A group of animal-rights activists are holding a 27-hour protest and fast through Thanksgiving at the Oakland Whole Foods Market.
The group, Direct Action Everywhere, began the “sidewalk fast” at noon on Wednesday. They will remain outside of the Whole Foods until 3 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day to protest what they have said is animal cruelty at four major suppliers that Whole Foods uses.
According to a statement from the organization, the group of over 50 demonstrators will be “’swarming’ traffic—blocking traffic for a few minutes, letting traffic pass, and repeating.’”
“Amazon is a bad corporate citizen seeking profits at any cost,” said an attorney for the group. “These protesters are fighting for transparency from a corporation doing anything it can to keep the public in the dark.”
Amazon is the parent company of Whole Foods Markets.
Whole Foods issued a statement back in September, after Direct Action Everywhere staged a demonstration that shut down the Noe Valley Whole Foods in San Francisco.
In the statement, Whole Foods said, "Direct Action Everywhere's repeated targeting of Whole Foods Market stores jeopardizes the safety of our customers and team members, including today at our Noe Valley store."
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"Whole Foods Market caters to customers with a wide variety of diets, and we're proud to provide transparency in animal welfare and growing practices through third-party certifiers like Global Animal Partnership," the statement said. "We respect everyone's right to voice their opinion, but our responsibility is to provide a safe environment for our customers and our team members."
