Whole Foods CEO goes vegan

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends of Viva!,

 

Below is the Viva!USA release updating our campaign regarding Whole

Foods'

selling of factory farmed duck meat. It explains why we have called a

moratorium.

 

A few things not in the release that we wanted to share with you is

that when

Viva!USA started our campaign regarding Grimaud Farms of California's

cruel

treatment of the ducks they had just opened a few new farms in

Pennsylvania.

As far as we can tell, at least two of these farms no longer exist.

 

We want to thank everyone for the time and energy put into Viva!'s

campaign on

behalf of ducks in factory farms. Viva!USA began our campaign in

September

2000. We were successful at getting Trader Joe's to stop selling all

duck meat

and getting a number of other chains to stop buying from the farms we

investigated.

 

Whole Foods Market has made a commitment on behalf of ducks as

well as all farmed animals. Even though our campaign was specifically

about

ducks, it assisted in getting the founder/CEO of Whole Foods to go

vegan (see

his quote below) as well as to reevaluate how all farmed animals sold

by Whole

Foods should be treated.

 

I have been in close touch with Founder and CEO of Whole Foods, John

Mackey,

for a number of weeks now. He told me he is willing to work with

organizations

such as PETA, the Animal Welfare Institute, and Viva!

 

The release below will give you an insight into where Whole Foods

stands with

Grimaud Farms and their relationship to Sonoma Foie Gras. Although the

standards have not been created, Mr. Mackey feels comfortable

committing to no

bill trimming on ducks and probably on all bird species.

 

So, as of this time, we are ceasing our activities against Whole

Foods. We

will be picking a new focus in the next few weeks. Most grocery stores

still

sell meat from the largest duck farm in the U.S. (Maple Leaf Farms).

 

Thank you again for the calls, letters, e-mailing and leafleting you

have done

with Viva! It goes to show that with persistence, even a small

organization

like ours can have a huge impact. We hope you will read the whole

release

below.

 

I started to write a list of all of the groups (big and small) who

have

assisted us with this campaign but the list is too long (you know who

you

are). Most notable are the Animal Welfare Institute, AVAR, Farm

Sanctuary,

PETA, United Poultry Concerns, and Vegan Outreach. We thank you all

and hope

to have your support again!

 

For all animals,

 

lauren Ornelas

US Campaigns Director

Viva!USA

 

 

Viva!USA www.vivausa.org

P.O. Box 4398, Davis, CA 95617

530/759-8482 - info