Whole Foods and Bon Appétit Announce Groundbreaking Chicken Welfare Standards

Two food industry leaders recently issued groundbreaking commitments to improving the welfare of “broiler chickens, or chickens abused for meat. Whole Foods Market and Bon Appétit Management Company (BAMCO), a restaurant company operating more than 650 cafes serving universities and businesses, have pledged to provide birds with 25 percent more space, natural light, and environmental enrichments. These meaningful improvements will reduce the suffering of millions of birds each year.

BAMCO now also requires that suppliers replace cruel live shackle slaughter methods with less cruel pre-slaughter stunning systems by 2026. Such systems render animals unconscious prior to unloading and slaughter, eliminating the horrific suffering caused by shackling, electrocuting, throat slitting, and scalding in feather-removal tanks.

As our investigations into Tyson and other chicken producers show, broiler chickens are subjected to egregious cruelty and neglect. Crammed by the thousands into filthy, windowless sheds, chickens buckle under their own unnatural body weight, and chafe and develop boils and sores from the ammonia-laden flooring. Without adequate veterinary care, the birds’ wounds are left to fester and many birds suffer and die.

It’s high time Tyson adopted a meaningful animal welfare policy to reduce the suffering of birds. Please sign and share our petition to Tyson now!

The best way to prevent needless cruelty to chickens and other farmed animals is to leave them off our plates. Visit ChooseVeg.com for free recipes and tips.