John Mackey, CEO
Whole Foods Market, Inc.
602 North Lamar, Suite 300
Austin, TX 78703
Ph: 512-477-4455; fax:1069
E-mail to website: http://www.wholefoods.com/wfm/feedback/

Whole Foods is swallowing up major "healthfood" store chains and is now testing the sale of ostrich and emu at many of the stores they now own including Fresh Fields and Wild Oats. In addition to the horrible cruelty to ostriches and emus including lassoing, causing many to stop eating permanently as well as to suffer a chest-muscle death from terror known as "capture myopathy," these birds are not "low cholesterol." Their flesh has the same 25 milligrams of cholesterol per oz. as chicken, pork, beef, etc. and it occurs mainly in the lean muscle tissue.

Investors in ostriches and emus are now trying to dump their birds on a market that doesn't want them. A rancher who thought he'd get rich raising and slaughtering ostriches in New Mexico discovered there's no market: "It's pretty hard to separate the ostrich hype from reality" (Albuquerque Journal, May 12, 1997).

British Airways removed ostrich from its menu in October 1996 in response to worldwide disgust. They wrote: "Please know that this service was a trial and due to passenger and public dissatisfaction it has been discontinued."

Seeing an ostrich in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park recently, Hillary Rodham Clinton told The Washington Post, March 28, 1997, "An ostrich in a zoo is a sad, bedraggled thing. Out here, he looks so noble just walking across a field."

• Tell Whole Foods not to carry ostrich or emu. Tell them to promote versatile cholesterol-free foods derived from plants, such as Chicken Style MEATofWHEAT.

  Dear UPC,

  What is "Wheat Meat"?

  We serve these fantastic, quick-fix chicken-like scrumptious morsels at all of our functions. People love them! MEATofWHEAT is an all natural grain protein specifically created to bridge to a healthier diet and still enjoy the familiar tastes and textures of meat dishes. It meets the growing demand for an all-vegetarian, low fat, zero cholesterol, delicious food. MEATofWHEAT Chicken Style comes in ready-to-cook pieces as shown on the 16-ounce package. It is perfect for your favorite chicken recipes. It can be refrigerated for 1-14 days and can be refrozen. It is sold in progressive food stores. It's the wave of the future. For information & recipes contact IVY INTERNATIONAL, Brighton Star Route, Brighton, Utah 84121.

• Check out Lynn Halpern's Chickenless Nuggets Recipe