Animal-Friendly Purchasing Goes Viral

In a blog post from almost four years ago to the day, I asked the question "Is animal-friendly purchasing the future?"

Today, I think the answer is clearly "yes."

During the broadcast of Sunday's Grammy Awards, Chipotle Mexican Grill has produced a video that has since crossed the 5 million view mark on YouTube. The video - embedded at the end of this full blog post - is intended to draw attention to Chipotle's animal-friendly purchasing policy through which they have "sourced 100% of [their] pork from producers...whose pigs are raised outside or in deeply bedded pens, are never given antibiotics and are fed a vegetarian diet."

Then yesterday, McDonald's announced that "it will require its U.S. pork suppliers to provide plans by May to phase out crates that tightly confine pregnant sows," according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. McDonald's actions could be blazing a trail for animal-friendly purchasing to grow dramatically. In the above-linked article, the president of Mercy For Animals, an animal rights group, said that McDonald's has "the power to move an entire industry, to set an example that other food providers often follow...We hope it's the beginning of the end of these cruel and abusive practices."

So, animal-friendly purchasing is definitely an increasingly hot topic. But don't think that it is only for food producers. We, as a profession, have a long way to go because you may not even realize where your opportunities lie for being animal-friendly. Does your organization buy furniture, cleaning products, or laptop bags? If so - and who doesn't? - then your organization has the opportunity to be more animal-friendly. See my 2007 article entitled "Purchasing, Social Responsibility & Animals" for more details.

You are part of the future.

Here's the video I mentioned earlier...

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM, SPSM2
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing Association
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