Not in My Food.org : Know what you're eating
Look for these labels to ensure your meat was raised without antibiotics:
- Organic
- No antibiotics, Raised without antibiotics, and other similar claims
Not to be trusted: Natural. This claim is meaningless with regard to whether or not the animal was given antibiotics.
For more details, click here.
We’re dubbing these past few months the ‘Summer of Meat’ — not just for the grilling, but because hundreds of thousands of you have signed a petition asking grocer Trader Joe’s to only sell meat raised without antibiotics.
Launched in June, our Meat Without Drugs campaign is working to end the overuse of antibiotics in meat production by asking grocery stores, starting with Trader Joe’s, to only source meat from suppliers that do not routinely use antibiotics in their animals. And 400,000 Americans are standing with us — with more joining each day. (If you haven’t added your name yet, you still can do so here)!
Along with our campaign partners, the petition has seen added support from online petition and activism sites Change.org, Credo Action and Care2, which helped attract hundreds of thousands of new supporters to the cause.
That includes people like Melissa Lee, a young mom from Troutdale, Ore., whose daughter, Ruby, nearly died at 10 months of age from eating ground turkey tainted with antibiotic-resistant Salmonella.
“Trader Joe’s has taken a stand against GMOs, artificial colors, preservatives, and trans fats in their food. They should be a leader in eliminating meat from livestock treated with antibiotics. Until stores like Trader Joe’s stop this practice, families will continue to be exposed to health risks like the ones Ruby faced,” said Lee, who started a petition on Change.org’s site.
We’re also excited about the huge response from those of you who are making an even bigger impact on Trader Joe’s. Some 5,000 of you downloaded our version of Trader Joe’s ‘Fearless Flyer’ to take to your local store asking the company to only carry meat raised without antibiotics.
We’ve gotten great feedback from flyer deliverers, including one woman from Athens, Ga., whose Trader Joe’s checkout clerk told her, “There have been a lot of people dropping these off!” You can see photos of our deliverers here, and if you’d like to drop off your own flyer, you can download one here.
Trader Joe’s has said they will not meet with us, so we’ll be hand-delivering your petition signatures in a way that makes sure company execs hear what you want! Stay tuned, and help us keep the momentum going on this critical campaign.
Ready to take action?
- Sign the petition!
- Download the flyer!
- If you’ve delivered a flyer, tell us about it!
It would be great news if Trader Joe’s would further expand its selections of high quality and organic products in this direction. It would further its distinctive image and “niche.”
I will only buy meat products antibiotics free!
I’ve always trusted Trader Joe’s to provide the best products. I want them to expand their products by giving up antibiotic-fed meat!
I seldom eat meat, but when I do, I buy it at Whole Foods, NOT Trader Joe’s.
I don’t want antibiotics in my food, and that includes dairy products. I hope Trader Joe’s will take the lead and sell only antibiotic and growth hormone-free meat, poultry, and milk. Organic farmers are in business!
Please Trader Joe, get rid of antibiotics in our meats.
Will not knowingly eat foods with antibiotics!
Please restore my trust, Trader Joe’s.
A better idea is to get the pork, beef and chicken off your grills. And much better for your health and the health of the planet.
Do you mean “use the grill” or “not use the grill” and why or why not.
Thank you everyone for taking the time to voice your opinions. Rubys happy and healthy now but I definatly learned a lot from her being sick. We should save antibiotics for only animals that are truly sick.
I love Trader Joes and could not wait until it came to my town. However, I feel bad that this wonderful store sells meat with antibiotics. I always thought all the food bought there was healthy but I am starting to pay more attention to labels. Sunflower has some meat without antibiotics or hormones. Trader Joe, change your policies.
I am all for organic and antibiotic free meats however the prices of such products need to be affordable. The meat is healthier and definitely tastes much better but we have to be vigilant regarding price gouging by the meat industry.
Why are the major chains not targeted? It seems totally unfair to target Trader Joe’s
There should be NO ANTIBIOTICS in our meet – ever. We are developing terrible bacterial resistance to antibiotics. You read all the time about MRSA (Methacillin Resistant Staphalococis Aurias) and VRSA (Vancomycin Resistant Staphalococis Aurias). Those are two of our most powerful antibiotics currently. Though new ones are being developed it is a slow process to guarantee their usefulness and safety. Martha C. Rader, R.N. (California)
Typical Trader Joe shoppin idiots in America. You want antibiotic free meat and organic yadda yadda but you don’t want to pay for it. HELLO!!!!!!!! Why the hell do you morons think Trader Joe’s carries that type of meat. They are a huge corporate chain (owned by the infamous Aldi family) who has thousands of stores all over the country. You think TJ’s is going to be supplied by small family farms that raise meat responsbily. Sure but you as a consumer are going to and should pay for it. American consumers are some of the biggest hypocrites on the planet. They want clean, hormone free, organic food etc. but still want it to be “affordable”. LOL…………..
