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Peta's Stance Burger King Follows

Econ101

Well-known member
Articles in this document:



Producers urged to speak out

Sending a Clear Signal to Animal Activists



Producers urged to speak out

Dairy, meat and poultry producers are urged to form food industry "force" before activists distort even more benefits of modern production practices.



By ROD SMITH

FEEDSTUFFS

March 26, 2007



FOOD producers who produce dairy, meat and poultry are facing a significant threat from animal activists opposed not only to certain production practices but to farm and food animal production, and although producers "are not losing, we are barely keeping up," according to Steve Kopperud.



Furthermore, he said if livestock and poultry producers continue on their current path, "we will lose, and it won't be a quiet death. A lot of you in this room won't be growing hogs."



This was the matter-of-fact, sober message Kopperud brought to pork producers at the National Pork Forum earlier this month -- a message that could have been brought to any meeting of producers or to any meeting of the segments of the food system.



Kopperud, senior vice president at Policy Directions Inc. in Washington, D.C., a food producer advocacy firm, noted that producers were challenged by animal activists in the 1980s and '90s but succeeded in putting aside attacks then because animal activism was a fractured, leaderless movement of some 150 groups.



Today, it has coalesced into a movement with direction and very well-funded strategies, he said, pointing specifically to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), and while PETA "does outrageous stuff," HSUS "is the real threat."



He said, "HSUS represents itself as a benign protector of cats and dogs that comes in behind PETA and says, 'We're not the crazies. We're the moderates.'"



However, the group's actions speak differently, he said, recalling how HSUS launched an anti-food animal production campaign in the early 1990s that has accelerated under new chief executive officer and president Wayne Pacelle, who has rapidly transformed HSUS into "the National Rifle Assn. of animal rights." The comparison is important, he said, because the rifle association is generally considered the most effective political action group in Washington.



He reported that HSUS has established a "C-4" group to do unlimited lobbying. (C-4s can lobby because they are not tax exempt, which means HSUS, with a budget that exceeds $125 million, now has a lobbying arm while not losing its own tax-exempt status.)



Kopperud said the animal rights agenda is clear: "no animal use for any purpose whatsoever. This must be understood. There is no middle ground."



Not only is the agenda clear, but it's aggressive and deliberate, he added, recalling that an animal activist recently told him, "I won't get the steak off your table in 10 years, but give me 15 years, and I will."





Selling producers



Kopperud suggested that producers are on a losing path because they have shied away from making sure consumers understand what's at stake in terms of an abundant and affordable dairy, meat and poultry supply.



Accordingly, producers are losing the perception war, he said, letting the animal activists position modern production as factory farming.



"We are far too focused on selling products, but if we don't start selling producers, we won't have products to sell," he said.



Producers need to make sure consumers know about how they care for their animals, how they care for the environment and how they produce safe food.



"It's the human factor -- men and women on the ground raising their animals and talking to consumers -- that will win the issue," Kopperud said. "If you're shy, you had better get over it."



Producers also need to begin putting together a coordinated, food industry-wide approach to the attacks on their farms, production practices and reputations, Kopperud said, bringing suppliers, packer/processors and restaurant and supermarket customers along with them to respond to the activist agenda. "No force can stop a coalesced food industry," he said.



He emphasized that his reference to producers means all producers -- beef, dairy, pork and poultry -- "going in there as one," rather than each production sector trying to be its own voice.



A unified food industry "can be very powerful," he said, "but if we are fragmented, we will get picked off one at a time."



Kopperud said this kind of unification can get producers out of the reactive mode and into proactive strategies. "We tend to wait for the barn to be on fire and say 'What do we do now?' We need to be getting our message to" consumers, policymakers and other important groups, he said.





