Dast2Dast

Farm Sanctuary campaigns woke Wolfgang Puck to the cruelty in his restaurants, and the renowned chef responded. Off the list are crated veal and foie gras; on the list are fine vegetarian options.

After being alerted to the cruelty involved in several of his offerings, Wolfgang Puck removed foie gras and crated veal from the menus of all of his businesses, including his fine dining restaurants; catering and events services; franchises; and store shelf products. The chef is also implementing a series of other animal welfare improvements to be completed by the end of 2007, and expanding his offerings of animal-free meals.

Farm Sanctuary is very pleased that a chef of Wolfgang Puck's stature has taken such important steps away from factory farming by refusing to purchase or offer products derived from several egregious practices. His decision reflects a growing wave of concern about the way farm animals are treated.

Campaign History

Farm Sanctuary first contacted Wolfgang Puck in 2002 as part of its campaign to inspire major dining establishments to help us eliminate the cruelest of factory farming practices. Dedicated animal advocates reached out to this celebrity chef about menu items that were especially inhumane in order to educate him about the extreme cruelties involved in foie gras and veal production. More recently, Farm Sanctuary worked with the Humane Society of the United States to help Wolfgang Puck companies create a plan to address a wide range of farm animal and vegetarian issues. Now that Wolfgang Puck's plan is a public pledge, many animals will be spared a terrible fate, giving Farm Sanctuary and all of its supporters cause to celebrate another precedent-setting victory.

What You Can Do Now

When a highly respected icon in the food industry takes a humane position like this, it has an impact. You can help continue to make a huge difference by asking other chefs and establishments to follow Wolfgang Puck's example.

Last month, Smithfield, the world's largest pig farming operation, announced plans to phase out gestation crates. Now, Marcho Farms, one of the largest U.S. veal companies announced plans to phase out veal crates. In 2002, Farm Sanctuary investigated and exposed conditions at Marcho Farms, and pressured the company to make changes.

It is significant that Smithfield and Marcho Farms have now changed course. Previously, they were both strong proponents of keeping animals in narrow crates. The industry's back flip on these confinement issues begs the question: what else are pigs, calves and other farm animals rightfully entitled to?

These changes show that as citizens, restaurants and other businesses become aware of agribusiness' cruelties, they will demand reforms. This was apparent last November when citizens in the state of Arizona voted overwhelming on Proposition 204 to ban veal and gestation crates.

Cruelty to animals violates basic humane principals, and industrial farming operators are now being forced to recognize this.

Still, industries that exploit and slaughter calves and pigs tend not to be very transparent about the way animals are treated, so it will be important to remain vigilant and to keep the pressure on. In the case of Marcho Farms, releasing calves from 2-foot-wide crates is progress, but nothing is humane about taking a newborn calf away from his mother and shipping him off to be slaughtered only a few months after his birth.