Day 101 - 10 Mar 95 - Page 46

     
     1   Q.   Half a dozen times, since you started?
     2        A.  Yes, probably.
     3
     4   Q.   When was the first time you visited Oasters?
     5        A.  The first time would have been when I joined the
     6        company during my initial training period.
     7
     8   Q.   I think Mr. Walker was saying something about he takes
     9        trainee managers or something on a tour of the plant so
    10        that they have an idea of the process.  Is that roughly
    11        similar when you start, when people start at McDonald's
    12        they get a tour round the suppliers?
    13        A.  What Mr. Walker would have been referring to was the
    14        training course or part of a course that is run by the
    15        training department for restaurant managers, and advance
    16        operation course.  It is a five-day course I believe and
    17        one day of that is geared towards purchasing and quality
    18        assurance.  I personally have helped in that.  They spend
    19        the morning at Golden West Food and the afternoon at
    20        McKey's.  It gives them a better understanding of the
         business.
    22
    23   Q.   But is that a similar reason why you visited Oasters and
    24        Sun Valley when you started?
    25        A.  No.  My initial training period was probably about two
    26        and a half to three months which involved spending a lot
    27        more time than that with suppliers getting to know their
    28        processes, getting to know the quality assurance programmes
    29        that are operated and getting to know the people that
    30        I would be dealing with.
    31
    32   Q.   You visited Oasters was it six times you said, about half a
    33        dozen times?
    34        A.  I would guess about once a year.  Yes, about six times
    35        is probably a better way of saying.
    36
    37   Q.   Do they supply all of McDonald's eggs?
    38        A.  Yes, all of McDonald's eggs.
    39
    40   Q.   Have you made any recommendation to them about changing the
         conditions they keep their chickens in?
    42        A.  No.  I think they keep their chickens very well.
    43
    44   Q.   So you think that the battery system is comfortable and
    45        humane?  Well, you have said it was humane already.  You
    46        would think it was comfortable, would you?
    47        A.  It is difficult for me to say how comfortable it is.
    48        All I can say is when I visited the birds seemed to be very
    49        happy and in no distress at all.
    50 
    51   Q.   How do you tell if the birds are happy? 
    52        A.  Well, by the fact that they are calm; they are not 
    53        flapping around; they are not pecking at each over; they
    54        are not trying to get out; they are perfectly happy as far
    55        as I can tell.
    56
    57   Q.   They do not actually have room to flap around, do they?
    58        A.  Yes, they can flap around if they want to.   Of course,
    59        the other thing I forgot to mention is that they are not
    60        suffering at all either.  They are not sort of dead or