The Largest Organic Poultry Producer in the Nation is a Sham (Part I)

An image inside a “free range” barn at Perdue Farms, the largest organic poultry producer in the nation.

“Organic meat is booming.”

So begins a report on the meat industry by Supermarket Perimeter, regarding the 2021 numbers for organic meat consumption, which increased 37% in merely two years. But like virtually all the media’s discussion of the meat industry, the report was missing a key fact: the growth is based on a sham. From public health to animal welfare, the organic meat sector has engaged in a pattern of deception and intimidation that can only be compared to an organized crime syndicate. 

This claim might seem dramatic – until you look at the evidence. At a global scale, the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has estimated that food fraud is a $53 billion business, which is greater than the global trade in illegal firearms ($8 billion) and heroin ($30 billion) combined. As one report states: 

Food fraud manifests itself in many ways, from horse meat labeled and sold as beef, as was the case in Europe in 2013, to counterfeit wine and eggs passed off as free-range when the chickens that laid them have lived in cages their entire lives.

At the local level, there is shockingly little enforcement of animal welfare standards. Consider a recent report in the Guardian finding that only 1 in 300 complaints about criminal animal abuse are ultimately acted upon in the United Kingdom. Or consider my own experience in California, where dozens of animal cruelty complaints have led to exactly zero enforcement actions. Enforcement of non-legal animal welfare standards, such as corporate commitments, is even worse. At one farm that was marketed by a third party audit as “certified humane,” we literally found thousands of birds eating each other alive, after being driven insane by intensive confinement. 

But perhaps most disturbing of all is the collusion between industry and government to prevent consumers from seeing through this scam. The story of our investigation of the largest organic poultry producer in the nation shows how this fraud works, but also how pushing the case for animal rights in court can bring accountability to a corrupt system. 

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In the early to mid 2010s, producers of chicken across the nation, motivated by accelerating demand for organic and high welfare products, began to aggressively market their products as free range. Driven in part by the skyrocketing success of Whole Foods, which marketed its meat products as having “enhanced outdoor access,” among other cheery sounding claims, traditional agribusiness giants began jumping on the organic bandwagon. 

This included one of the largest poultry producers in the nation, Perdue Foods. Perdue, which was condemned by one of its own farmers in 2014 for mistreatment of chickens, made a sudden turnaround in public perception when it invited animal welfare advocates to engage with its high level executives two years later. The result was not just one but two glowing pieces in The New York Times about the company’s supposed commitment to animal welfare. Perdue even supported the prosecution of one of its own employees, when undercover footage was released by Mercy for Animals in 2015 showing abuse. Perdue, in short, was becoming the new king of animal welfare, and selling its products at fever pace to food retailers like Whole Foods as a result. 

The crown jewel of this organic empire was a company acquired by Perdue called Coleman Natural Foods, which in California marketed itself as Petaluma Poultry. By 2016, due to this acquisition, Perdue claimed it was the “largest organic certified broiler producer in the US.” Perdue’s website stated “organic is more than a label; it’s an approach to agriculture that strives to work in harmony with the earth and its inhabitants.” Videos the company produced showed idyllic conditions: 

There was just one problem: no one was really checking to see that Perdue was actually making the changes it promised. And there were numerous reasons to think it might not be telling the truth. For one, enforcement of the federal organic program was virtually nonexistent. Peter Whoriskey at the Washington Post published two separate investigations, of organic milk and organic eggs, showing that organic facilities in those industries were falling far short of legal standards, including that animals receive access to the “outdoors,” get “direct sunlight” and “fresh air.” Why would we expect Perdue to be different? 

For another, site visits to Perdue’s organic operations in Sonoma County, California – including its massive slaughterhouse in Petaluma – showed countless animals in distress. Vigils undertaken by the Save Movement in the Bay Area showed birds collapsed in their cages in transport. (My friend Jon was arrested in 2017 for protesting the mistreatment of birds in slaughter trucks.) Surveillance of Perdue’s farms on numerous occasions from public streets, moreover, showed no birds ever stepping outside. 

But no one had actually taken a close look inside Petaluma/Perdue’s farms to confirm our suspicions. And it was the farms, and not the slaughterhouse,  where the company was making the most aggressive marketing claims – “organic,” “free range,” etc. And so undercover investigators at DxE decided to take a look. And what they found – and sent to me –  was disturbing. 

First, not a single barn had access to the outdoors, contrary to both legal requirements and the company’s public statements. When investigators placed a 24 hour camera outside the barns, they saw only a single chicken out of tens of thousands outside – apparently due to having escaped the barn. 

Second, the animals appeared to be suffering from severe neglect, including countless birds who were sick, injured, and collapsed on the ground inside. This included dangerous infectious diseases that were leaving birds crippled, immobilized, or already dead. The video from investigators speaks for itself: 

We reported conditions such as these to Sonoma County authorities. And, after much public pressure, the county attorney and sheriff’s office finally agreed to a meeting in the summer of 2018. I and Jon Frohnmayer, who is also an attorney, met with Sonoma County lawyers and law enforcement and presented our evidence of animal cruelty. Yet, despite having no legal justification for their inaction, the Sonoma authorities stated to us that they would, effectively, do nothing. Animals would continue to starve, be trampled, or otherwise suffer to death in Sonoma County. And it was all happening on so-called “organic” and “humane” farms. 

Nearly as disturbing as the lack of attention from authorities, however, was the lack of attention from the mainstream media. After years of covering our investigations of “humane” farms, the largest publications – such as The New York Times and The Washington Post – appeared uninterested in what should have been a shocking story of fraud and abuse. (The fact that Petaluma Poultry was a major supplier to Amazon, which was led at the time by the owner of the Post, Jeff Bezos, may have played a role in the Post’s unwillingness to cover our findings.) The largest organic poultry producer was torturing animals and deceiving consumers – and no one would know it was even happening. 

This is a situation movements have been stuck in many times in history. A horrific injustice is unfolding. The government is asleep at the wheel. And the media is failing to report on the issue, whether due to cognitive biases or outright corruption. The solution in such situations is to take nonviolent direct action. That is exactly what we did. But the story of the state’s response to our action, in September 2018, shows just how deep the fraud runs. It also, however, shows how the court system can serve as an antidote to these lies. 

I’ll share that story in the next part of this series, which will come out on Friday.

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Here’s The Largest Organic Poultry Producer in the Nation is a Sham (Part II + Podcast).

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Some other updates

• Be sure to check out the podcast I had with Buddhist monk Robert Yamada on how Buddhism can help everyone. We go through some very basic principles — ahimsa, anattā, and mindfulness - that can help all of us through our tough moments in life. The link is here.

• Reminder that the first open rescue training I will be leading in nearly 4 years is booked for San Francisco on the afternoon of Saturday, December 3. If you’re interested in attending — the training will be by application only — shoot me an email, and I’ll be sure you get an application. The event page and application will go up in the next day or so. This is a great opportunity to learn about both the why and how of open rescue, including our most recent victory in court, and is valuable for anyone interested in this work — even if you don’t plan to risk arrest yourself.

• DxE is still looking for a paralegal in the Bay Area! Here’s the job description. Send me a note if you’re interested.