Add up these numbers and you get $7.896 billion. That’s the total revenue for the year from fast food chain Whataburger and bakery giant Flowers Foods—the parent company of brands like Nature’s Own, Wonder, Tastykake, and more. (Yes, that’s B for billion.) 

 

But something else doesn’t quite add up.

 

If these corporate giants are raking in money like this ⬆

 

Why can’t they stop treating animals like this? ⬇

Confined to a battery cage like this one, a hen lives her entire life in a space the size of a filing cabinet. Jostled by her cage-mates, all struggling for food and space to breathe, she can barely get a moment of rest. Some hens become paralyzed from the demands of constant egg-laying—meaning they can’t reach their water, and they’re left to die slowly from thirst.

 

Both of these companies—Whataburger and Flowers Foods—pledged to transition away from keeping hens in cruel cages.

This strikes me as deeply unfair, especially as so many Americans struggle to afford their everyday expenses. Ending cages shouldn’t be something a company does only if it’s profitable. Ending cages should be the bare minimum. No animal deserves to be treated this way. 

 

You just have to look at those profits to realize that animal abusers are out of excuses. For too long, they’ve prioritized their bottom line before everything else. It’s time to call them out. 

 

At this point, freeing hens from battery cages should be a given. The CEO of Whataburger knows it. The CEO of Flowers Foods knows it. So this year, we’re upping the ante.

 

We’re dialing up the heat on entire sectors of the food industry. Bakeries. Retailers. Restaurants. This is our chance to free millions of hens from cages—but we can’t fight this exploitation without you.

 

When powerful corporate giants hear from compassionate people like you, they get nervous. Because those profits we mentioned earlier? They depend on a company’s public reputation. (See where we’re going with this?)

 

If Flowers Foods and Whataburger start reporting their progress for animals, it could help us drive even bigger progress across the entire bakery and restaurant sectors. This is a “go big or go home” moment. Will you go big with us?

 

For the animals,

P.S. The more of us who add our names, the more pressure these companies feel. Will you take a moment right now to add your voice for animals?

 

P.P.S. It's super effective—and a lot of fun—to take action as a group. Join other Changemakers and THL team members on a 30-minute call to let these companies know they need to do better. RSVP here.