Great correspondence with Whole Foods re: their sale of veal

[Guest guest]

Sorry, the earlier mesage was truncated by 's infinite wisdom.

 

Below is correspondence between local activist Davis Harvilicz and Whole Foods

Market (WFM) Regional Meat Corrdinator for Northern California, Steve Keville.

We began writing to alert WFM that a soup sold at the SF store contained veal

stock and were under the impression that WFM no longer sold veal. Over the

course ov several meails from David and myself, we have learned that WFM sells

Delft Blue farms veal, which according to the WFM website is less inhumane. Yet

according to the Delft Blue website, traditional methods are primarily used to

raise veal.

 

Read it for yourself at the Delft Blue website:

http://www.grober.com/grober_delft.htm

 

I hate when people try to sneak around issues - they are trying to say that b/c

this farm is planning on using more humane methods IN THE FUTURE, that they are

ok today - it's one thing to sell veal, but to lie and act like you are saintly

in order to induce people to shop at your place is something else - not even

sure how to describe it, I can think of only 4-letter words....

 

I have cut and pasted so the order is chron.; beginning with David's first email

at the top.

 

Feel free to pummel WFM with emails to tell them what you think about their

misleading information about the fact that they sell traditionally raised

veal...

 

Customer Relations: rs.team

 

Northern California Regional Meat Coordinator: steve.keville

 

Whole Foods Market President & CEO: John.Mackey

 

Friday, May 03, 2002 5:04 PM

rs.team

WFMI Policies

My name is David Harvilicz, and I am a corporate attorney in Palo Alto, CA. I am

an active investor and have considered buying WFMI. I am also a staunch

supporter of animal rights and despise the consumption of veal. I have enjoyed

shopping at whole foods for quite some time mainly because of the store's

dedication to animal rights and environment. I have also been keeping close

track of the fantastic stock returns over the past few years. However, I was

shocked and disturbed to find that you are breaking your own stated policy on

veal. I visited the Whole Foods Market at 1765 California at Franklin in San

Francisco on Wednesday, May 1 and was shocked to see that one of the deli soups,

vegetable noodle, listed an ingredient of " chicken or veal stock " . I spoke with

the deli supervisor and then the asst. team leader and was told that this

particular soup, per the head chef, was in fact a combination of veal and

chicken stocks. And that they DO sell veal but only from Delph Blue Farms and

that it is not raised in the traditional manner but is more humane. This is

direct contradiction of your website: " We are appalled with the cruelty of

traditionally raised veal and, in addition to refusing to sell it, we work with

ranchers to develop and support humane methods of meat and poultry production. "

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/issues/sustainablefuture.html

Unless, of course, you are being deliberately sneaky in your wording and you

" refuse " to sell only " traditionally raised " veal, in which case I will be

forced to stop shopping at Whole Foods and bring this to the attention of my

friends and family both here in San Francisco and Palo Alto as well as in New

York City, the Washington DC area, and Texas.

 

I look forward to hearing some explanation soon.

 

David Harvilicz

 

Steve Keville [steve.keville]

Tuesday, May 07, 2002 1:34 PM

Harvilicz, David; rs.team

RE: WFMI Policies

David, Thanks you for your questions regarding the products sold by Whole Foods

Markets, specifically veal. I appreciate your position on the consumption of

veal and would like to take a moment to try and alleviate some of your concerns

about our position. Whole Foods spends enormous amounts of energy and capital in

researching the items and products we sell prior to putting them on our shelves.

We do our very best every day to try and make a difference with everything we

sell. Veal is no exception. I have been in the meat industry for nearly 30 years

and the conditions most veal is raised under is deplorable and a primary reason

for my move to Whole Foods. While I did not write the piece that appears on our

website, I have read it and think it is meant to try and explain to our

customers so they can know that Whole Foods has researched the growing of the

animal products we sell and that they are not raised in the same manner of the

" traditional " products of commercial growers. Delft Blue raises their veal in an

