Global Animal Partnership Board of Directors member and co-founder and co-Chief Executive Officer of Whole Foods Market, John Mackey is widely regarded as one of the world’s most innovative, ethical, and intriguing business people. Named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for 2003, Mr. Mackey has led Whole Foods Market’s expansion from a single store with 19 employees to more than 300 stores in North America and the United Kingdom with nearly 60,000 team members.
I co-founded Whole Foods Market more than 30 years ago. Over the years, my eyes haven’t only been opened to how important what we’re eating is to our personal health, but also to the stark reality of how the welfare of animals raised for food has been neglected by much of animal agriculture.
My awareness and consciousness are still evolving today, and I’m committed to helping raise others’ awareness and consciousness of the impacts of different types of farming on the animals themselves so we can all make more informed decisions.
Global Animal Partnership has a special place in the global effort to improve farm animal welfare. We’ve been able to find common ground where some may have thought it would be impossible.
We—scientists, farmers, animal welfare advocates, retailers, and ranchers—are speaking in a single voice to inspire continuous improvement in animal agriculture, recognize those producers who are making a difference for animals every day on their farms and ranches, and make it easier for consumers to be able to support the higher welfare farming practices they want through our innovative 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating Standards.
Change can’t happen without an alternative. Global Animal Partnership and our 5-Step program provide those alternatives, and it’s been an honor to help build and serve the organization to advance our mission.
—John Mackey
