"factory farms" news and stories

Ever since man made the crossbow, he decided it a necessary evil to kill or raise an animal for food. It's not something most of us think about much since few of us need to do it ourselves. But the more that recalls, seedy reports and gruesome videos surface, like the recent undercover clips at Smithfield Foods, we're reminded that we very much need to be aware of where our meat comes from and how the animals are treated before they become ribs, steaks and drumsticks. Or how chickens are housed and treated while producing the eggs that will become tomorrow's omelet.

That's a lot easier now. There are at least five labels out there letting consumers know which meat comes from humanely raised livestock. And thanks to a new report (.pdf) released this week by Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC), each organization's standards have been categorized in a comparison chart so we know exactly what conditions are factored in to warrant certification for cattle, chickens and pigs. This includes air quality, slaughter method and whether livestock are finished on feedlots. They even specify how many hours a chicken should have darkness (because under fluorescent lights, chickens continue to eat if they think it's day, and factory farms love to fatten chickens in a hurry).

HFAC/Certified Humane and Animal Welfare Approved require the most humane practices and are the most transparent (with no conflicts of interest) of the five labels, which also include USDA/Organic, American Humane Certified and Global Animal Partnership (that is, Whole Foods Market).

King Corn filmmaker Curt Ellis announced on Civil Eats on Monday that his resolution for 2009 is to give up factory raised meats and only consume "animal products from humane, sustainable family farms." He's doing this because of the inherent issues of health and humanity having to do with confinement-raised meats. This is a fairly simple, if expensive, goal if he were only eating at home. However, it becomes far more challenging when he adds restaurant eating in the equation.

In order to handle the protein issue at restaurants, Ellis is printing up cards impressed with the message you see above. He will leave it by his plate, in the hopes that he will be able to inspire some restaurants to consider the quality of the meat they serve.

Head over to Civil Eats and read his entire resolution post, it lays out the reasoning behind this choice far more eloquently and compellingly than I've just done. Then come back over here and tell us what you think!

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After it was revealed that the US's largest pork producer engaged in some highly questionable agricultural practices - to put it very mildly - when it came to raising the move than 25 million pigs they slaughter each year, there was an outcry. Smithfield Farms, with 187 farms in eight states, was known for keeping pigs in "gestational cages," free from straw, sunlight, or room to move for their entire lives and after years or criticism from groups like the Humane Society, as well as a 2 year long privately conducted study, the company has finally agreed to stop using the cages. The cages, which are sometimes referred to as stalls, were designed to maximize efficiency in the pig raising process by confining the pig to the minimum size that it would need to remain alive, but the interest in where our food comes from has now gotten to a point where even large corporate consumers, like McDonald's, are unwilling to overlook such conditions.

The cages will be phased out over an undetermined period of time. The company did not say how much the process would cost, but it is likely to be expensive for them as they try to find places to keep all their pigs that allow for cleaner, roomier living conditions.

[thanks, Elise!]

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