Earlier this month, the Washington Post published an explosive article reporting that beef certified by Global Animal Partnership (GAP), the animal welfare certification used primarily by Whole Foods Market, was found to contain antibiotic residue despite GAP’s and Whole Foods’ claims that their meat is “antibiotic-free.” Read more from Farm Forward here.
Farm Forward has found a variety of drugs, including an antibiotic, in meat certified as having “no antibiotics, ever” taken from products purchased from Whole Foods store shelves. The drugs, including fenbendazole, clopidol, and monensin, are used widely in conventional animal agriculture. The use of monensin is prohibited within the USDA Organic program and by Global Animal Partnership’s (GAP’s) Animal Welfare Certified™ program, which certifies all meat sold in Whole Foods stores. Read more from their investigation here.
Whole Foods Market and GAP’s humanewashing is leading consumers to believe that they can purchase chickens from Whole Foods who do not suffer because they have been genetically modified for fast growth in ways that are known to produce leg deformities, muscle myopathies, and weakened immune systems. The reality is that chickens within GAP’s program will still suffer in these same ways... Read more from Farm Forward here.
You can place a green, certified humane, label on products, but that clearly isn't what is happening at these large factory farm facilities. New footage from Foster Farms, California’s largest poultry producer, shows the company continuing to engage in similar behavior that activists allege amounts to cruel treatment of live chickens. Foster Farms, which was recertified by the AHA earlier this year, has been on the receiving end of millions of dollars in state and local subsidies to expand its product lines in California. Read more from The Intercept here.
PETA’s breaking undercover investigation into Plainville Farms, a company that claims to produce “humane” turkey in a “stress-free environment,” reveals that workers repeatedly and viciously kick and stomp on dozens of turkeys, many of them sick, injured, weak, or just too lame to stand up.
Please, take a moment today to urge Whole Foods and Global Animal Partnership to stop duping consumers with false “humane meat” claims. "Instead of helping consumers identify products that meet their understanding of humane, GAP has committed to maximizing profitability by helping sell consumers on whatever industry has decided it wants to market as humane."
Read more from Sentient Media here. The settlement comes nearly two years after the Los Angeles Times first exposed that Amazon was dipping into customer tips to cover the base pay guaranteed to Flex drivers, who deliver Amazon Fresh, Prime Now and other orders. Read more from the Los Angeles Times here.
We have always felt that Global Animal Partnership has been a deceptive marketing tool for Whole Foods. It's profitable #HumaneWashing that dissuades consumers from confronting the reality behind their choices. Many animal welfare groups that originally signed on with them have since pulled out once they realized their relationships were being used to benefit Whole Foods' bottom line and not the animals. Investigations have shown that even the lauded Step 5 rating is not "humane." See the story from Civil Eats here.
A federal investigation has found that Amazon illegally fired a New York City warehouse worker in retaliation for organizing his coworkers for COVID-19 protections earlier this year.
Read more from Vice's Motherboard here. In a distressing email received by former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, a worker at Amazon’s Whole Foods delivery warehouse in Industry City, Brooklyn, New York, said that six of her co-workers had tested positive for COVID since October 22, because “safe social distancing is not only being ignored but discouraged,” adding that “when we express our discomfort to management, we are yelled at about filling orders faster, or told that we can take a leave of absence without pay.”
Read more from Common Dreams here. |
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