Trader Joe's supports battery cage cruelty to hens

[smbolisnch]

As someone who's interested in the humane treatment of poultry, you may have heard that two of the nation’s largest natural foods retailers, Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats Natural Marketplaces, have discontinued selling eggs from battery-caged hens confined in tiny wire coops. Those two simple decisions will spare countless birds from lives of misery.

Unfortunately, Trader Joe's, a national grocery chain that competes with Whole Foods and Wild Oats in the natural foods marketplace, continues to sell eggs from battery-caged hens. We need your help in convincing Trader Joe's to do the right thing.

The conditions for caged hens are simply too cruel for any humane person to support, or for any socially responsible company to condone. Now is the time for Trader Joe's to commit to selling only cage-free eggs. Here's how you can help:


1. Take Action

Please take a moment to call the Trader Joe's customer comment lines at 626-599-3817 (West Coast) and 781-455-7319 (East Coast) and ask the company to adopt a policy to sell only cage-free eggs. Remind the company that its customers are still concerned about the immense suffering of the birds who lay the eggs that the chain sells.
Before your next trip to Trader Joe's, be sure to print and sign our free "customer comment card" to drop off at the store. Feedback from Trader Joe's customers is vital to the success of this campaign, so please add a short note saying that you want to see only cage-free eggs sold at these specialty food stores. Click here to find a Trader Joe's near you.
Finally, please send a personal email message to Trader Joe's. It's quick and easy to send your message right now. If you are a customer of Trader Joe's, please let them know—you could even mention the Trader Joe's store you regularly shop at. Click here to send Trader Joe's an email.

2. Tell Your Friends

We believe Trader Joe's will respond favorably to public requests to improve the welfare of laying hens—but we need as many people as possible to send the grocery chain a polite but strong message. Click here to ask your friends to contact Trader Joe's and urge the company to stop selling battery-caged eggs.

Egg-laying hens in battery cages are the most intensively confined animal in the United States, with each bird provided less cage space than a sheet of paper. The cages are so restrictive that the birds cannot even stretch their wings, let alone engage in other natural behaviors such as nesting, foraging, perching, and dust bathing. Chickens are social, intelligent birds, and when confined in battery cages, these animals suffer needlessly and immensely. You can stop it.

Thank you for taking action today and for all you do on behalf of animals.

Sincerely,

Wayne Pacelle
President & CEO
The Humane Society of the United States

P.S. Trader Joe's recent web statement defensively rejects the idea of going cage-free, trying to brush off the 26,000 emails the company received as the work of an "activist group" rather than concerned consumers. We've responded to Trader Joe's misleading statement, explaining why the chain should stop selling eggs from birds confined in cruel battery cages.

[AFSCME girl]

1. I was one of those 26,000 activist

emailers. I am very disappointed at the stance Trader Joe's has taken regarding this issue. I have opted not to shop there until this is resolved.

[smbolisnch]

2. Good for you AFSCME girl!

:yourock:

[AFSCME girl]

3. Aw shucks, thanks

smbolisnch :hi: It just seems to me that if Whole Foods, and other retailers can do this, that Trader Joe's should be able to also. I don't get why TJ's is being so defensive and obstinate about this :shrug:

[AFSCME girl]

6. P.S. I'm not sure how long my

boycott of TJ's will hold out ~ it is my all time favorite place to shop. When I see all the progressive bumper stickers in the parking lot, I feel like I'm on cloud nine....:hi:

[flvegan]

9. What else do you buy there?

I swear that there's a point to this question, and I also swear it's not one that's even remotely smoking...

[AFSCME girl]

11. Hi you,

I buy whatever I can there, and then pick up any items TJ's doesn't carry (i.e. soda) at the regular grocery store.

I'm glad I emailed them about this issue, and I do agree with you and beaverhausen. A shopper can make just as much impact by continuing to shop there ~ through the items that they purchase.



:pals:

[flvegan]

12. Okay, so, let's look at it this way...

You shop at TJ's, which is the "little guy" compared to the big supermarkets (I'm assuming that there are no other shops like TJ's in the area). That's a plus. Even though HSUS has gotten all bent out of shape with TJ's over this, they are certainly the small fish in this great big pond of markets selling eggs. While I agree that TJ's SHOULD take a positive stance against selling eggs from battery hens, if they won't, they differ little from the big boys. Now, my choice is between TJ's and the big boys. I'll take TJ's, but I'll bitch the whole way through. Why? Because it's easier to influence a lizard than a dinosaur.

