Ryan Gosling Pens Letter Urging Costco to Sell Cage-Free Eggs-

I'm SO with him. I just wrote an email to Costco Corporate asking for a refund of my membership and that I will not shop there or become a member again until this is rectified and they go cage-free and fix these inhumane conditions...


Ryan Gosling Pens Letter Urging Costco to Sell Cage-Free Eggs

06/22/2015

Ryan Gosling—actor, father, heartthrob, meme—is now adding “activist” to his list of roles.

Less than two weeks after the Humane Society of the United States released an undercover investigation of a major Costco egg supplier—revealing extreme animal mistreatment, including footage of live birds locked in cages with the corpses of their dead cage mates—Gosling sent a letter to the CEO of Costco Wholesale Corporation urging the chain to stop using eggs from caged chickens.

Citing video footage of “rows upon rows of birds confined in filth-laden cages with the mummified corpses of their cage-mates,” Gosling made no effort to hold back his disgust.

“It’s appalling that Costco has been selling these eggs with deceptive labeling on cartons featuring graphics of birds living out in a green pasture,” he wrote. “You’re already eliminating cages for veal calves and pigs—don’t you feel that chickens also deserve the same mercy?”

Since the Humane Society’s video was released, the footage has received over 200,000 views, and over 10,000 people have publicly called for Costco to rethink their egg sources. With the momentum of Gosling’s open letter, the movement will undoubtedly gain further traction.

“So many corporations are meeting public demand for more humane products and transparency in the food chain,” Gosling wrote. “I sincerely hope that Costco will set plans now to go completely cage-free for its eggs.”

At the end of the letter, the actor penned his signature.

—Maria Yagoda

Another Article from CNN:

Ryan Gosling isn't just a pretty face. He also sees himself as a savior of cooped-up farm animals.
The movie star has teamed up with the Humane Society calling on Costco to buy eggs from suppliers that don't keep their chickens in cages.

Gosling sent a letter to Costco CEO Craig Jelinek, accusing him of sourcing eggs from an abusive chicken supplier and deceiving customers about it.

"Video footage revealed abhorrent cruelty including rows and rows of birds confined in filth-laden cages with the mummified corpses of their cage mates," Gosling wrote, referring to an undercover video conducted by the Humane Society.

Gosling also said Costco deceptively sells the same eggs in cartons that feature images of "birds living out in a green pasture."

He called on the store to go "completely cage-free."

The Humane Society's video shows that many chickens die in their cages and are left there, even as the other chickens lay eggs on top of the dead ones.

The egg supplier Hillandale said the images are an isolated incident in a barn where the undercover worker held primary responsibility.
"It was his job to identify and address the types of issues that were shown, and he did not adequately perform his job requirements," Hillandale said.

Costco (COST) did not immediately respond to CNNMoney on Gosling's letter.

But Costco did comment about the video when it first surfaced. A spokeswoman for Costco told CNNMoney that recent inspections "confirmed for us that Hillandale is behaving appropriately."

Gosling has in the past also called upon pig farmers in his native Canada to get rid of cramped cages.

Message edited 6/23/2015 1:39:19 PM.

Ryan Gosling Pens Letter Urging Costco to Sell Cage-Free Eggs-

Good for him!

Ryan Gosling Pens Letter Urging Costco to Sell Cage-Free Eggs-

Good! Same thing with their organic milk. I had read that the facility where their organic milk comes from was cited for inhumane conditions. I stopped buying it. Plus they add fish oil to the milk.

Re: Ryan Gosling Pens Letter Urging Costco to Sell Cage-Free Eggs-

Good for him! I love when big name celebrities speak out for animals

We just started our CSA last week and get our eggs through the farm.

Re: Ryan Gosling Pens Letter Urging Costco to Sell Cage-Free Eggs-

I think I'm the only idiot that read it as "goeslin"- the guy that had eight kids with Kate

Ugh


But I'm glad for Ryan gosling. So sad that we can't trust anything anymore. Even the healthy stuff we pay extra for.


When I buy organic etc my dad laughs at me and says. " they put a sticker and you believe them" in his thick accent


Sigh

Re: Ryan Gosling Pens Letter Urging Costco to Sell Cage-Free Eggs-

Ryan Gosling Pens Letter Urging Costco to Sell Cage-Free Eggs-

Someone will disagree and flame me for sure but ... And I never understood this, so hear me out....

Why do people even care? If you're not a vegan or vegetarian, you're consuming animals killed for your dinner. Cows and chickens get murdered etc (even if they live a nice short life of freedom on a sweet little family farm).

I don't understand because it seems hypocritical to me when it comes to free range desires and the like. If someone gets so amped up over eggs, maybe think about the food your eating and the life it once had.

Sure, let's give the nice little chicken gets a resort style life and fight for its rights, but only until it's brutally slaughtered. Makes no sense to me and never did.

And no, I'm not a vegan or vegetarian. Used to be many moons ago.

Just my thoughts. Ryan is not a hero in my eyes. Unless your saving actual lives of animals. Which he's not. (Neither am I, by the way). Almost all places are gross and god knows what conditions they have.

Message edited 6/23/2015 9:39:07 PM.

Re: Ryan Gosling Pens Letter Urging Costco to Sell Cage-Free Eggs-

Well I don't know about all that but I just don't want to give my money to a company that forces animals to live in squalor day after day for years and years on end. In deplorable conditions.

It's one thing to kill an animal, a quick and swift death, in order for people to consume the meat to live on --- and another to, when you have the option to make the conditions so nice, just choose to be cruel. And it's an extended, long-lasting suffering.

I used to be vegan myself until, for health reasons, my doctor advised me to eat meat. I still rarely eat it. Rarely is probably once a year.

Ryan Gosling Pens Letter Urging Costco to Sell Cage-Free Eggs-

I think it's more of the big Agra/1% principle that is the case with most peoples' concerns, more so than the cages. Iof course no one wants to see mistreatment of animals, and I forget the name of the documentary, but the one with the pork and poultry industry really amped me up. I just think the pretty labeling and the word "farm" entices people to believe that farming is still like Old MacDonald and less like Walmart.
But it isn't

Message edited 6/23/2015 10:38:08 PM.

Re: Ryan Gosling Pens Letter Urging Costco to Sell Cage-Free Eggs-

Re: Ryan Gosling Pens Letter Urging Costco to Sell Cage-Free Eggs-

Posted by PearlJamChick

Good for him! I love when big name celebrities speak out for animals

We just started our CSA last week and get our eggs through the farm.

Re: Ryan Gosling Pens Letter Urging Costco to Sell Cage-Free Eggs-

Ryan Gosling Pens Letter Urging Costco to Sell Cage-Free Eggs-

Bless him.