Here's the point



IF approached by animal activists claiming that dairy cows, feedlot cattle, hogs and poultry are being mistreated in modern production systems, foodservice and dairy and meat case managers should question the activists' real agenda, which is the elimination of dairy, meat and poultry products from the food supply, i.e., vegetarianism, according to Feedstuffs FoodLink sources, including Steve Kopperud.



Managers should understand that producers care for their animals, employees and the communities in which they are located and that today's production systems are designed to provide the highest levels of animal welfare, environmental sustainability and workplace safety, as well as the most abundant, affordable and safest food supply in the world.



Where they do have questions -- and questions are welcome -- foodservice and supermarket managers should consult with suppliers and producers themselves in making decisions about the food products they put on menus, serve and sell. Normally, the activists' first goal is to decrease choice in a way that increases costs.



However, producers should make sure they are communicating the message about the benefits of modern agriculture to their customers and consumers. Producers need to sell who they are and what they do just as much as they sell what they produce.



This message can be carried to consumers, policymakers and others by establishing a food industry-wide organization -- producers, suppliers, packers/processors and restaurant and supermarket managers -- that speaks with one voice. A model would be pork producers' "Operation Main Street."



feedstuffs.com



Sending a Clear Signal to Animal Activists



By Pork news staff (Wednesday, March 28, 2007)



“The fact of the matter is that there are extremist individuals and groups that will go through great lengths to put you out of business,” said Ricardo Solano, Jr., in his keynote address at the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s Stakeholders Summit in Arlington, Va. “The recent passage of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act sends a clear signal to animal-rights extremists that if their activities cross the line, the federal government will not stand idly by.”



He explained that recent amendments to the Animal Enterprise Protection Act of 1992 are designed explicitly for acts like intimidation, stalking and harassment that activists apply with the intend of shutting down farms, ranches, researchers and others who use and care for animals. While serving in the Terrorism Unit at the U.S. Attorney’s office, Solano successfully tried one of the early cases under the Animal Enterprise Protection Act, which charged an animal-rights extremist group and six of its leaders with terrorizing an animal-testing laboratory as well as several pharmaceutical, financial and insurance companies that did business with it.



“First Amendment rights end when people cross the line from protest to threatening and intimidating others in the hope of getting them to stop their business or quit their jobs,” he said. Solano made special emphasis to ensure that the audience understood that AETA also explicitly illegalized what is often referred to as tertiary party targeting, in which extremists intimidate businesses such as banks or suppliers, into not doing business with the activists' real target.



“The acts committed by extremists groups to intimidate and cause fear in order to close down our nation’s farms and ranches is inexcusable,” said Kay Johnson, Alliance executive vice president. “Our data shows that acts of animal-rights terrorism on food-chain businesses in the United States increased in 2006. It is our sincere hope that federal law enforcement will use the power that AETA provides to bring these people who are so radical as to feel justified in threatening America’s farmers and ranchers, who are law-abiding, tax-paying, job-providing citizens.”



Source: Animal Agriculture Alliance



porkmag.com
 

Econ101

Well-known member
this document:



Burger King caves in to PETA

Burger King Shifts Policy on Animals

Animal Rights Activists Praise Burger King

Burger King Decrees: Better Treatment for Some Farm Animals



Burger King caves in to PETA



SOURCE: PETA

via KTIC 840 Rural Radio

Nebraska, US



MIAMI, March 28, 2007 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following nearly six years of discussions with PETA -- and independent discussions with The Humane Society of the United States -- about problems concerning the treatment of animals in factory farms and slaughterhouses, fast-food giant Burger King has announced groundbreaking plans to improve the lives and deaths of some of the animals killed for its restaurants. According to Burger King's new plan, which places it at the forefront of the fast-food industry with regard to animal welfare, the company will do the following:



-- Immediately begin purchasing 10 percent of its pig meat from suppliers

that do not use cruel gestation crates-metal enclosures that confine

sows and are so restrictive that the animals cannot even stretch a limb

or take a step -- and double that amount by the end of 2007.



