Whole Foods Creates Foundation for Third-World Entrepreneurs

Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market announced the establishment of the Whole Planet Foundation, an independent non-profit that will fund collateral-free micro-loans as small as $100 to female entrepreneurs in developing countries where the company sources product.

“As we’ve done business around the world, we have increasingly felt the responsibility to help those communities where we’re trading,” said John Mackey, chairman and CEO, Whole Foods, in a release.

Women were chosen specifically to receive the loans, Whole Foods explained in a release, because they statistically have the greatest impact on Third World countries when given access to money for starting businesses.