Boston, September 20, 2024 – A proposal filed by Green Century° asking Darden Restaurants, Inc.* to eliminate the use of gestation crates received 19.3% of the votes cast at the company’s annual meeting on Sept. 18. The use of gestation crates, which confine pregnant sows for weeks or months at a time, is widely considered inhumane due to the physical and psychological suffering they cause the animals.
“Gestation crates present both ethical and reputational concerns for companies,” said Green Century President Leslie Samuelrich. “We hope Darden will take investor support for this proposal seriously and phase out gestation creates as soon as possible.”
Eleven states ban or restrict gestation crates, which confine pregnant sows in spaces that are roughly 2-by-7 feet – areas so small that they can’t even turn around. Group housed pork, by contrast, has breeding pigs kept together for a majority of each pregnancy cycle.
Darden Out of Step with Industry Peers
Darden is out of step with others in the industry by maintaining its reliance on gestation crates. In 2023, Darden competitor Bloomin’ Brands* announced a goal for reaching 90% group-housed pork globally by 2029. Many other companies in the food industry have made progress on sourcing pork from suppliers that have reduced or eliminated gestation crates. Companies such as Kroger*, Costco*, Target*, McDonald’s* and Wendy’s* have already shifted or are in the process of shifting to group-housed pork.
From 2016–2022, Darden publicized a commitment to source gestation crate-free pork by 2025, but without providing any progress updates. In 2022, a shareholder proposal asked Darden to finally provide one. In exchange for a withdrawal of that proposal, Darden published a statement admitting that it would not achieve its 2025 target but promised to “provide an updated timeline by the end of FY2023” for converting to group housed pork. Yet, that deadline came without Darden publishing any such timeline.
“Despite promising shareholders for many years that it would eliminate gestation crates, Darden still lacks a timeline for phasing them out,” said Annie Sanders, Green Century’s Director of Shareholder Advocacy. “It’s time for Darden to finally meet the standards of its competitors, investors and consumers by setting a target to drop gestation crates.”
A sustainable investment strategy that incorporates environmental, social and governance criteria may result in lower or higher returns than an investment strategy that does not include such criteria.
About Green Century
°Green Century Capital Management, Inc. (Green Century) is the investment advisor to the Green Century Funds (The Funds). The Green Century Funds are one of the first families of fossil fuel-free, environmentally responsible mutual funds. Green Century hosts an award-winning and in-house shareholder advocacy program and is the only mutual fund company in the U.S. wholly owned by environmental and public health nonprofit organizations.
*As of 6.30.2024, Darden Restaurants, Inc. comprised 0.00%, 0.07% and 0.00%, The Kroger Co. comprised 0.00%, 0.14%, and 0.00%, Costco Wholesale comprised 1.36%, 0.14%, and 0.00%, Target Corporation comprised 0.78%, 0.28%, and 0.00%, and McDonald’s Corporation comprised 0.00%, 0.86%, and 0.00% of Green Century Balanced Fund, the Green Century Equity Fund, and the Green Century International Index Fund, respectively. As of the same date, other securities mentioned were not held in the portfolios of any of the Green Century Funds. References to specific securities, which will change due to ongoing management of the Funds, should not be construed as a recommendation by the Funds, their administrator, or their distributor.
You should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. To obtain a Prospectus that contains this and other information about the Funds please visit www.greencentury.com, email info@greencentury.com, or call 1-800-934-7336. Please read the Prospectus carefully before investing.
Stocks will fluctuate in response to factors that may affect a single company, industry, sector, country, region or the market as a whole and may perform worse than the market. Foreign securities are subject to additional risks such as currency fluctuations, regional economic and political conditions, differences in accounting methods, and other unique risks compared to investing in securities of U.S. issuers. Bonds are subject to a variety of risks including interest rate, credit, and inflation risk.
This information has been prepared from sources believed reliable. The views expressed are as the date of this writing and are those of the Advisor to the Funds.
The Green Century Funds are distributed by UMB Distribution Services, LLC. 235 W Galena Street, Milwaukee, WI 53212. UMB Distribution Services, LLC is not an affiliate of Green Century or any of its affiliates. September 2024.