As part of McDonald's recently launched See What We're Made Of campaign, consumers are invited to learn about the ingredients that make up the restaurant chain's food. But will McDonald's super- size its menu to include animal clones? Now more than ever, animal welfare advocates need to speak out and tell McDonald's that animal clones should not be part of its menu.

The government has recently reported that milk and meat from the offspring of cloned animals may have already entered the U.S. food supply. However, a large body of evidence has shown that cloning causes tremendous animal suffering, and there is overwhelming opposition to animal cloning from the public, animal and environmental groups, and the dairy industry. FACT is one of the groups that oppose animals being cloned for food, but we need your help to stop it from happening!

Many prominent food companies, including Ben & Jerry's and Oberweis Dairy, have publicly pledged not to use ingredients from cloned animals or their offspring--read the recent story in the Wall Street Journal for more information. Now it's McDonald's turn to step up to the plate.

FACT, along with other animal welfare and consumer groups, is urging the public to contact McDonald's to ask the company to never include cloned animals or their offspring on its menu. As a global food company that influences standards for the entire industry, it is imperative for McDonald's to take a stand against animal cloning. Please urge McDonald's to say NO to animal clones!

What You Can Do!

Please urge McDonald's to be an industry leader and make a public pledge that cloned animals and their offspring will never be part of McDonald's menu. Write a letter to McDonald's today (please send your letter directly to us at 411 W. Fullerton Pkwy, 1402W, Chicago, IL 60614 -- we will deliver them). Alternatively, you can call McDonald's at 1-800-244- 6227.

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear Mr. Alvarez,

It has come to my attention that the FDA has approved the sale of milk and meat from cloned animals and their offspring, without labels. As a conscientious consumer, it is very important to me that food is produced without animal cruelty, yet experts agree that cloning significantly increases animal suffering.

You state on your website that you are sensitive to social, environmental, animal welfare, and food safety and quality issues. In fact, you invite the world to "See What We're Made Of." The McDonald's menu should not be made of clones.

To assure myself and the majority of people around the world who object to cloning animals for food that your products do not promote animal cruelty, I urge you to publicly pledge that cloned animals and their offspring will never be part of McDonald's menu. As a leading global food company that has tried to set an industry example on animal welfare standards, it is important that you take the lead and stand up against animal cloning.

Sincerely,

[Your name here]

[Address]

FACT, through its leadership role in the Keep Antibiotics Working (KAW) coalition, has made significant progress in safeguarding public health by reducing antibiotic overuse in animal agriculture. As many of you know, antibiotics introduced into the environment contribute to antibiotic resistant infections in humans and animals. Today's antibiotics are precious public health resources that we cannot afford to squander through irresponsible use either in human or veterinary medicine.

Thanks to your calls, emails, and letters to your lawmakers, we have achieved together more over the last year than ever before. Especially noteworthy are Congressional hearings on antibiotic resistance, which included for the first time crucial discussions about the misuse of critical human antibiotics in livestock production. But, even more importantly, your efforts helped win important legislative successes such as key provisions in the 2008 Farm Bill that will establish a first-ever research program focused on the development and control of antibiotic resistant bacteria in agricultural practices.

Another legislative success came when Congress passed the Animal Drug User Fee Act requiring the collection of sales data on antibiotics used in animal agriculture. The FDA will be required to publish a summary of the data that will be accessible to researchers, public health officials and the public.

We look forward to continuing to work with you to curb the misuse of critical human antibiotics. Together we can preserve these valuable public health resources. Please continue to take action on this important issue in the future. We will keep you posted!

Earlier this summer, FACT staff visited Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm to learn directly from local farmers who use humane methods. Jody and Beth Osmund operate Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm in Ottawa, Illinois. They raise eggs, poultry, hogs and cattle without the use of antibiotics or hormones. They both left corporate jobs in Chicago to start the 80-acre farm which Jody's grandparents bought 60 years ago.

When they first opened the operation, the Osmunds established a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program for vegetables that supplied to 55 members. Community Supported Agriculture is a program in which a farmer contracts for a monthly "subscription" with customers. The customers make a pledge to the farmer and also shoulder some of the risk associated with the season. In return they receive fresh food directly from the farm.

