Not in My Food.org : Know what you're eating
We know Bay Area folks have a lot of love for Trader Joe’s – after all, the city of San Francisco alone contains five Trader Joe’s stores within its mere 49 square miles.
But what a lot of TJ’s shoppers don’t realize about one of their favorite grocery store chains is that much of the meat sold at TJ’s is from animals raised using antibiotics.
On industrial farms, antibiotics are often fed to otherwise healthy animals to make them grow faster and allow them to tolerate crowded and unsanitary conditions. This inappropriate use leads bacteria to develop resistance to the drugs, creating ‘superbugs’ that spread to humans through our environment and the food we eat.
That’s why today we ran an ad in the San Francisco Chronicle to ask for your help letting Trader Joe’s know its customers want them to stop selling meat raised on antibiotics.
As with many grocery stores, Trader Joe’s does offer some ‘no antibiotics’ meat selections (including some organic options). But this isn’t about choice, it’s about taking a stand for public health and refusing to sell meat from animals raised on these drugs. It’s a standard, we’ve come to find out, that many TJ’s customers and even their own employees already think exists.
“The antibiotics we all depend on to fight off deadly infections are losing their power,” said Jean Halloran, Director of Food Policy Initiatives at Consumers Union in a press release. “We shouldn’t waste these critical medications to make animals grow faster or to prevent disease. Humans don’t take antibiotics to prevent disease and neither should healthy farm animals.”
Other companies are already moving away from antibiotic-raised meat. Restaurant chains Chipotle and Panera both point to a no-antibiotics standard for the meat they source in their menu items. And Bay Area drivers have likely seen Whole Foods’ giant billboards alongside the Bay Bridge with a reminder that “Friends Don’t let Friends Eat Meat With Drugs”, a reference to the fact that all the meat sold at Whole Foods is raised without antibiotics or hormones.
“Trader Joe’s has been an industry leader in offering affordable options for organic food and eggs from cage-free hens,” said Halloran. “It should use its leverage with suppliers to help move the livestock industry towards healthy animals raised without drugs.”
You can help: take a second to call Trader Joe’s now and ask the company to stop selling meat raised with antibiotics at 1-800-221-2063.
Your organization needs to get a grip on reality.. I find it particularly offense to open the newspaper and find a full page ad targeting a very successful business that does a great job of providing healthy alternates to the crap manufactures put out. You are basically singling out a great company and trying to drive away business as opposed to actually doing something constructive. The I come to your site, and first off, your email address does not even accept an email? (Remote host said: 554 No relaying allowed – psmtp [RCPT_TO]).. Then you have the nerve to ask people to bring your crap to Trader Joes directly?
How can you even call your organization Consumers Union if you unfairly target one retailer? – A union is defined as “a number of persons, states, etc., joined or associated together for some common purpose’ and while your purpose may be sound – follow some logic here and target the industry, not the retailers.
Why are you not targeting all of the other supermarkets – is it because you feel if you can get trader joe’s to do it, the rest will follow?
Just terrible – you people are nothing more than a damn PAC in disguise. While I might have thought about supporting your cause -by targeting one retailer, you lost an advocate. Love to see where your ‘donations’ are coming from – maybe the same people who think everyone should be a vegan?
Consumers Union has maintained for decades that antibiotics should not be used on industrial farms preventively or to make animals grow faster. But the stranglehold of the meat and pharmaceutical industries on Washington continues to thwart any change to current practices, so we decided to turn our attention to the marketplace to see if grocery stores couldn’t be a part of the solution.
If we tried to move the entire grocery store industry at once, our message would be diluted and ineffective. So while our ultimate goal is to get all supermarkets to stop selling meat raised on antibiotics, we must focus our efforts on one store at a time.
Trader Joe’s seems particularly well-positioned to be the next store to make this transition because:
-Most of Trader Joe’s meat (as with most of their products in general) are sold under the company’s own brand, meaning they have a direct relationship with their suppliers and can make these kinds of demands.
-Trader Joe’s already has a solid record of setting these kinds of standards for the products they sell, such as no GMOs, artificial colors or trans fats, and only sourcing sustainably raised fish and cage-free eggs.
-Trader Joe’s main competitor, Whole Foods, already has a ‘no antibiotics’ policy in place for all of the meat it sells, and Trader Joe’s should be the next to make this commitment.
-Many of Trader Joe’s customers and employees already think the company does not sell meat raised on antibiotics, and it should live up to these expectations.
Consumers Union is the advocacy arm of Consumer Reports. We are not a PAC, nor do we take a cent of money from any industry.
jr, nicely said.
Meg Bohne has what appears to be a one-woman crusade against Trader Joe’s. Her rationale is totally warped.
As you suggest, why does not Consumbers Union/ConsumerReports attack all the major chains who almost without exception have far lower standards than Trader Joe’s in every area.
Jr & Ralph, Thank you, thank you, thank you,
I too am infuriated with Consumers Union for their narrow minded practices. In the grocery industry, Trader Joes has an outstanding reputation for quality and high standards, however this single focused attack on their reputation is uncalled for and appalling. CU should institute less assaultive tactics and perhaps work more on educating families to seek healthier choices. The market will then drive the change. If CU is set on being combative to make their point, they should point the finger at the worst offenders and the companies that would really “make a difference” with regard to what is served on America’s dinner tables. Trader Joe’s is such a small, but quality player in the highly competitive grocery industry and they don’t deserve this.
I am not affiliated with Trader Joe’s, it’s vendors or agencies, nor do I know anyone who works there. I’m just a concerned Trader Joe’s shopper who also has had enough of CU’s very myopic and extremely politically slanted platforms, which they continuously endeavor to promote. Time after time, CU employs well intentioned tactics to enact positive change, but it’s done in ways that only serve to drive up prices, hinder business and cut jobs and most of all DRIVE UP TAXES.
I am very disgusted with how they spend my subscription money and not only will I not be renewing my subscription, but I will also make a point to encourage my friends, family or anyone else, not to support this organization.
They just don’t get it.
We don’t expect everyone to agree with our campaign to convince Trader Joe’s to sell only meat without drugs but over 650,000 consumers have shown their support by signing our petitions, delivering flyers to their local store or making phone calls to the company. We think Trader Joe’s is in a unique position to be an industry leader and we intend to keep pushing until it takes a stand on this important public health issue.
I applaud your efforts and agree that antibiotics should not be used on industrial farms preventively or to make animals grow faster. I understand that Trader Joe’s is in a unique position to be an industry leader and you intend to keep pushing. But after a year of not getting anywhere with them it’s time to move your campaign tactics over to a publically traded company who reports to a board of directors and shareholders who actually can push the company toward stopping the sale of meat from animals raised on antibiotics. Right now all Trader Joe’s does when I call their phone number is answer and log the call. That does nothing. Trader Joe’s is privately held. Decide on another store and maybe you’ll get the ball rolling in the direction we need. Thanks