American food system
Click on the link ---> to learn how to Make it Possible
Change Is Coming: Factory Farms' Days May Be Numbered
Animal welfare advocates, rejoice
In one of history's most stunning victories for humane
farming, Australia's largest supermarket chain, Coles, will as of January 1 stop selling
company branded pork and eggs from animals kept in factory farms. As an immediate
result, 34,000 mother pigs will no longer be kept in stalls for long periods of
their lives, and 350,000 hens will be freed from cages
Not to be outdone, the nation's other dominant
supermarket chain, Woolworths, has already begun phasing
out factory farmed animal products. In fact all of Woolworth's house brand eggs
are now cage-free, and by mid-2013 all of their pork will come from farmers who
operate stall-free farms.
Coles and Woolworths together account for a dominant 80 percent of all supermarket sales in Australia.
The move to open up the cages was fueled by
"consumer sentiment," and it has been synchronous with a major campaign against
factory farming of animals led by Animals Australia. The campaign features a TV
ad, titled "When Pigs Fly," in which an adorable piglet tells the
story of animals sentenced to life in cramped cages, and then flies to freedom.
Meanwhile, in the United States, egg factory farms cram
more than 90 percent of the country's 280 million egg-laying hens into barren
cages so small the birds can't even spread their wings. Each bird spends her
entire life given less space than a sheet of paper. And in a reality that does
not please fans of Wilber or Babe, between 60 to 70 percent of
the more than five million breeding pigs in the United States are kept in
crates too small for them to so much as turn around.
There are laws against cruelty to animals in the
United States, but most states specifically exempt animals
destined for human consumption. The result is that the animal agriculture industry
routinely does things to animals that, if you did them to a dog or a cat, would
get you put in jail.
Gene Baur, president of Farm Sanctuary, explains:
"Most of the anti-cruelty laws exempt farm animals as long as the
practices are considered to be normal by the agriculture industry. What has
happened is that bad has become normal, and no matter how cruel it is, normal
is legal."
But here, too, change is coming. Undercover
investigations have led to a $497 million judgment against
the now defunct Hallmark Meat Packing company, and to the recent temporary shutdown of
Central Valley Meat Company over what federal investigators termed
"egregious, inhumane handling and treatment of livestock." California
and Michigan havepassed laws that
will phase in a ban on battery cages for hens, and nine U.S. states have
joined the entire European Union in heading towards a ban on confining pigs in
gestation crates.
Worried that consumers are starting to find out the
truth about treatment of modern farm animals and will demand further changes,
industry leaders are pushing for "ag gag" laws
that would hide factory farming and slaughterhouse abuses from public scrutiny.
Recently passed laws in Iowa and Utah threaten
jail time for anyone working undercover and taking pictures or video of animals
in factory farms without permission.
What don't they want us to know? What are they trying
to hide? What would happen if the veil was lifted and we saw the level of
cruelty that has become the norm in U.S. industrial meat production?
A poll conducted by Lake Research partners found
that 94 percent of Americans agree that animals raised for food on farms
deserve to be free from abuse and cruelty, and that 71 percent of Americans
support undercover investigative efforts by animal welfare organizations to
expose animal abuse on industrial farms.
Most farmers don't try to be cruel to animals, but
they do worry about how to cut costs. And so long as consumers are kept in the
dark about the real source of their food, farm owners have no economic incentive
to do more than the minimum necessary to appease regulatory authorities.
Want to take action? Join
the Food Revolution Network, an online community dedicated to
healthy, sustainable, humane and delicious food for all.
Or join the Humane Society's campaign for farm animal
protection, or Farm Sanctuary's work for animal welfare legislation.
Or if you want to save 100 animals per year, you can sign up for PETA's free veg starter kit.
What Caused So Much Fuss? Here's The "Pigs
Fly" Ad From Animals Australia:
This post originally appeared at the Huffington Post.
Ocean Robbins was co-founder and director of YES! - a
nonprofit organization that "connects, inspires and collaborates with
changemakers to join forces for thriving, just and sustainable ways of life for
all." He is co-host and CEO of the 60,000 member Food Revolution Network.
No comments:
Post a Comment