Fmota News

Is your grocery store supporting a “habitual violator”? Don’t let Salmonella outbreaks like this happen again. Hold them responsible.

“Please instruct all the grocery stores and supermarkets in your company to stop doing business with Jack DeCoster or his business associates, the egg producer responsible for the current Salmonella outbreak that has sickened hundreds.”

The egg producer behind the massive salmonella outbreak is a “habitual violator” who is STILL in business with your grocery store. Click here to tell your store to stop carrying his products.

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Already more than 1,000 Americans are sick from Salmonella poisoning as a result of the past week’s gigantic egg recall – which now includes an unimaginable 550 million eggs![1]

Amazingly, the tainted eggs can be traced back to one man — Austin “Jack” DeCoster. How our country responds to him will say a lot about whether we are ready to change how food gets on our tables.

The vast majority of the recalled eggs come from one company — Wright County Egg in Galt, Iowa — which is owned by DeCoster and has a long history of violations.[2] The other facility involved is Hillandale Farms, which is also located in Iowa, who has deep connections to DeCoster, including receiving chickens and feed and renting facilities from DeCoster-owned companies.[3]

Right now, massive efforts are underway to remove these eggs from the shelves — but we can’t stop there.

It’s time that grocery stores like:

- Safeway, – Costco, – Ralph’s, – Trader Joe’s, – Wal-Mart, – Albertson’s – and others

stop doing business with any company connected to Jack DeCoster — permanently. These stores need to show us that we can trust the products they put on their shelves.

Tell your grocer to protect your and your family’s health. Clicking below will sign your name to our letter to their corporate offices demanding that they no longer purchase eggs from any facility connected to Jack DeCoster.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/stop_this_bad_egg/234?akid=184.153513.0fwj0q&t=6

If there were a poster boy for the ills of factory farming, Jack DeCoster would be it. DeCoster has a lifetime of flagrant violations against state and federal laws, including labor, human rights, environmental and animal cruelty violations.4 Things got so bad that in the year 2001, the Iowa Supreme Court declared him a “habitual violator” and barred him from building hog confinements in the state.[5] But that hasn’t stopped him from expanding into chicken farming, where he has continued to shirk regulations. In 2006, DeCoster put up more than $126 million to fund Hillandale founder Orland Bethel’s construction of Ohio Fresh Eggs. In this case, when Ohio officials found out about DeCoster’s involvement, which was intentionally hidden, they pulled the company’s state permits.[6]

Of course, getting Decoster’s eggs off the market is not nearly enough. In our effort to root out the bad eggs in the system, we’ll have to challenge both the producer responsible for this outrage and the broken food system that put us in this dangerous position. Jack DeCoster can only put so many Americans in danger because of lax regulation and massive consolidation, which puts food production in fewer and fewer hands.

But those kind of systemic changes take time, and we can’t stand silent while our food system is contaminated by repeat offenders. That’s why it’s time for the grocery stores where we spend our hard earned dollars to step up. According to food safety experts, for every 1 person who reports a food safety illness, at least 38.5 will never report it.[7] That means more than 50,000 people could eventually come down with salmonella poisoning as a result of this single egg recall.

Stores like Albertson’s, Safeway, Costco, Ralph’s, Trader Joe’s, Wal-Mart and others can help make sure this never happens again. Please click below to make sure these stories they know exactly who Jack DeCoster is, and to demand that his eggs never again show up on their shelves.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/stop_this_bad_egg/234?akid=184.153513.0fwj0q&t=8

After you’ve taken action, ensure that your friends and family get the facts and aren’t exposed to these eggs. Just forward this email and the link below, and they can check to be sure their families are safe.

Click here to access the Egg Safety Center’s list of affected cities and egg brands. http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/226?akid=184.153513.0fwj0q&t=10

Thanks so much for standing with us as we fight for a safer and healthier food system,

Dave, Lisa and the Food Democracy Now! Team

S o u r c e s:

1. “Jack DeCoster, Hillandale Farms: Culprits in Massive Egg Recall?”, ABC News, August, 20, 2010 http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/227?akid=184.153513.0fwj0q&t=12

2. “Before salmonella outbreak, egg firm had long record of violations”, The Washington Post, August 22, 2010 http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/228?akid=184.153513.0fwj0q&t=14

3. “Second Iowa producer involved in egg recall”, Des Moines Register, August 21, 2010 http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/229?akid=184.153513.0fwj0q&t=16

4. “A ‘habitual offender’ unleashes nearly half a billion salmonella-tainted eggs”, Grist, August, 19, 2010 http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/230?akid=184.153513.0fwj0q&t=18

5. “Wright County Egg owner, DeCoster, seems to be one bad Egg”, MarlerBlog, August 21, 2010 http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/231?akid=184.153513.0fwj0q&t=20

6. “State revokes egg farm permits” Farm and Dairy, December 7, 2006 http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/232?akid=184.153513.0fwj0q&t=22

7. “Second Salmonella Lawsuit Filed Against Taco Bell”, Food Safety News, August 18, 2010 http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/233?akid=184.153513.0fwj0q&t=24