Death threats. Paying off journalists. Threatening letters. Are these tactics used by Don Corleone in “The Godfather”? Or is it our own government’s efforts, perhaps with agribusiness lobby interests pushing them along, confronting what they seem to think is a major threat: a food company called Hampton Creek. Let’s review the turn of events. It…
Poultry industry sustainability workshop excludes everyone who matters to sustainability
This week, the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, the National Chicken Council, and the National Turkey Federation, will host a U.S. Poultry Industry Sustainability Workshop on May 24-25 in Atlanta. Invited attendees included key poultry integrators, retailers, food service companies and restaurants. They have shut the doors, however, to any groups advocating to create sustainable …
Perdue’s Big Reveal: ‘We Need Happier Birds’
You might not have caught it, but at the end of Stephanie Strom’s article this past weekend in The New York Times, Perdue made a big reveal.
Back in December 2014, Compassion in World Farming released a video showing chickens raised in tightly packed warehouses, laying on feces-ridden litter and with red, raw bellies. To …
Factory Farming: The Ignored Elephant in the Room
The World Expo, being held in Milan, Italy, from May 1-Oct. 1, 2015, and themed, “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life,” is bringing together 140 countries to unravel one of the world’s greatest challenges. Alongside the Expo, the U.S. brings its pavilion titled, “American Food 2.0: United to Feed the Planet.” Here the U.S.…
Chicken Industry Acts More Like Ostriches
Last month, something unprecedented happened that rocked the chicken industry’s world. Perdue contract farmer Craig Watts decided he’d had enough. Together with my organization, Compassion in World Farming, he released a video that gave the public a unique view into the secretive world of the chicken industry. 
He revealed what the National Chicken Council (NCC),…
Consumer Marketing Win: Ending ‘Humanewashing’
Earlier this year, Cassandra White of Clarkston, GA, gathered more than 165,000 signatures for a Change.org petition asking Kroger to stop misleading customers. Kroger’s Simple Truth Natural Chicken bore the words “raised in a humane environment.” White said, “When I go to the grocery store, I read the labels carefully because I want to know…
Is Perdue’s ‘Eat Like Your Ancestors’ Campaign Calling for Chicken Industry Reform?
“Eat like your ancestors.” The phrase brings about feelings of nostalgia for all that is good, simple and natural about food. Perdue’s Harvestland campaign slogan conjures up an image of farming ways of the past. Its website points consumers to chicken recipes from the turn of the century. At that time, the world of chicken…