-- Immediately begin purchasing 2 percent of its eggs from hens who are

not confined to tiny wire ``battery cages'' and more than double that

amount by the end of 2007.



-- Issue a statement to its egg suppliers that it will give purchasing

preference to those that do not use intensive-confinement battery

cages.



-- Issue a statement to its poultry suppliers stating that it will give

purchasing preference to those that use or switch to ``controlled-

atmosphere killing'' (CAK), the least cruel method of poultry slaughter

in existence.



``Burger King's new plan helps reduce some of the worst factory-farming and slaughterhouse abuses and will send a shockwave through the meat and egg industries,'' says PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich.



Since 2000, PETA has been using high-profile campaigns and negotiating behind the scenes to reduce the suffering of animals raised and killed for the fast-food and grocery industries. Burger King's recent announcement marks the latest chapter in these efforts.



For more information, please visit PETA's Web site <a target="new" href=``http://GoVeg.com''>http://GoVeg.com</a>. Burger King's letter to PETA specifying the new changes is available upon request. A timeline of Burger King's and other companies' animal welfare improvements follows. Timeline of Key Developments



September 2000: Following PETA's 11-month ``McCruelty'' campaign, McDonald's becomes the first major U.S. corporation to require that its meat and egg suppliers abide by animal welfare standards.



June 2001: Following PETA's six-month ``Murder King'' campaign, Burger King agrees to adopt standards that are in some areas better than those adopted by McDonald's.



September 2001: Following PETA's three-month ``Wicked Wendy's'' campaign, Wendy's agrees to adopt animal welfare policies similar to those that Burger King adopted four months prior.



May 2002: Following PETA's four-month ``Shameway'' campaign, Safeway agrees to begin auditing its major pig-meat supplier for animal welfare and to adopt guidelines similar to those adopted by McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's. This marks the first time that a Fortune 50 company has prioritized animal welfare.



June 2002: Following two months of discussions between PETA and Albertsons, Albertsons agrees to adopt animal welfare standards similar to those adopted by Safeway.



January 2003: Following nearly two years of failed negotiations with KFC, PETA launches its ``Kentucky Fried Cruelty'' campaign against the fast-food giant, calling on the company to eliminate the worst abuses that the more than 850 million birds killed annually for its buckets endure; KFC has yet to do so, and PETA's campaign continues.



December 2005: Following PETA's submission of a shareholder resolution calling on Safeway to further improve the lives and deaths of animals killed for its shelves, the company agrees to hire a panel of well-respected scientists to advise it on animal welfare matters.



January 2007: In response to pressure from PETA and major customers, Smithfield Foods, the largest pig-meat producer in the world, and Maple Leaf Foods, the largest pig-meat producer in Canada, both agree to phase out the use of cruel gestation crates to confine breeding pigs.



March 2007: Burger King announces that it has started phasing in the use of cage-free eggs, has begun purchasing pig meat from suppliers that don't use gestation crates and has issued a statement indicating its purchasing preference for chicken meat from producers that use or switch to CAK.



kticam.com



Burger King Shifts Policy on Animals



ANDREW MARTIN

The Ledger

March 28, 2007

Lakeland, Florida



In what animal welfare advocates are describing as a “historic advance,” Burger King, the world’s second-largest hamburger chain, said yesterday that it would begin buying eggs and pork from suppliers that did not confine their animals in cages and crates.



The company said that it would also favor suppliers of chickens that use gas, or “controlled-atmospheric stunning,” rather than electric shocks to knock birds unconscious before slaughter. It is considered a more humane method, though only a handful of slaughterhouses use it.



The goal for the next few months, Burger King said is for 2 percent of its eggs to be “cage free,” and for 10 percent of its pork to come from farms that allow sows to move around inside pens, rather than being confined to crates. The company said those percentages would rise as more farmers shift to these methods and more competitively priced supplies become available.



