Safeway Lauded for Animal Welfare

Safeway has been named winner of the Henry Spira Humane Corporate Progress Award by the Humane Society of the United States, in honor of the grocer's efforts to end extreme confinement of pigs in its supply chain.

“Safeway has been a leader on tackling many of the worst farm animal abuses in food production for a decade," noted Matt Prescott, food policy director for the Humane Society. "We believe in offering credit where credit is due, and Safeway certainly deserves some for showing the pork industry that gestation crates have no future.”

Late last year, PG reported that the Pleasanton, Calif.-based grocer had begun eliminating gestation crates from its pork supply, and converted its Eastern Division fresh pork supply to product sourced from systems that utilize group sow housing.

Safeway Inc. operates 1,332 stores in 20 states and the District of Columbia under its namesake banner, as well as Vons, Pavilions, Randalls, Tom Thumb and Carrs.