Grocers sit at the other end of the food chain from farmers but are on the front line when it comes to consumer actions and expectations, says Linda Toby Oswald-Felker of Canada Safeway.
“They expect advocacy, they expect us to go to the supplier to make sure it (animal abuse) doesn’t happen,” she told the Farm Animal Council of Saskatchewan conference in Saskatoon Jan. 10.
“Consumers can move retailers in directions they don’t want to go,” said Oswald-Felker, Safeway’s vice-president of public affairs.
She cited the recent “Shameway” campaign waged against the company by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
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“They turned on the light of an issue we need to address,” she said.
PETA’s video footage of animal welfare violations by Safeway suppliers led to charges of animal cruelty and the introduction of new measures by the grocer.
“Bad often becomes normal,” she said of some questionable farm practices.
“We often don’t see what we need to be doing.”
Safeway has since created “a kind of firewall” that includes unannounced audits of suppliers.
The company has sought direction from animal behaviour expert Temple Grandin and sent letters to its suppliers requesting information on animal care protocols. The goal is to implement an enhanced set of guidelines regarding animal welfare, management and food production.
“It’s not our intent to do anything in isolation.”