With the help of a Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) grant in 2007, the Osmunds switched to a meat CSA. SARE funds farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities through a nationwide research and education grants program. For the Osmunds, it allowed them to purchase a 6-cubic-foot ice cream freezer in which to store the meat, as well as a trailer for transporting the freezer to and from farmers' markets. They now have 160 members who receive a monthly meat share of beef, pork, chicken, turkey and eggs. Their goal is to eventually grow the program to 200 members. In addition to the meat CSA, the Osmunds also sell their products at several farmers' markets.

As FACT staff members walked around the farm, it was evident that the animals at Cedar Valley are healthy and can express their natural behaviors. They are well taken care of and live outside in small groups -- not on a large, concentrated feedlot or in a cramped, windowless building. The Osmunds do not give their animals growth hormones or antibiotics as they believe that keeping drugs out of the food chain results is better-tasting, healthier eggs and meat.

Take the Osmund's broiler chickens for example. (Broiler chickens are birds raised for their meat.) This is the first year that Cedar Valley has raised broilers. The first batch of chickens began arriving at the farm in mid-April and then 600 birds were delivered every two weeks thereafter until mid-August. In total, Cedar Valley will raise and market approximately 3,500 chickens this year.

Upon arrival, the chicks start in a brooder (which is a heated enclosure) for about two weeks before they are moved to pasture. Once they are a few weeks old, the birds are moved into outdoor houses specifically designed by the Osmunds to fit the needs of their farm and animals. Rather than using tin roofs which can become very hot in the heat of the summer, the Osmunds secure plastic tarps on top. They put 1-inch chicken wire under the tarp and use hardware cloth on the sides to protect against predators, namely raccoons and foxes. The houses are moved every few days to new patches of fresh pasture. The birds seem to have adequate space to move about and peck, as well as having plenty of fresh air.

Along with broiler hens, the Osmunds also have eight to ten different breeds of laying hens at Cedar Valley. These hens are able to walk around, spread their wings and express natural behaviors as foraging animals. As for the cows, although the Osmunds do not own all the cattle they market, they do collaborate with neighbors who don't use hormones or antibiotics, adding to the sustainability of their operation. The cattle that the Osmunds do own are rotated through three paddocks (enclosed areas used especially for pasturing or exercising animals) with the hope of increasing the rotation to six paddocks. During FACT's visit, staff members encountered cows grazing in shaded areas around the farm.

Consumer demand for humanly-raised products is rapidly growing. The food choices we make can have a significant impact on how animals are raised on farms -- especially when we support humane farms. For more information on humane food choices, please visit FACT's website. You can learn more about Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm and purchase a CSA share at www.cedarvalleysustainable.com.

FACT would be honored to display artwork designed by one of our supporters on our holiday card, as a demonstration of our shared commitment to making farms humane and healthy places for animals. Please read below for more information. We look forward to receiving your entry!

Guidelines

1. Entries must be received by September 30, 2008 but can be submitted at any time up to that date. The winner will be announced shortly after October 1, 2008, and will be recognized on the back of FACT's holiday card, as well as on our website.
2. All entries must be original work. Acceptable media are paint, pencil, markers, ink, crayon or photography. We are looking for a winter and/or non-religious holiday theme and the design should feature cows, chickens and pigs or a combination of all three.
3. The card will be printed in black, white and one other color. While it not necessary that the original artwork be black and white, please consider this constraint in your design.
4. Entries must be done on paper that will allow for duplication and should be no larger than 11" x 17." Entries should not be framed, matted, laminated or folded. You can mail the hard copy or email the electronic version. Please send electronic entries in jpeg or PDF format. All grayscale and color images should be provided at a minimum resolution of 300dpi.
5. Submissions become property of FACT. Through submission of artwork, contestants grant non- exclusive reproduction and publication rights to the works submitted.
6. Mail entries to: Jacki Rossi, Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT), 411 W. Fullerton Parkway, Suite 1402W, Chicago, IL 60614.
7. For further information please contact Jacki Rossi at (773) 525-4952 or jrossi@foodanimalconcerns.org
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