And as an RN and a member of the medical community Martha you should spell certain terms correctly…..it’s staphylococcus A U R E U S…..
Trader Joe’s already sells organic meat and produce, although not exclusively. I shop there all the time and buy organic meats and produce. Fact of life, organic is more money and not everybody is willing to pay the premium for organic food. It’s more expensive to produce, and it’s that ugly principal of supply and demand…
I completely agree with Michael (above). Maybe people should be more worried about the stores that are not providing any kind of organic option. Melissa Lee should have done her research first about what to feed her child. If you are going to have children, learn how to feed them first. I have been eating all organic food since I found out I was pregnant and I am constantly aware of what is going into me and my unborn child. I am grateful to even have trader joes because it is sometimes my ONLY option for affordable clean meat. The whole petition is stupid. Get your priorities straight, starting with education.
Isn’t it just like Americans to turn on each other instead of turning on the corporations that create the problems. Devon, I’m calling you out. So, Melissa Lee’s child’s infection from bad meat is… her fault? What??? Come on! What I’d really like to see is a better effort on all of our parts to put blame where blame is due. Factory farms put profits over animal health and public health. If we demand stronger regulations on antibiotic use in animals (specifically banning it from feed and other uses on animals that aren’t sick), then guess what? It won’t be on the shelves for people to buy. Yeah, we need to look out for our selves and our own families, but I would also like to live in a world where we ALL look out for each other. To Melissa Lee: I’m sorry our government has failed you. I’m glad your daughter is healthy now. To all of us: enough is enough, let’s work together to take back our food system. And as the government is not listening, we are using the market system to take bring back safe meat production one grocery store at a time!
Hello,
I thought I would chime in here since this topic on TJ’S interests me very much.
I was shopping at TJ’S just last week and because I heard that TJ’S was attempting to pull the wool over our eyes, I made it a point to ask 5 employees if TJ’S food was indeed ORGANIC AND GMO FREE. I was told by all 5 employees that ANYTHING and EVERYTHING with the TJ label was ‘guaranteed’ to be ‘ORGANIC and GMO-FREE.’ HUH?
I guess the issues raised about TJ’s not being ‘upfront’ with their labeling made me ask this question. Because, a) I don’t have time to ‘read’ every freaking label and, b) we SHOULDN’T have to ‘read’ every single label to see if our food is good for us.
I wondered if the ‘home office’ didn’t ‘instruct’ these employees to ‘tell’ their customers (those who inquired, anyway) that EVERYTHING with the TJ label was ‘organic/GMO-free?’ But not so with other brands that TJ’S sells.
I am fighting to have ALL products be they from TJ’s and other markets to BOLDLY label that their product(s) are indeed ORGANIC/GMO-FREE and/or gluten-free.
I still question whether or not these employees were being spoon-fed (by ‘corporate’) the information I wanted to know or; is it just taking time for TJ’S to re-label all of their products to show us that their products are indeed ORGANIC/GMO-FREE/GLUTEN-FREE? If that is the case, then I understand.
However, if it is NOT the case and TJ’S is just ‘placating’ their customers with this so-called lie that EVERYTHING with the TJ label is up to ‘par’ the more investigation needs to be done.
I am a label-reader. However, if you read TJ’s labels carefully and even though they say ORGANIC, you must read the entire list of ingredients ‘cuz some of them are pretty bad.
There is more to the word ORGANIC than meets the eye. So it’s ORGANIC but were these veggies grown in soil that had been previously poisoned by Monsanto? Same with beef, chicken, etc.
Beef: Was the grass they were grazing on ORGANIC? So they were grass-fed but that doesn’t mean the ‘grass’ was not adulterated in some way. Same with chickens. Chickens eat corn and the corn-crops around the world have been Monsanto-zed.
I even hesitate to eat fish! Our oceans and seas have been poisoned by oil spills, radiation (remember Fukushima’s nuclear disaster or the BP spill and all the other ‘oil’ spills, ad nauseum, that have happened around the world in and our own country?)
Now we are finding that there are high levels of ARSENIC in our rice!!!! When will it ever end? When will the voice of the people be heard by the morons that are running and ruining our country and this planet?
I shall now dismount my rather tattered soapbox.
Just a’ sayin’, folks. Just a’ sayin’.
Blessed be