The cage-free eggs and crate-free pork will cost more, although it is not clear how much because Burger King is still negotiating prices, Steven Grover, vice president for food safety, quality assurance and regulatory compliance, said. Prices of food at the chain’s restaurants will not be increased as a result.



While Burger King’s initial goals may be modest, food marketing experts and animal welfare advocates said yesterday that the shift would put pressure on other restaurant and food companies to adopt similar practices.



“I think the whole area of social responsibility, social consciousness, is becoming much more important to the consumer,” said Bob Goldin, executive vice president of Technomic, a food industry research and consulting firm. “I think that the industry is going to see that it’s an increasing imperative to get on that bandwagon.”



Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States, said Burger King’s initiatives put it ahead of its competitors in terms of animal welfare.



“That’s an important trigger for reform throughout the entire industry,” Mr. Pacelle said.



Burger King’s announcement is the latest success for animal welfare advocates, who were once dismissed as fringe groups, but are increasingly gaining mainstream victories.



Last week, the celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck announced that the meat and eggs he used would come from animals raised under strict animal welfare codes.



And in January, the world’s largest pork processor, Smithfield Foods, said it would phase out confinement of pigs in metal crates over the next decade.



Some city and state governments have banned restaurants from serving foie gras and have prohibited farmers from confining veal calves and pigs in crates.



Temple Grandin, an animal science professor at Colorado State University, said Smithfield’s decision to abandon crates for pregnant sows had roiled the pork industry. That decision was brought about in part by questions from big customers like McDonald’s, the world’s largest hamburger chain, about its confinement practices.



“When the big boys move, it makes the entire industry move,” said Ms. Grandin, who serves on the animal welfare task forces for several food companies, including McDonald’s and Burger King.



Burger King’s decision is somewhat at odds with the rebellious, politically incorrect image it has cultivated in recent years.



Its commercials deride “chick food” and encourage a more-is-more approach to eating with its turbo-strength coffee, its enormous omelet sandwich, and a triple Whopper with cheese.



Burger King executives said the move was driven by their desire to stay ahead of consumer trends and to encourage farmers to move into more humane egg and meat production.



“We want to be doing things long before they become a concern for consumers,” Mr. Grover said. “Like a hockey player, we want to be there before the puck gets there.”



He said the company would not use the animal welfare initiatives in its marketing. “I don’t think it’s something that goes to our core business,” Mr. Grover said.



Beef cows were not included in the new animal welfare guidelines because, unlike most laying hens and pigs, they continue to be raised outdoors. Burger King already has animal welfare standards for cow slaughter, he said.



The changes were made after discussions with the Humane Society and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, known as PETA.



PETA, in particular, has started a series of high-profile campaigns to pressure fast-food companies to change their animal welfare practices, including a “Murder King” campaign that ended in 2001 when Burger King agreed to improve its animal welfare standards to include, among other things, periodic animal welfare audits.



Since that time, PETA officials said they had met periodically with Burger King officials to encourage them to adopt tougher standards. About a year ago, the Humane Society began its own efforts to encourage Burger King to improve its farm animal standards.



Mr. Grover said his company listened to suggestions from both groups, but ultimately relied on the advice of its animal welfare advisory board, which was created about six years ago and includes academics, an animal welfare advocate, an executive of Tyson Foods and Burger King officials.



“Where we think we can support what our animal advisers think is right, we do it,” Mr. Grover said.



The changes apply to Burger King suppliers in North America and Canada, where the chain purchases more than 40 million pounds of eggs a year and 35 million pounds of pork, he said.



A reason that such a small percentage of purchases will meet the new guidelines is a lack of supply, Mr. Grover said.



Burger King plans to more than double its cage-free purchases by the end of this year, to 5 percent of the total, and will also double its purchases of pork from producers who do not use crates, to 20 percent.



Most laying hens in the United States are raised in “battery cages,” which are usually stacked on top of each other three to four cages high. Sows, during their pregnancies, are often kept in gestation crates, which are 24 inches across and 7 feet long.



