I’m sure this one is going to go well.
Wayne Pacelle, the president and CEO of the HSUS, has decided he wants to be on the executive board of Tyson. If you’ve ever been in a grocery store then you know that Tyson is a large supplier of frozen meat options, including beef, pork, and chicken.
So, what on Earth does the CEO of HSUS want with a position on the board? As you can imagine, it isn’t to increase profits.
As his press release indicates:
“Pacelle decided to run for Tyson’s board to encourage management there to take certain critical steps to improve the treatment of animals in its supply chain, and not fall behind its major competitors. The HSUS’s primary focus has been for the company to join the scores of other companies who have committed to end the use of gestation crates…”
So, in other words, he wants the bully the company into caving to HSUS’s policy goals of shutting down animal agriculture. Carl Icahn, a billionaire investor, will be running Pacelle’s campaign.
Tyson has responded that they will follow the law and allow his nomination for the position to proceed.
Pacelle might be hoping that he can serve as the board member with an animal rights conscience, but as a board member he will also have a fiduciary duty to the shareholders. In other words, he needs to do what is best financially for the short term and long term interests of the company. I don’t think making meat more expensive falls into that category.
And while one vote on the board will hardly be enough to establish an HSUS takeover (and one seat on the board will be highly unlikely to get anyway), I’m sure his presence will be a thorn in everyone’s side.
Meanwhile, on the topic of gestation crates, Pacelle’s version of gestation crates, where farmers cruelly keep momma pig away from all her baby piglets, isn’t exactly the whole story.
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By the way, the following is a list of companies that have caved into the HSUS and will require supplies to stop using gestation crates: McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Sysco, ARAMARK, Sodexo, Costco, Kroger, Safeway, ConAgra Foods, Oscar Mayer, and Hillshire Brands.
