"In February of this year, Norbest was purchased by Pitman Farms of California, a supplier of Whole Foods. As The Intercept reported last September, Pitman itself has its own struggles with accusations of abuse of animals at its farms.
But now that Norbest is part of Pitman, this appears to be a case where a corporate supplier of Whole Foods — which touts itself as selling the healthiest and most organic products — is pressing charges against people who exposed animal abuse and threats to the public health." Read more from The Intercept here. As animal cruelty issues have come to light, the food industry has responded by creating marketable terms that make their products sound more humane. "Free range eggs" is just one example of these terms, and while it sounds good for advertising, it may not be all it's cracked up to be. Read more from the investigation, and see the undercover video here.The residue of a FDA-prohibited antibiotic has appeared in tests done by the United States Department of Agriculture [USDA] on Diestel Turkey Ranch birds.
The company's meat products are sold in Whole Foods stores, as well as other 'natural' food shops across the US. Read more from Plant Based News here. When Amazon purchased Whole Foods last month, it didn’t just get the retail locations. It picked up Whole Foods’s baggage as well. Among the bigger issues inherited by Amazon appears to be a four-month investigation from the animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere that challenges Whole Foods’s core selling point of healthy and humane food.
The group reported that it found no indications of outdoor living, such as feathers or fecal matter. Twenty-four hour surveillance cameras attached to six separate locations revealed no outdoor birds either, the activists said. Instead, chickens were packed shoulder-to-shoulder inside dusty sheds with degraded air quality, forced to challenge one another for access to food and water. Read more from The Intercept here. A DxE investigation of a free-range, slow-growth chicken farm found thousands of birds crowded in filthy sheds. Undercover cameras placed outside the barn show that the animals were never allowed outside.
Lauded for its supposed humane treatment of animals, Pitman Family Farms is the most prominent supplier of free-range, slow-growth chicken to retailers like Whole Foods. Read the full report here. Please visit the freerangetruth.com for more info. A Whole Foods Market Group policy that bars employees from recording is unlawful and could create a “chill” for workers to express their rights, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a National Labor Relations Board decision that said instructions in the national grocer’s handbook violated the National Labor Relations Act, which guarantees workers the right to engage in protected concerted activity, including the discussion of terms and condition of their employment. Read more from The National Law Journal here. More than 900 customers have signed a petition to save the newsstand that’s been ordered to vacate the Whole Foods parking lot on San Vicente Boulevard in the heart of the hamlet. Another petition has drawn roughly 500 signatures at change.org. The rabid defenders range from people you’ve never heard of to big-name celebs. Read more from Steve Lopez at the LA Times here. The petition is available here.
After Advocacy groups urge Commonwealth Club to cancel Whole Foods CEO John Mackey in conversation with Dean Ornish, Mr. Ornish berates a volunteer with the advocacy group. Read more in Nancy Levine's post here.
Robert Grillo, author of the new book, Farm to Fable: The Fictions of Our Animal-Consuming Culture, was startled by the level of humane-washing deception in this case. Read more here.
Today, the Boulder, CO police department issued warrants for the arrest of two activists following a protest at Whole Foods’ Ideal Market in Boulder. Press release here.
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