Date: Fri, 22 May 2009 15:55:54 +1000
Thank you for your correspondence regarding the recent media comments
relating to a Tasmanian piggery.
Woolworths became aware of an issue at this particular farm some five
weeks ago. Upon being made aware we immediately sent our head livestock
buyer to the farm to conduct an inspection. We were not happy with the
conditions and issued the farmer with a list of improvements to be made
by Friday 15th May. It should be noted that this work was in addition to
a work order issued by the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industry
(DPI).
Given the fact that this piggery is a long standing supplier to
Woolworths and others, with no prior history of poor practice, we opted
to give this farm a chance to improve. This was decided on the basis
that if improvements were not made to our satisfaction then we would
cease to do business with this producer.
Our livestock team has visited the piggery on three occasions over this
period and we are satisfied that the improvements we stipulated have
been made in full. DPI Tasmania and the RSPCA have also visited the farm
in conjunction with the Woolworths livestock team and are also now
satisfied that the animal welfare standards on the farm meet acceptable
industry standards.
This farm was subject to an independent audit process and was last
audited in November 2008. No major issues were raised on this audit. We
can only presume that conditions deteriorated rapidly in recent months.
We believe this to be an isolated incident that reflects badly on the
generally high standard of practice from other pig producers in
Australia.
Prior to this incident, Woolworths had already begun a process of
reviewing animal welfare standards across the business. This work
continues.
Again, thank you for taking the time to contact us about this particular
incident.
Kind regards
Michael Batycki
General Manager Fresh Foods
I have already blogged on the cruelty and maggot infested squalor of the piggery supplying Woolworths in Tasmania.
I have now received the following information:
The operator of the Longerong piggery Gary Oliver has been charged with 3 counts of aggravated cruelty - the most serious of animal welfare charges - an overall charge of mismanagement causing suffering, failing to comply with a direction under the Animal Welfare Act, and a further count of cruelty following an inspection two weeks after the initial police charges were laid.
My understanding of that information is that the operator had been unable to to reform his attitudes and his operation two weeks after police charges were laid. In all this, as reported in my previous post, Woolworths at no time suspended the operator and discontinued the supply of his pork through its outlets in Tasmania.
The term "food security" operates on a number of fronts: being able to access sufficient food for health and well-being; being self-sufficient in food production as Australia once was and is not any more; and having access to food which is safe and uncontaminated.
In 1906, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair was published. This led Theodore Roosevelt to introduce the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which established the Food and Drug Administration. To the best of my knowledge, this was the first legislation of its type in the world. I point this out to emphasise the importance and imperative of food safety.
In Australia, probably the case that comes to the minds of most Australians is the case of Garibaldi in South Australia. Scientists reckon that each year there are five million cases of Australians getting sick from the life sustaining food they've eaten. A lot of this is due to the way food is handled and/or prepared.
However, how much has its source in animal cruelty and poor animal management as in the Tasmanian case?
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25471687-5006788,00.html
http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/tas/content/2006/s2564758.htm
Pig farmer in court on cruelty charges
Both emails and phone calls to Woolworths' customer enquiry line will impact on their decision making process and will send a strong message to Woolworths that supporting animal cruelty is not acceptable to consumers.
Woolworths can be contacted by their customer response form on their website at
http://www.woolworths.com.au/contactus/index.asp
Woolworths spokeswoman Claire Buchanan on Monday said the farmer has been supplying fresh pork meat of a very high standard to Woolworths for 10 years.
The farmer supplies 20 per cent of all the Tasmanian pork that Woolworths buys.
"We had no reason to question that there were any problems because of the high quality standards we were seeing," Ms Buchanan said.
However, within 48 hours of being confronted with the shocking video by Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania, Woolworths sent a livestock buyer to inspect the piggery last month.
"He was not happy with what he found," Ms Buchanan said.
"It's our preference to work with a supplier to see if they can make the necessary changes."
Woolworths gave the farmer a list of animal welfare improvements to make and returned two weeks later for an inspection.
"The situation had vastly improved," Ms Buchanan said.
"We are now checking regularly to make sure he is following through to improve the situation."
The Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries is also now working with the farmer whose supply to Woolworths has continued unabated by the controversy.
