Thank you so much for voting with your voices as well as your pocketbooks!  Your response to the blog post  about The Pump restaurant in NYC really had an impact.  We received  hundreds of emails from you letting us know you wrote to The Pump, asking them why they’d stopped buying Certified Humane® chicken, and informing them that you would not be eating there again.  Several of you started a discussion topic on The Pump’s Facebook page, and many of you posted on their blog. The response was so big that The Pump had to write a second post “attempting” to address these concerns, and then a third.  The Pump did not post many of your comments to their blog page.  That is unfortunate.   As you can see, you do have a big impact in the marketplace by making your voices heard. Thank you so much to all of you who participated in the discussion!

To keep the momentum going, don’t forget that there are many more ways to take action and support Certified Humane®. You can download a Grocer Request Form and take it to the grocery stores and supermarkets in your area, asking them to carry Certified Humane® products.  You can also start a petition to get a specific company to become Certified Humane® or to get a specific retailer to stock Certified Humane® products.  Of course, to stay in touch you can sign up for our newsletters and “like” us on Facebook. Most importantly, you can “vote with your pocketbook” and buy products that are Certified Humane® – visit our Where to Buy section on our website to find retailers in your area!

Together, we will make a difference!

The “Pump” a restaurant chain in New York City has switched from buying Murray’s Chicken (one of our Certified Humane® producers) to purchasing commodity chicken.  That of course is their prerogative, however they are implying that the commodity chicken is special and that Murray’s is the commodity product.

Previously on their blog when they announced this, they said that Murray’s buys chickens from local farms and then processes and markets the chickens themselves.  “This isn’t bad per se – it’s actually quite common in the poultry business.”  They then proceed to describe the commodity chicken from the industrial chicken farms as being “grown and prepared for market at one location from birth to sale.”

Murray’s does buy chickens from small local farms and then processes them in their processing plant and markets the chickens themselves.  They are a Certified Humane® company which means their farms and processing plant are inspected annually to make sure they meet the highest humane standards for all aspects of their operations. Murray’s buys from small family farmers not contract growers. Their birds get the dark period they need to sleep so their growth is slowed and they don’t go to slaughter until they are older than commodity birds.

We’ve inspected the local farms Murray’s buys their chickens from and can attest to the treatment of these birds.  What Murray’s does is uncommon in the poultry business.  They are one of two Certified Humane® poultry producers in the US.   Murray’s is not an “integrated operation.”  “Integrated operations” are what is common in the poultry business in the US.

The “Pump’s” customers should be given the truth about the new chickens they are buying – common industrial chicken, commodity birds grown in integrated commercial systems, otherwise known as “Factory Farming.” The “Pump’s”  new supplier has breeding facilities, hatchery facilities, feed mills and processing plants.  Their operations include a farming division that has 28 company-owned farms for the chickens and more than 300 other farms.

The new supplier’s website says they employ over 2200 people, have farms in Maryland, Delaware, and North Carolina and process 2.2 million birds per week and pack about 10 million pounds of finished products per week.

Murray’s process less than 10% of the number of birds that their new supplier processes weekly.

They have changed their blog to say, their new supplier “is not commodity chicken, and as such, these birds have been raised and held to higher standards.”  Whose  higher standards have they been raised to?

I have already written to Elizabeth Kellogg of the Pump.  It is important for people not to be fooled by PR “spin” like this. Why don’t you  contact the “Pump” and let them know that you support Certified Humane® producers and products and that you are disappointed that they don’t.

Adele

We get calls and e-mails all the time asking how the Certified Humane® program is different from other certification programs out there.  People want to purchase food they can be assured comes from farm animals raised under humane guidelines.  The challenge is that having many different labels in the marketplace can be confusing and sometimes misleading.

So today we released a comprehensive, side-by-side comparison of major U.S. animal welfare labels.  The chart analyzes the five leading food labeling programs dedicated to animal welfare:  Certified Humane®, Animal Welfare Approved, Global Animal Partnership (Whole Foods), USDA/Organic and American Humane Certified.

This chart is designed to show you, the consumer, what each label means under specific programs.  By consulting the chart you can now make a more informed decision when purchasing food.

Check out the chart here:  Comparison Chart

All of your efforts to take comment cards to retailers urging them to carry Certified Humane® products in their stores are having an impact. Because of your efforts, products that are Certified Humane® are sold in over 4,000 retailers nationwide. They are being sold at regular supermarkets, not expensive specialty stores, but regular supermarkets that many of us shop in.  You can visit our products finder Where to Buy to locate a store near you.

Thank you for all your efforts and I’m counting on you to tell your friends and family about Certified Humane® and ask them to help spread the word in the New Year!  It’s because of you that we have been able to make such good progress. It is because of you that many millions of farm animals had better lives in 2010.

Best wishes to you and your families in 2011!

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Adele Douglass, Executive Director

Recently I visited one of the small farms on our program.  While there I noticed the small pens of turkeys.  I realized this is the growing season for Thanksgiving turkeys and I realized that now is the time for consumers to let turkey growers know what they want, or there still will be no Certified Humane® turkeys for Thanksgiving 2010. For those of you who are vegan or vegetarian and know people who are still meat eaters, encourage those friends to support this effort.

We still have not identified any turkey producers that can meet our standards.  We have some multi-species farmers who produce small numbers of turkeys, but no larger producer has applied to our program.  The reason usually given to me for why turkey producers won’t apply is that they don’t need to.  They believe the public doesn’t care and as long as there is no demand for Certified Humane® turkeys they see no need to make any changes to meet our standards.

Since there is minimal supply and a lot of demand, the staff and I concluded that the suppliers are not hearing about the demand.

Farmers consider retailers to be their customers.  And as consumers, you buy from retailers.  You can make the most significant impact by asking retailers to offer turkeys and turkey products that are Certified Humane®.  You know when you see the Certified Humane Raised and Handled® logo, that the turkeys were raised with enough space so they are not crowded, they can move around, they have fresh air to breathe, they are not fed animal by-products or antibiotics (hormones are prohibited in poultry by law), and have been processed in the most humane way possible.

Can you help?  If you can, please go to our Take Action page on our website  and download the “Turkey Request Form.”  Sign it and whenever you go to a new grocery store, drop it off with the meat manager, or at the customer service desk.  Please ask your friends and neighbors to do the same.  If you can’t download this and would like us to send you some of these forms, please email us at info@certifiedhumane.org and with your name and address and say you would like Turkey Request Forms.

John continues his quest to kayak the coast of Iceland to raise awareness for Humane Farm Animal Care and the Certified Humane® program. 

John’s currents position is on the Northwestern portion of the country just above the town of Kalfshamarsvik. Unfortunately the elements have not been on John’s side. He reports rough days with heavy cross winds.

He did have a break however with good weather and was able to make a long crossing of 37 miles!  That evening he found a great campsite and reported tired muscles. The scenery continues to be stunning and he has been seeing “thousands” of bird and seals.

A picture of John’s awesome campsite below.

Latest weather forecast is still grim. “Very bad weather forecast. High winds and heavy seas for the next three days. I may be off the water for a while. It’s quite cold up here,” he says.

John has been paddling for almost a month now, and hopes to wrap the trip up in several weeks.  He looks forward to a warm bed and spending time with his family.

And a picture his toughest camp, wind all night long makes for not the greatest sleep.  The scenery is still stunning however.

We are grateful to John for his efforts to promote our organization and keep the issue of farm animal welfare in the eye of the international public.

We will keep you up to date on his progress. We know your thoughts and prayers are with him.

Adele

PS -next week, let’s talk turkeys!