Animal activists protest SF Castro Whole Foods

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - An activist group called Direct Action Everywhere protested the Whole Foods Market in San Francisco’s Castro on Sunday alleging inhumane conditions at a turkey farm.

The group marched inside the store located at Market Street and Dolores, holding pictures of the alleged farm and chanted, “Their bodies, not ours. Their lives, not ours. Their families, not ours.”

Last week the group released a video that claims the turkeys live in deplorable conditions at the Diestel Turkey Ranch in Sonora. They said Whole Foods is misleading customers by releasing photos of a “fake” front farm.

The activists claim they researched the farm’s conditions over a nine-month period.

“We’re here today to tell Whole Foods that they have to stop lying to the public about the animals being treated in a humane way. And they have to stop selling the idea that it is possible to kill an animal in a way that is compassionate,” said Sapphire Fein, one of the group’s organizers.

Whole Foods claims they’ve looked into the farm themselves and responded with the following written statement:

“Our team found that the conditions were not as they were portrayed in the video.”