continuing to focus on providing healthy foods without taking a stance on the politics of the particular issue. Eden's offerings are some of the purest products available in our country because of their commitment to organics, family farms, GMO labeling and using BPA-free cans. As always, consumers can and should choose to purchase the products that meet their own needs. 

We intend to forward all comments we receive to Eden Foods.

Here is the response we received from Demian Potter, Eden's vice president of sales: