Libertad's Journal
My Podcast Link
07/31/2006 23:31 #25801
castro is sick07/31/2006 23:01 #25800
Danny is proud of his eggsI shop at Wegmans and generally do enjoy the experience. Since seeing the website, wegmanscruelty.com
, I have stopped purchasing eggs from Wegmans. (e:kara)'s post led me to the wegmans website, which responded to the documentary. Here is Danny's response to the case of the rotten eggs. Read the official Wegmans response and then watch the film located on the the left of wegmanscruelty's webpage. Don't anyone fly off the handle as I have once heard someone say. I'm not bashing Wegmans. Actually no I am, I'm sick of them charging full price for everything now. The problem is more with that you can't sell cage free eggs for $.99 dozen, rather than with Wegmans or Danny. As far as I know nobody sells "cruetly free" eggs at that price.
Wegmans Egg Farm
Statement from Dr. Joy Mench
View recent television news coverage from inside our egg farm that aired on the ABC affiliate in Rochester, WHAM Channel 13:
May 4, 2006
May 9, 2006
We Are Proud of Our Egg Farm
(updated 05-09-2006)
About our farm and our practices...
We've been told that our egg farm, run for nearly 30 years by three generations of the Wadsworth family and a team of talented and committed employees, is one of the best in the country. It was started to ensure the freshest and highest quality eggs for our customers. Today, there are 750,000 chickens at the farm, and we are proud of our low mortality rate of less than 8%. Cage-free and free-range hens often have a much higher mortality rate because there is greater exposure to predators, disease, cannibalism, and extreme weather conditions.
Our customers and employees know we are always willing to look at doing things better or differently. We are not close-minded and are willing to look at the implications of cage-free production. If there is a significant shift in consumer demand, we'd give serious consideration to some cage-free production, provided it was the right thing for the health of the animals and for the employees at the farm. Our sales of cage-free eggs have risen slightly over the past year, but the volume is still very small.
In November of 2005, our farm participated in its annual audit of the United Egg Producers (UEP) Certified program, which outlines a set of science-based standards for cage space, air and water quality, nutritious food, and other animal care practices. The USDA conducted this audit, and we received a score in the high 190's (out of a possible 200). Our score in 2004 was also in the high 190's.
Last year, we began working with Dr. Joy Mench, professor of animal science at the University of California at Davis. Dr. Mench is an expert in animal behavior who co-authored the book "Poultry Behaviour and Welfare." She is also a member of the scientific panel that developed the standards for the UEP program. We asked Dr. Mench to visit our farm and consult with us for two reasons: first, to see if we were indeed doing as good a job with animal husbandry as we believed, and second, to learn if there was anything that could be improved. We are always looking for ways to improve, not just at our farm but across our entire organization.
We also work with Dr. Benjamin Lucio-Martinez, a veterinarian, who visits our farm and monitors the health and well being of our hens as part of Cornell University's Poultry Diagnostic and Extension Service.
A little background...
Three people broke into our farm more than once in 2004. They allegedly filmed hens in one laying house during the break-ins and called on law enforcement authorities to investigate our practices.
In the end, it was determined there was no evidence of animal abuse. The New York State Police and the Wayne County District Attorney's office jointly conducted the investigation, and Wegmans fully cooperated.
Food safety and food security are non-negotiable for us. We welcome customer debate on any topic, but we cannot tolerate illegal entry into our laying houses because of the obvious risk that a disease, like avian flu, could be tracked in. We have strict bio-security measures in place at our farm. Those who broke in three times not only broke the law, they put our hens at risk and the jobs of the farm's 80 employees.
Last summer, these same individuals released a 30-minute film that paints a false picture of conditions at our farm. It includes misleading and inaccurate statements, and we have questioned from the beginning whether all of the images came from our farm or might have been staged.
Why choice is important...
The activists are asking that we operate a farm without cages. Eggs produced by cage-free hens are available at Wegmans. These eggs cost more to produce, so the retail price is much higher than Wegmans eggs. Three nationally-known specialty food stores are often lauded for switching to cage-free eggs only. Wegmans is a full-service supermarket, not a specialty food store. Price is important to our customers, who expect to find eggs at an affordable price and value them as an inexpensive source of high quality protein. Some simply can't afford to pay more. We don't believe we should force all of our customers to pay more than double the price for a dozen eggs just because a few people think we should.
If you have shopped at our stores and know us well, we hope you trust us to be honest and forthcoming. If you don't know us at all, we realize that's a lot to ask, but we appreciate the chance to tell you about our egg farm.
We are proud of our eggs
07/31/2006 18:52 #25799
Coming next weekWould someone buy this house and let me live in it please?
so maybe they will keep your house as is...maybe...fingers crossed!
the one under coming next week...lexington
What house should I buy there are a few. Actully I can't afforid any of them. Even if you paid the heat bill I still couldn't. I wish you luck on the apartment hunt.
07/29/2006 19:22 #25798
Mikey has a darksideMaybe if enough people beg he will let me post the "other" pic.
Lets see yet the "other other" side of Mikey
POST IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hehe
07/28/2006 21:47 #25797
Fists for Paul"Sometimes if I want to put on a smile, I just slam my head into my first."
"Read my fist not my lies"
Some people like to make latex fists.
I have seen this billboard in Canada. It always is scary to drive past it, like some guy in a pick up truck is going to come and hack me to pieces after i cross that point along the road.
Angry Iraqi fists
ok so I'm out of the loop on the news, and I learned of this from your journal. But then this morning the urologist (not sure where he's from, but he has an accent and his last name is Cartagena) told my boss (who is Argentinian) "oh hey doc... I have a patient for you to see... he's having a GI bleed... he has an AVM [arteriovenous malformation]" and my boss goes "oh, yeah... ok... sure we'll go see him" and Dr. Cartagena goes "he's in cuba!" and they all laughed. A somber laugh, but still. Is that a joke? is it funny? I'm not so sure...
Some say he is dead. Others say this is a test. Some are cheering while others are crying.
Will History absolve him?