Matt Prescott, PETA’s manager for factory farm campaigns, argued that both confinement systems were filthy and cruel because the animals could barely move and were prone to injury and psychological stress.



Under Burger King’s initiative, laying hens would be raised in buildings where they would be able to wander around. Similarly, sows would be raised indoors, most likely in pens where they would be able to move freely.



“This is not free range, but simply having some room to move around inside a controlled environment,” Mr. Grover said.



While converting barns for crate-free sows is relatively simple, Ms. Grandin said it was much more difficult and expensive to raise cage-free hens because not nearly as many birds fit in one building.



Burger King officials say they hope that by promoting controlled-atmosphere stunning, more slaughterhouses will adopt the technology. Currently, there are only a few in the United States using the technique, and most of them process turkeys.



theledger.com



Animal Rights Activists Praise Burger King

Burger King To Sell Products From Cage-Free Chickens, Pigs



NBC 6

POSTED: 8:33 am EDT March 28, 2007

South Florida



MIAMI -- Animal rights advocates praised Burger King for its new commitment to begin buying eggs and pork from suppliers that do not keep their animals in cages or crates.



"We certainly hope that people will order the BK Veggie Burger when they go into Burger King," said Matt Prescott, spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "But the fact that Burger King has made positive changes for some of the animals killed for its restaurants will send a ripple effect through the fast food industry and show other companies that animal welfare cannot be ignored."



PETA has been critical of the fast food giant in the past.



Burger King Corp. product safety manager Steve Weiffenbach sent PETA two letters, dated March 14 and 20, outlining the company's new supply guidelines. PETA forwarded copies of the letters to The Associated Press.



The fast food chain has already started purchasing 10 percent of its pork from suppliers that do not use sow gestation crates, according to the letter. The company said it will double that amount by the end of 2007.



Burger King also said it will start getting 2 percent of its eggs from hens that are not confined to small cages. That percentage should more than double by the end of 2007.



"That is a huge portion of cage-free eggs available for processing as most cage-free eggs go into the retail grocery business," Weiffenbach wrote in his March 14 letter.



Hoping to pressure suppliers and increase availability, Burger King has told egg suppliers that it will look favorably on cage-free eggs when making purchasing decisions.



"Suppliers will hopefully respond by producing more of these types of products," Prescott said.



Burger King will also give purchasing preference to poultry suppliers that use or switch to "controlled atmosphere stunning," which animal rights groups consider the most humane way to slaughter poultry.



nbc6.net



Burger King Decrees: Better Treatment for Some Farm Animals



The Humane Society of the United States applauds Burger King's historic

pledge to improve its farm animal welfare standards



Source: The Humane Society of the United States



WASHINGTON, March 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Burger King announced a

phase-in of new, industry-leading animal welfare policies today, in what

The Humane Society of the United States applauded as an historic advance

for the fast-food sector. The HSUS has been talking with the fast-food

giant for more than a year about improving its farm animal standards.

"With its new policy changes, Burger King is signaling to agribusiness

that the most inhumane factory farming practices are on the way out," said

Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The HSUS. "As a result of this

decision, large numbers of farm animals across the nation will be spared

from much needless suffering."

After extensive dialogue with The Humane Society of the United States

and independent discussions with People for the Ethical Treatment of

Animals, Burger King spelled out details of its decision:

* It has begun purchasing two percent of its eggs from producers that do

not confine laying hens in battery cages. It will more than double the

percentage of cage-free eggs it's using to five percent by the end of

the year.



* It has implemented a purchasing preference for cage-free eggs. Such a

preference is intended to favor producers that convert away from

battery-cage confinement systems.



* It has started purchasing 10 percent of its pork from producers that do

not confine breeding pigs in gestation crates, which are too small to

allow even ordinary movement. The volume of pork purchases coming from

gestation crate-free producers will double to 20 percent by the end of

the year.



