Whole Foods Boosts Support for Animal Welfare, Local Farms(A)

Whole Foods Markets Inc. has announced new initiatives to promote local sustainable agriculture and animal welfare. The company’s new commitments include hiring a full-time staff person to find suppliers that meet the company’s animal welfare standards, which are stricter than the USDA’s national organic standards. It also includes new initiatives to source products locally, a $10 million a year loan program to support small sustainable farmers, and setting up farmers markets at some locations to let small farmers sell their produce directly to customers. For more details and a discussion of these initiatives, see the Whole Foods blog at the online environmental magazine Grist.