- Hahnbee Choi, Cert. CN
A message to the pet food companies from Asian Americans
My name is Hahnbee Choi. I am a Korean American woman, and my platform is my privilege.
The recent rising Asian hate crimes have made me furious and afraid. it’s filled with emotions I would never know I had to deal with
Since the pandemic’s start, Hate crimes against Asian Americans have spiked over 1900%. These hate crimes have originated from racial misogyny, racial capitalism, White supremacy, xenophobia, sinophobic, and much more.
As a Korean American woman in the raw feeding and pet food industry, there are some things that are problematic that need to be addressed immediately.
To pet food companies that actively use wording such as “never from China” on their labeling, please stop. This kind of vocabulary is only amplifying the problem. They are dozens of other ways to disclose your sourcing without being sinophobic. And simply stating that your product is not from China does not ensure quality.
Due to wording like this, it only further sparks racist thoughts, language, and now, unfortunately, even action. Weaponizing language to promote your product is unneeded, especially in this heightened environment of hate crimes. It is not too late to learn, evolve, spread awareness, and do better.
As a consumer of the pet food industry, if you see an advertisement like this, please reach out respectfully to educate and ask for a verbiage change. Small steps like these push towards the bigger goal.
We Asian Americans are not a virus. We have the audacity to equality. Please do better.
Resources:
Template for pet food companies using anti-Asian labeling:
List of companies I have contacted so far (list will be continually updated):
FROMM Family Pet Foods: No response
The Honest Kitchen: Responded via email. Yet to make a public statement about changes.
Sojo’s: Responded via FB comment. Yet to make a public statement about changes.
Muenster Pet Food: Has not responded but has removed blog with verbiage.
We Feed Raw: Responded via email and removed from the website.
Zignature: No response
Pinto Canyon Pet Nutrition: Removed
Bixbi: Responded via email that they were not changing labeling & then contacted me via IG saying they were changing labeling. Yet to make a public statement about changes.
Only Natural Pet: No response
Nature’s Logic: responded via email, removed from website & future packaging.
Stella & Chewy: Removed from S&C website a while ago but was still on some 3rd party sellers website such as Chewy and is being removed.
Primal Pet Foods (on faq): Removed from faq page
Please feel free to message me about any companies actively using Anti-Asian labeling and/or send them the template yourself if you can. Thank you.
To see these pet food companies’ responses, please see below. None have made any public announcement of change.