Letter of Support from Alec Baldwin

May 5, 2002

Dear Safeway shareholder,

On behalf of our friends at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), we encourage you to help move Safeway forward on the issue of animal welfare. Right now, farmed animals are not protected by any federal laws, and for the most part, anything that qualifies as "standard" is legal, by definition.

After years of pressure, including support from Paul McCartney, Woody Harrelson and thousands of other caring people internationally, McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's have each agreed to make significant improvements in the way animals are raised and killed for their restaurants.

In October of 2000, when McDonald's agreed to make improvements, PETA asked Safeway to follow McDonald's lead. Regrettably, 18 months later, Safeway has not made a single improvement to the appalling living and dying conditions for the animals it uses. Considering that Safeway owns its own meat and dairy plants, and is a Fortune 50 corporation with three times the U.S. revenues of McDonald's, this is particularly disturbing.

Animals should not be skinned and dismembered while they are still conscious, and hens should not be starved for up to two weeks to shock these poor animals' bodies into another laying cycle. I can tell you from experience that PETA is tenacious. They will not let up until Safeway agrees to implement some basic improvements in farmed animal welfare. Will you please use your power as a shareholder to influence Safeway to end this abuse and ensure that basic standards of care are enforced by its suppliers?

We imagine that you've been given Safeway's responses to PETA's concerns, so we're enclosing a copy of PETA's latest letter to Safeway CEO Steven Burd, which answers Safeway's most recent public relations statements on animal welfare. I urge you to give this letter careful consideration, as we're sure that you'll agree, upon reading it, that Safeway's current unwillingness to intercede, no matter how much abuse is inflicted by its suppliers, must change.

Bruce Friedrich at PETA is glad to assist, publicly or privately.

Thanks in advance for your support.

For the animals,

Alec Baldwin