Sysco Asks Pork Producers to End Gestation Crate Use

Sysco, North America’s largest food-service distributor, is the most recent food-industry giant to join the ranks of gestation crate-free companies such as Costco, Kroger, and Safeway. In a statement to the Humane Society of the United States, the company expresses their commitment, “Sysco takes its role as a responsible corporate citizen in the food supply chain seriously … several customers and suppliers have expressed their desire to eliminate gestation crates from their supply chains.” Although Sysco has yet to set a deadline for suppliers, HSUS applauded the move, with President and CEO Wayne Pacelle responding, “We are grateful to Sysco … within the broader food retail sector, we are hearing an emphatic ‘no confidence’ vote in the pork industry’s production practices.”