environment that is the most humane I have seen. It is raised in groups and the

animals housed in the heard they begin with for the entire lifespan of the

animal. They are fed regularly, with access to water, and unlimited grain 24

hours a day. they are never crated or tethered. While it can be argued that no

animals raised for food have a life that is desirable, the fact is that all

animals still deserve the kind of treatment that affords them no suffering or

mistreatment. Whole Foods is dedicated to bringing the highest quality food

available to our customers without compromising our belief in animal rights and

environmental issues. We have an obligation to try and improve on and work with

farmers and ranchers that are trying to do the right thing. We believe Delft

Blue is one of these growers. In the case of veal, we are providing a product

that is an item our customers ask about and are concerned about more than any

other meat item. They want to know that it has not been crate raised, starved,

segregated and mishandled as have most of the veal raised for consumption in the

market today. It is a meat that is traditional to many cultures and customers

want to eat what their families prepared for generations, but not if it means

compromising their feelings about animal welfare. We are currently working with

animal rights advocates such as Temple Grandin and the people for the ethical

treatment of animals (PETA) to name only a couple, in an effort to eliminate all

concerns such as the one you have raised in your e-mail. It is our position, as

it seems to be yours, that animals should be treated with respect and shown a

life that is as close as possible to their normal existence. There is not a day

that goes by where that is not my personal primary focus, to try and make a

difference. I thank you again for your e-mail and your stance on the animal

rights issues. Sincerely, Steve

DHarvilicz [DHarvilicz]

Tuesday, May 07, 2002 5:20 PM

steve.keville

Cc: walter.robb; rs.team;

John.Mackey

Steve, Please help me understand....

Steve, Thank you for your email. You sound like a nice person. However, I think

there is a problem:. You said in your email: " Delft Blue raises their veal in an

environment that is the most humane I have seen. It is raised in groups and the

animals housed in the heard they begin with for the entire lifespan of the

animal....they are never crated or tethered. " Whole Foods website states: " We

are appalled with the cruelty of traditionally raised veal and, in addition to

refusing to sell it, we work with ranchers to develop and support humane methods

of meat and poultry production. "

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/issues/sustainablefuture.html But, Steve, Delft

Blue's website says something very different: " In the Delft Blue Farm system,

the traditional stall method of raising veal calves are the predominant

management technique. " [sic] Source: http://www.grober.com/grober_delft.htm (8th

full paragraph down) Last modified March 11, 2002 (bottom) Steve, I feel

comfortable sharing with you that I was really sad and upset when I read this on

their website. Honestly, your email made be feel relaxed and reassured that

someone as reasonable, experienced and caring as you seemingly are is working

with WFMI's meat. I really want to trust you and have faith that being a

dedicated Whole Foods customer and encouraging my friends and family to do the

same is the absolute right thing. But I must say I am now quite unnerved and

anxious. A little background on who I am: I am not an extremist person. I am

actually quite conservative. In fact, I assert that my cohort and I are the

exact group of " better-educated populace " WFMI states in its Annual Report to be

focused on for company growth. I am pleased that WFMI has done so well over the

past few years while other supermarkets like Safeway (which refuses to accept

the realization that this " better-educated populace " is the key to growth) have

actually destroyed shareholder wealth.

http://finance./q?d=c & c=SWY & k=c1 & t=1y & s=wfmi & a=v & p=s & l=on & z=m & q=l The

Marketing Section (Page 7) of your most recent Annual Report explains that: " We

spend less on advertising than conventional supermarkets, instead relying

primarily on word-of-mouth recommendations from our customers. "

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/865436/000093066101502712/d10k.txt As I

prepare to attend the PETA-sponsored rally at Safeway's Shareholder Meeting in

San Ramon next week (www.shameway.com) and given your stated reliance on

" word-of-mouth recommendations, " Whole Foods must appreciate how sensitive its

reputation among its target consumer base is. Steve, it seems from your email

that you agree that WFMI's statement on its website about veal is confusing at

best and intentionally misleading at worst. (I see no need to remind you that a

public company's website statements are covered by Rule 10b-5 and that given

WFMI's self-professed business focus on organic/environmental issues, your

statement regarding the sale of veal products may qualify as an untrue statement

of material fact or an omission to state a material fact.)

http://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/34-45474.htm I am now really concerned that

either Delft Blue is misleading you about its treatment of veal calves, at best,

or you are trying to mislead me, at worst. It might be more convenient to chat

in person about this. You can call me anytime at *******. Listen, Steve, I

understand what you said about people wanting to buy veal, and I appreciate

everything WFMI has done already to help on the animal rights/environment front.

