Whole Foods to source slow-growing chickens by 2024

Whole Foods Market announced it plans to change its sourcing for chickens in response to an update to non-profit animal welfare organization Global Animal Partnership’s standards.

GAP said it will require only slower-growing chicken breeds by 2024 for certification in its 5-Step Rating Program, which Whole Foods uses in its stores to rate meat and poultry.

“Since 2011, Whole Foods Market has used Global Animal Partnership’s 5-Step Rating system to provide our customers with standards and information around how the animal was raised for the meat they buy,” Theo Weening, global meat buyer for Whole Foods, said in a press release. “Supporting this additional commitment to improve chicken welfare is a step forward in continuing to provide our customers with products of the highest quality and flavor.”

According to GAP, 98% of all commercially available chicken meat in North America comes from fast-growth chickens.

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