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Dallas-based Brinker International has joined a growing list of restaurants that have pledged to improve conditions for pigs in their supply chain. The group owns Chili’s, which is responsible for 1,500 casual restaurants known for their baby back ribs.
The new policy also applies to Maggiano’s and Romano’s Macaroni grill, also owned by Brinker.
Brinker joins a growing list that includes McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Oscar Mayer, Costco, Safeway, Kroger and other food businesses that have pledged to eliminate gestation crate pork from their menus and meat cases.
Domino’s, on the other hand, remains unsupportive of the reform. The pizza chain received attention earlier this year when it would defer the decision to their suppliers. The Texas Farm Bureau supported Domino’s decision with a lengthy blog post and an order of a large peperoni pizza.
Like the other supporters, Brinker’s pledge comes with a generous deadline. The news release says their short-term goal is to ensure a substantial majority of their pork products are sourced from vendors who have committed to eliminating gestation crates from farms they operate, which will take them five to seven years. The crates are used to tightly confine breeding sows for years on end, a practice that has been condemned as animal cruelty by the Humane Society of the United States and other animal welfare groups.
Most of the large restaurant groups that have pledged support cite similarly long deadlines.
