From upbeat & fun to downright celebratory: PETA declares victory in Safeway Campaign

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

 

Taking a note from Tammy, I attempted to play up the upbeat & fun elements

of the protest planned for the annual Safeway shareholder meeting happening

this Thursday (tomorrow!), May 16th. More than simply upbeat & fun, it turns

out that our protest will be a VICTORY CELEBRATION! Yesterday late

afternoon, after receiving a letter from Safeway promising certain changes

and offering a timeline for the changes, PETA has decided to call a

moratorium on protests against Safeway, and has declared victory in the

campaign. Complete details will follow, but here's a quick summary:

 

* Safeway will begin unannounced audits of Seaboard Farms, the country's

fourth large pig meat supplier (this is the facility where PeTA's undercover

investigations led to four felony animal abuse charges against Seaboard's

manager);

* Safeway will implement all of the guidelines outlined by the Food

Marketing Institute (FMI) once they are released in June (PETA has been

working with FMI and its animal welfare panel for over a year, and the

guidelines released by FMI are likely to be *stronger* than the ones adopted

by McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's in those victories - at issue is the

fact that the FMI guidelines are *just* guidelines - they cannot be

enforced; the fact that Safeway is pledging to adopt the guidelines is

*huge*); and

* Safeway has a plan in place for suppliers that fail to meet the new

guidelines. This is an unprecedented win from an international grocery chain

in securing better treatment for the living and dying conditions of farmed

animals.

 

For our presence outside of the Safeway shareholder meeting tomorrow, we

will have a VICTORY CELEBRATION, complete with party hats, party horns,

non-alcoholic champagne, vegan truffles, and vegan pate on crackers. It

occurred to me yesterday that there are the same number of letters in the

word " Shameway " as there are in " Congrats, " so the

cheerleading-squad-formerly-known-as-Shameway will now be the Victory!

Squad. Still ironing out the details on that one, and getting feedback from

our cheerleaders.

 

We will still operate at least one shuttle from the Pleasanton BART station

to the celebration site (San Ramon Marriott, 2600 Bishop Drive, San Ramon).

Still ironing out details on that one, and getting feedback from our shuttle

volunteers.

 

I know the great sense of urgency around having a large presence at the

shareholder meeting is somewhat diminished through this latest development.

However, I want to stress that by coming out in large numbers to proclaim

victory, we give voice to the animals and remind shareholders, executives,

and media alike that many people from *their* community (the Bay Area) take

these issues very seriously. We need to seize this opportunity to send the

message loudly and clearly that making animals pay for the profit of a

corporation is absolutely unacceptable.

 

Bruce Friedrich of PETA points out that given the recent developments and

the change in our strategy it is *more* likely now that the media will cover

our presence at the shareholder meeting, given that we will be

congratulating Safeway rather than condemning them. So, we can be fairly

confident that there will be some coverage of our event.

 

I would LOVE for as many people as possible to come out tomorrow (Thursday,

May 16th) to the annual Safeway shareholder meeting. We will be there (2600

Bishop Drive, San Ramon) from 12:15 pm until 1:30 pm. We will have

cheerleaders, thanks to Kelle's admirable diligence and dedicated work ( &

Judy Jones's contribution of yet more pom pons, and all of the cheerleading

volunteers). We will have our animal mascots (any more volunteers for

that?), and we will (as a new development) have food & drink for our

celebration.

 

Many, many thanks to everyone who participated, contributed, brainstormed,

worked, suggested, volunteered, inspired, and came forward in helping to

secure this victory. We can be very proud of this huge unprecedented win, as

it did happen in our own backyard, and every letter published (especially

Lori Patotzka's excellent letter in the Contra Costa Times - talk about

ruining the CEO's breakfast - well done, Lori! more indigestion for every

unethical CEO!), every manager contacted, every Safeway picketed, and every

conversation exchanged clearly went a long way in making Safeway *very*

uncomfortable about how they were being perceived on their home turf. Proper

lists of thank you's will follow, but for now, please do let me know whether

you'll be able to make it tomorrow (I need to get a head count for food &

drinks!).

 

This is far from our larger vision of a vegan world, but it's clear that the

world is changing rapidly and in the direction of greater compassion.

 

For the animals,

Alka

 

P.S. -- If you get this message late today and would like to register an

affirmative RSVP, could you please leave a message on my voice mail at:

(650) 279-0512? thanks!