* It has also implemented a purchasing preference for pork from producers

that do not confine breeding sows in gestation crates.



* It has implemented a preference for producers that use controlled

atmosphere killing of chickens used for meat. This has been shown to

cause significantly less suffering than the conventional method of

slaughter used by most of the nation's poultry slaughterers.

In the past, major restaurant chains have incorporated animal welfare

considerations into their operating policies. However, this step by Burger

King, the nation's No. 2 fast food chain, is the most significant yet. The

HSUS urged other industry leaders to quickly follow suit and forgo their

defense of abusive practices that inflict needless suffering on farm

animals.

"The more consumers learn about factory farming cruelties, the more

they insist upon better treatment for animals," said Pacelle. "There is a

long way to go before we end farm animal abuse, but today's announcement

sets the country on a clear trajectory on factory farming issues."

Burger King's decision is the latest in a recent string of historic

advancements for farm animals in the United States. In the wake of

successful HSUS-led ballot initiatives banning gestation crate confinement

in Florida and Arizona, the U.S.'s and Canada's largest pig producers --

Smithfield Foods and Maple Leaf Foods -- announced in recent weeks that

they are phasing out their use of gestation crates. Just last week,

Wolfgang Puck announced a wide- ranging plan to improve animal welfare in

his supply chain. After The HSUS launched its No Battery Eggs campaign,

numerous retailers, foodservice providers, and more than 100 schools have

eliminated or dramatically reduced their use of eggs from hens confined in

battery cages.

Facts



* U.S. factory farms confine nearly 300 million hens in barren battery

cages that are so small, the birds can't even spread their wings. Each

bird has less space than a single sheet of paper on which to live.



* Gestation crates are two-foot-wide metal cages that confine millions of

breeding pigs for nearly their entire lives. The crates are so

restrictive that the animals can't even turn around for months on end.

The animals suffer both leg and joint problems along with psychosis

from this extreme treatment.



* Controlled Atmosphere Killing, a method of slaughter in which birds are

deprived of oxygen, has been shown to cause significantly less

suffering than the barbaric but commonplace practice of shacking birds

upside down while fully conscious, paralyzing them in electrified vats

of water, and dragging them over mechanical blades which cut their

throats.



Timeline



* March 2007-Burger King announces that it has started phasing in the use

of cage-free eggs, pork from producers that don't use gestation crates,

and has implemented a purchasing preference for chicken meat from

producers using Controlled Atmosphere Killing.



* March 2007-Wolfgang Puck announces the implementation of a wide-ranging

program to improve animal welfare in his supply chain, including not

using foie gras, battery cage eggs, pork or veal from crated sows and

calves, and expanding vegetarian options.



* January 2007-Smithfield Foods and Maple Leaf Foods announce that they

are phasing out their use of gestation crates to confine breeding pigs.



* November 2006-In a landslide, Arizona voters pass an HSUS-led

initiative banning gestation crates and veal crates in the state

(effective 2013).



* September 2006-In response to an HSUS-led campaign, Ben & Jerry's

announces that it is phasing out the use of eggs from caged hens in its

ice creams.



* November 2005-In response to an HSUS-led campaign, Trader Joe's

announces that its brand eggs will be exclusively cage-free.



* May 2005-Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats Natural Marketplace announce

that they have ended sales of eggs from caged hens.



* November 2003-The Better Business Bureau rules that it is misleading to

label eggs from battery-caged hens as "Animal Care Certified."



* November 2002-Florida voters overwhelmingly approve an HSUS-led measure

banning gestation crates in the state (effective 2008).

The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal

protection organization-backed by 10 million Americans, or one of every 30.

For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection

of all animals through advocacy, education, and hands-on programs.

Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty-On the web at

http://www.HumaneSociety.org.



SOURCE The Humane Society of the United States



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