Page 7 - atoday oct 1

U.S. NEWS A7
Thursday 1 October 2015

Whole Foods to stop selling products made by inmates

it out of the goodness of panies sell products made from herds managed by
their hearts, or because it’s by inmates, Allen said he inmates, sells to various
cheap labor?” Mauer said. thought it was hypocritical markets, restaurants and
Michael Allen, a prison of Whole Foods to do so. cheese shops, said John
reform advocate, said “They say they care about Scaggs, the company’s di-
Whole Foods informed him the community, but they’re rector of sales and market-
of its change in policy af- enhancing their profit off ing.
ter he organized a protest of poor people,” Allen Scaggs said that the na-
at one of the company’s said, noting the pay that tion’s prison system needs
stores in Houston this week- inmates receive for such improvement, but that CCI
end. Whole Foods Market work. is a “model program” oth-
Inc. is based in Austin, Tex- Haystack Mountain Goat er states should look to in
as. Although other com- Dairy, which uses milk helping inmates.q

A shopper leaves a Whole Foods Market store in Union Square,
in New York. Whole Foods this week confirmed that it will
stop selling products made by a prison labor program after a
protest against the practice at one of its stores in Texas.

(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

CANDICE CHOI train inmates with skills and
AP Food Industry Writer work ethics that help them
NEW YORK (AP) — Whole secure employment after
Foods will stop selling prod- release.
ucts made using a prison Dennis Dunsmoor, director
labor program after a pro- of the program, said the
test at one of its stores in program doesn’t provide
Texas. goods directly to Whole
The company said the Foods, but that its partners
products should be out of do. He said inmates who
its stores by April 2016, if not volunteer for the program
sooner. Whole Foods said it are paid 74 cents to $4 a
has sold tilapia, trout and day, and are eligible for
goat cheese produced performance bonuses.
through a Colorado in- Inmate work is typical-
mate program at some ly used for government
stores since at least 2011. needs, such as the pro-
Michael Silverman, a Whole duction of license plates
Foods spokesman, said the or office furniture for state
company had sourced the agencies, said Marc Mau-
products because the pro- er, executive director of
gram was a way to “help The Sentencing Project, a
people get back on their criminal justice research
feet and eventually be- and advocacy group. But
come contributing mem- he said several states have
bers of society.” programs where prisons
But he said the company contract with private com-
decided to end the prac- panies.
tice because some cus- Mauer said the programs
tomers were uncomfort- can benefit inmates by giv-
able with it. ing them productive work
The tilapia, trout and and training in useful skills,
cheese in question come but that there’s potential
through Colorado Correc- for exploitation, since com-
tional Industries, a division panies typically pay far less
of Colorado’s department for prison labor than they
of corrections. On its web- otherwise would.
site, CCI says its mission is to “Are companies doing