Austin, Texas - Whole Foods Market®, the world's leading natural and organic foods supermarket, today announced Anne Malleau will serve as executive director of the new Animal Compassion Foundation. To help meat producers achieve a higher standard of animal welfare excellence while still maintaining economic viability, the Foundation will:

• Search the planet for innovative ranchers and farmers who raise their animals with the well-being of the animal rather than producer productivity as the primary goal
  
• Create a worldwide network comprised of animal compassionate ranchers and farmers to share knowledge to learn and improve together
  
• Collect and compile the global knowledge of animal compassionate methods into an online library to help other interested ranchers and farmers successfully convert to more animal compassionate methods
  
• Provide research money to animal scientists at universities around the world to address any challenges faced by producers trying to raise animals more compassionately

Malleau earned a Bachelor of Science in agriculture/animal science, a Masters of Science, and a MBA in agribusiness at The University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, providing her comprehensive training in animal production and in all aspects of animal welfare and on-farm food safety programs. Most recently, she served as the Communications Coordinator for the Colonel K.L. Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare in Guelph, Ontario. A former member of the Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare Steering Committee (1995-1997), she was also a presenter at the International Society for Applied Ethologists in Prague, Czech Republic (1997) and a spokesperson for the Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair (1997).

The foundation will be led by Malleau as executive director, and the board of directors includes the following Whole Foods Market team members: John Mackey, CEO; Margaret Wittenberg, vice president of marketing and public affairs and chair of the foundation; Elizabeth Fry, farm animal quality standards coordinator; Roberta Lang, general counsel; Michael Besancon, regional president for the Southern Pacific Region; Steve Keville, national meat coordinator; Theo Weening, meat coordinator for the Mid-Atlantic Region; AC Gallo, co-president; John Nicholson, meat coordinator for the North Atlantic Region; and Dan Neuerburg, meat coordinator for the Northern California and Pacific Northwest regions.
The Animal Compassion Foundation will allow ranchers and producers the opportunity to visit and learn from others who are innovating animal husbandry techniques to create the ideal environments and conditions to support every animal's physical needs, natural behaviors and well-being.

Whole Foods Market invites shoppers to visit its 167 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom on Tuesday, January 25 as five percent of total company sales will be allocated to create the Foundation, which will be an independent, third party non-profit organization.

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About Whole Foods Market®:
Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market (www.wholefoodsmarket.com) is the world's leading natural and organic foods supermarket and America's first national certified organic grocer. In fiscal year 2004, the company had sales of $3.9 billion and currently has 167 stores in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The Whole Foods Market motto, "Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet"™ captures the company's mission to find success in customer satisfaction and wellness, employee excellence and happiness, enhanced shareholder value, community support and environmental improvement. Whole Foods Market, Harry's Farmers Market®, and Fresh & Wild® are trademarks owned by Whole Foods Market IP, LP. Whole Foods Market employs more than 30,000 team members and has been ranked for eighth consecutive years as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work for" in America by Fortune magazine.

Whole Foods Market, Inc.

Whole Foods Market, Inc.

Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com) is the world's leading natural and organic foods supermarket and America's first national certified organic grocer. In fiscal year 2007, the company had sales of $6.6 billion and currently has more than 270 stores in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The Whole Foods Market motto, "Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet"(TM) captures the company's mission to find success in customer satisfaction and wellness, employee excellence and happiness, enhanced shareholder value, community support and environmental improvement. Whole Foods Market, Fresh & Wild(TM), and Harry's Farmers Market(R) are trademarks owned by Whole Foods Market IP, LP. Wild Oats(R) and Capers Community Market(TM) are trademarks owned by Wild Marks, Inc. Whole Foods Market employs more than 50,000 Team Members and has been ranked for ten consecutive years as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" in America by FORTUNE magazine.

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