As part of the (sigh) compromise, I'd ask to talk to the Trader Joe's manager and see if I could leave some handouts from one of the many groups that publish factsheets on battery hens, so that folks can make an EDUCATED decision. Poultry Concerns, Farm Sanctuary, etc have educational materials that might not be offensive in nature (to the average Joe that sees "PETA" and freaks out). If they said no, then, well, I'd drop a few in the ole egg fridge while I shopped. But then, I'm a radical terr'ist of sorts, so don't listen to me. *whistling and walking away*

[AFSCME girl]

13. Hmmm, I think I will have to

order/download some of those educational materials and have them accidentally (on purpose) slip out of my purse during my next shopping trip :evilgrin: :toast:

[flvegan]

15. That's a new avatar. I like it.

Agent H (it's H, right?) kicks mucho grande ass.

[AFSCME girl]

16. It is Agent H ~ yes he does

kick butt!! :bounce: I like your Shac 7 picture. I can't figure out how to get a picture in my signature line x(

[shockra]

17. Just type (or paste) the photo's url into the sig line box.

Also, to hyperlink your furisdead.com, put an http:// in front of it. :)

P.S. You can find out a photo's url by right-clicking on it and going to "properties."

[AFSCME girl]

18. Thank you so much,

Shockra!! Thanks also for the info on "fur is dead" link! :yourock:

[livinginphotographs]

4. I've never even heard of Trader Joe's

But you think the clientele that a store like this would cater to would appreciate them not using battery cage hens.

[flvegan]

5. TJ has a response on their website:

http://www.traderjoes.com/products/eggissue.asp


Trader Joe’s Message to Customers regarding Eggs

Here’s some background:

In June of 2005, the leader of a national activist group (The Humane Society of the United States) wrote to us twice seeking support for their cage-free egg campaign.

We respectfully responded to let them know this is not the sort of thing that we do. We receive many requests to partner with organizations in order to tackle a myriad of social, economic, political, humane, and environmental issues. Trader Joe’s cannot honestly represent the politics and values of each individual customer; therefore we elect not to partner with any one group or organization.

Shortly after the second letter arrived, we were notified that since we did not take the action they requested, we would be the target of a coordinated email campaign against our company.

A few days later, a massive email campaign was launched against many of our communication systems. (Over 30,000 emails were sent in a two-day period, all of which appear to have been generated from a single server at the activist group site).

Here are some facts:

Egg production is a major industry, with some 3 billion cartons (dozens) of eggs produced each year. Of this total production, 95% are conventional, and 5% are cage free. Our egg suppliers follow strict guidelines for animal welfare that have been approved by the FDA and USDA. Following these guidelines allows our suppliers to be identified as “Animal Care Certified.” To be classified as “Animal Care Certified,” the egg farms are inspected and audited by the USDA on a regular basis. In addition, our buyers inspect our suppliers to make sure the guidelines are being followed.

Here’s what we think:

We have offered our customers the choice of both conventional eggs and cage-free eggs since 1993. Trader Joe’s will continue to sell conventional eggs as long as the USDA, or another reputable third-party agency certifies our suppliers.

The activist website states “people won’t mind paying $1 more for cage-free eggs.”

We at Trader Joe’s will not alter our selection, or raise our prices, based on assumptions about our customers. Eggs are a basic for many families. As such, we don’t want to only offer them eggs at a significantly higher price. While we appreciate the value of cage free eggs, for many, they’d prefer to get a good price on this everyday basic.

Our customers are smart, and we believe in giving our customers the opportunity to make their own decisions.

[Beaverhausen]

7. At the risk of getting flamed

Trader Joes isn't known as an exclusively "natural" or "Organic" food store although a lot of their products fall into that category.

and when I do buy eggs I buy the cage free ones at TJs. I figure I'm making the statement with my purchase that I support having that choice and will pay a few cents more.

[flvegan]

8. No flames here.

If you're going to shop there, go for the most humane alternative there is. Supply and demand drive that place (and most others). The more they sell, the more preference they see, the bigger the difference it makes.

[AFSCME girl]

10. This is true....

:hi:

[SiouxJ]

14. This is true and it also raises another issue

We don't have a TJ's up here in the mountains of AZ, only down in Phoenix, but I have been a fan for about 15 years. I have to get most of my groceries at Safeway as it's the closest market to my house. They offer both types of eggs but the cage-free ones are sometimes sold out. I don't mind the inconvenience; I love seeing that empty slot next to the fully stocked shelves of torture eggs. It sends a message every time I walk by.

The other issue the TJ's response raises is this: I am almost more disturbed by TJ's justification for continuing to contribute to torture (in a nutshell: it keeps the prices down and we think that is more important than animal torture) than the idea that they sell them. That really surprised me as I always thought they were a company with a conscience. It proves I was wrong. They don't care about anything but making money. Looks can be deceiving; they try to give off the image of being health conscious, environmentally friendly etc. but in reality they are just another greedy corporation. They are no different than Safeway or Wal-mart in that regard. You would expect to see torture eggs at those type of places but not necessarily at TJ's. Now I'm wondering about their other products. What rain-forests have been trashed for TJ's low prices etc.? I never gave that much thought before, but now that I understand their attitude, I have to.