Bon Appétit Management Company

Farm to Fork partner Hunter Cattle Company is a multi-generation family-run farm, that was started “by accident” but has since flourished into a thriving and beloved producer in the region. Del Ferguson first ventured into raising cattle for his family. At the time, he had no idea that grass-fed beef would be desired by the community, much less marketable.  

There’s reason to celebrate in California this week – Proposition 12, which voters in the state overwhelmingly supported on the ballot in 2018, is fully implemented as of January 1, 2024.

Unlike most farm animals raised in the U.S., Greg Gunthorp’s turkeys, pigs, ducks, and sheep will never know the inside of an industrial livestock house. Instead, they spend their days outside on pasture, running amongst the trees in the rolling hills of Northeast Indiana.

In February, the New York Times broke the news that Bon Appétit’s Chief Strategy and Brand Officer, Maisie Ganzler, had been nominated to the board at McDonald’s by financier Carl Icahn, who holds shares in the fast-food brand. Icahn has been pushing McDonald’s to stick to its 2012 commitment to transition its pork supply away from inhumane gestation crates. Ganzler, who successfully led the transition of Bon Appétit’s pork supply away from gestation crates (a nationwide rollout of the product is occurring right now), was chosen by Icahn for her deep direct experience in working with suppliers to make this change. In this Q&A, Maisie talks about the journey from asking lots of questions about the welfare of pigs to receiving a highly publicized board nomination for a fast-food giant.

Don’t fall for the fearmongering, Bon Appétit is ready for California’s Prop 12 — and we’re proving the pork industry can make the necessary changes to improve animal welfare if it chooses to. Read our open letter to the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Animal Care Program.

Learn how Bon Appétit first became interested in animal welfare issues in 2005, what the pork industry really means by “gestation-crate free,” why Prop 12 matters, and more.

HSUS’s Food Industry Scorecard tracks companies’ progress toward their promises to eliminate the abusive practices common to industrialized farm animal production.

What’s the best thing about working for Bon Appétit? Willamette University Executive Chef André Uribe has been asked that question a million times

“Gestation crate free” means no use of gestation crates, right? To the large pork producers, apparently not. Here’s how I wound up in a hog barn in Pennsylvania.

A visiting farmer makes an emotional appeal for people to make better choices when it comes to their meat — to pay more for and to appreciate a well-raised animal.