Moreover, I do not expect veal production to come to a stop overnight, I assure

you I am in touch with reality - both the business reality and, to a lesser

extent, the " cultural traditions " issue you raised. I just want the basic truth

to be told and, in the end, if you need consumer support to get Delft Blue to

actually implement its " research... currently being conducted on open pen

housing, allowing calves roam free and socialize " (website ibidem), then I want

to help you. I promise I am not trying to cause either of us annoyance (nor am I

in the habit of sending long emails like this) - it is simply an issue I care

very strongly about and cannot overlook. I look forward to hearing from you.

David Harvilicz

Steve Keville [steve.keville]

Tuesday, May 07, 2002 6:49 PM

Harvilicz, David

Cc: walter.robb; rs.team;

John.Mackey

RE: Steve, Please help me understand....

David, I appreciate your sending me the website information from Delft Blue. I

have been there and seen for myself what they do. If you continue to read the

information on the website it explains that the veal is raised in traditional

housing as you stated and further states about the new loose housing practices

they are employing to raise a better animal. This is one of the areas Whole

Foods has been pushing for in an effort to eliminate the traditional raising

practices of veal growers. It is a huge education process for customers and

growers. Delft Blue is listening and as I said in my earlier email to you, they

are continually working to improve the raising practices and do the right thing

for the animals. I assure you that the animals Whole Foods sells from Delft Blue

are raised the way I stated in my first correspondence with you. I am not trying

to mislead you nor is Whole Foods trying to mislead you nor is Delft Blue. I am

not sure how you got the impression that I believe the WFM website statement to

be misleading. I don't. I think it is quite clear that WFM is trying to provide

products that are humanely raised and that we do not and will not sell products

that are treated outside of the parameters of humane treatment that recognized

experts have deemed to be what various animals need. I do believe that by only

reading the literature from websites you can not get the full picture of what

companies do. This is one of the reasons for our trip to Delft Blue to witness

for ourselves what the raising practices are. I see how you are assimilating the

information from all these different web pages and understand that it is

difficult to picture how these stories all tie together. The truth is they do

and together we are all trying to make the veal business a better one. I am not

sure if I can make you feel better about eating veal, that is one's personal

lifestyle choice. I do hope I have been able to put to rest some of your

concerns about you feelings of being mislead. Thanks again for your concerns and

allowing me the opportunity to respond. Steve

 

Harvilicz, David

Tuesday, May 07, 2002 7:35 PM

'Steve Keville'

Cc: walter.robb; rs.team;

John.Mackey

RE: Steve, Please help me understand....

 

 

Steve,

Thanks for your reply. As a final note, I would like to share with you my

conclusions: 1. Someone is manipulating the truth. Whether or not Delft Blue is

" listening " and " continually working to improve " is totally irrelevant. The

current actual fact of the matter is that a majority (probably a vast majority)

of Delft Blue's veal is raised using " traditional methods. " What they may be

planning on doing, or thinking about doing or want to start doing - simply

doesn't matter. I have to say I find your semantical machinations of this fact

personally insulting. 2. Delft Blue, Whole Foods or Both want it both ways. They

want to placate consumers by saying they are " the humane alternative " while at

the same time enjoy traditional profits from " traditional " veal production. 3.

WFMI's website statement is factually inaccurate. (i) A majority of Delft Blue

veal is traditionally raised. (ii) WFMI sells Delft Blue veal. (iii) Therefore,

WFMI does not refuse to sell traditionally raised veal. This is logically

straightforward. FYI, I got the impression you were confused by WFMI's website

statement because you explicitly avoided taking responsibility for drafting the

language and could offer only a guess as to its meaning. Finally, I appreciate

that you're " trying to make the veal business a better one. " But the bottom line

here, Steve, is that until it actually is, you should stop jumping the gun and

trying to trick your " better-educated populace " with false impressions of the

current state of the world. P.S. I was never asking you to " make me feel better

about eating veal. " (If this is what you thought I was after, then there may

have been a deeper fundamental issue all along.) For what it's worth, you have

lost at least one loyal customer, and I plan to share my experience with my

friends and relatives. Putting these issues aside, you seem like a good guy, I

wish you all the best. Sincerely, Dave

 

 

 

 

Mother's Day is May 12th!