New animal welfare rating system helps Canadian shoppers at meat counter
Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFM) is providing Canadian shoppers with a new level of transparency about how farm animals are raised by now offering beef, pork and chicken certified under the 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating system.
The rating system is the signature program of Global Animal Partnership, a nonprofit organization that facilitates and encourages continuous improvement in animal agriculture. Independent, third-party certifiers audit farms and rate animal welfare practices and conditions using a tiered system that ranges from Step 1 (no crates, cages or crowding) to Step 5+ (animals spend their entire lives on one farm). The system provides a way to engage a broad spectrum of producers who are committed to higher welfare for farm animals, and gives shoppers a way to make informed choices at the meat counter.
“In my 20 years of working with ranchers and farmers in Ontario and across Canada, this is the largest commitment to improving farm animal welfare that I have seen. Producers need to meet approximately 100 requirements to get a Step 1 certification, so achieving the first level is a remarkable accomplishment,” says Anne Malleau, global animal production and welfare coordinator for Whole Foods Market. “Whole Foods Market is able to adopt the 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating system thanks to the true partnerships we have with our producers who put just as much emphasis on the lives and welfare of their farm animals as they do on ensuring high-quality products.”
More than 1,540 farms and ranches across the U.S. and Canada have received Step certification through independent, third-party certifiers. This includes the nearly 200 Canadian producers that provide the company’s Canadian stores with product. Colour-coded signs and stickers throughout Whole Foods Market meat departments identify these Step ratings.
“I’m proud to be a part of such a forward-thinking program as the 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating system,” said Vincent Breton, president of Les Viandes du Breton. “Like many animals, pigs are happiest when they’re in their natural surroundings, doing the things they love to do, like roam free without being crowded. Having a Step 1 rating, my pigs do just that. They live in a comfortable environment, which can only lead to a higher-quality product.”
Step-rated options are now available at all Canadian Whole Foods Market stores. The company launched the program in the U.S. this past February and it has had a similar step-rated program in the U.K. since 2007. Additional species will receive rating as Global Animal Partnership standards are completed.
“I’m so honored that Global Animal Partnership is able to work with Whole Foods Market as our pilot partner. Their commitment to fully adopting our 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating program will definitely have a significant and positive impact on animal agriculture – to the benefit of farmers and ranchers, consumers and the animals themselves,” comments Miyun Park, executive director for Global Animal Partnership. “We’re already in discussions with other grocers and restaurateurs, who, like Whole Foods Market, are dedicated to improving the welfare of farm animals.”
About Whole Foods Market®
Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market (wholefoodsmarket.com, NASDAQ: WFM) is the leading natural and organic food retailer. As America’s first national certified organic grocer, Whole Foods Market was named “America’s Healthiest Grocery Store” by Health magazine. The company’s motto “Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet”™ captures its mission to ensure customer satisfaction and health, Team Member excellence and happiness, enhanced shareholder value, community support and environmental improvement. Thanks to the company’s nearly 60,000 Team Members, Whole Foods Market has been ranked as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” in America by FORTUNE magazine for 14 consecutive years. In fiscal year 2010, the company had sales of more than $9 billion and currently has more than 300 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
About Global Animal Partnership
Global Animal Partnership (globalanimalpartnership.org), an international, nonprofit charitable organization founded in 2008, brings together farmers, scientists, ranchers, retailers, and animal advocates—a diverse group with the common commitment to continually improve the lives of farm animals. The organization’s signature program, the 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating Standards, recognizes and rewards the welfare practices of producers who are audited and certified to the different Step levels by independent third-parties; promotes and incentivizes continuous improvement through its unique, multi-tiered design; engages the broad spectrum of industry; and better informs consumers about the production systems they choose to support. Already in these early years, Global Animal Partnership’s 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating Standards has fast become North America’s leading welfare certification program. To date, more than 140 million farm animals are raised annually according to the 5-Step standards by more than 1,540 farms and ranches.
