Higher Welfare Foods

A._Badger

There have been several exposes of the RSPCA's 'Freedom Food' programme. I've seen sufficient that I now treat it with a pinch of salt, sadly.

I also don't think it is safe to make assumptions about 'organic' produce. While, in theory, animals should be reared to the highest standards of welfare under SA regulations, it depends how you define 'welfare'. Parasitical infestations treated by homoeopathic methods can be ineffectively controlled and an animal with such a condition is in a worse condition than one treated allopathically. And that's just one example of the pitfalls for the unwary.

I recall one of the Telegraph's food writers a couple of years ago saying she had stopped buying organic pork after being treated to a few hard facts by someone who ran an abattoir. I've come to the same conclusion - and I say that as someone who doesn't necessarily think homoeopaths are mad.

People have to reach their own decisions but I can only say that if animal welfare was my primary consideration I would make it my business to buy from single farms and check their welfare standards personally - organic, or not.

There are plenty of farmers (I know several personally) whose animal husbandry is of the very highest order and who are not organic devotees.

walwin

Edwardia wrote: »

Since when did buying organic food become a bad thing ? :rotfl:I think if you look at the Soil Association website you'll find that their standards are higher than Red Tractor for example.

Why would a farmer rear a product he expects to get premium price for in a bad way ? The farmer risks being chucked out of the scheme and much of the animals products are batch tested so the buyer can tell whether an animal was fed with banned antibiotics or on GM feed etc.

When it comes to slaughtering, farmers don't often do this themselves because abattoirs have to be licensed and inspected. So wherever you buy you don't know how humanely the animal was killed.

If you Google you'll find that much of the meat and poultry sold in UK supermarkets is halal even if not labelled - the Daily Mail did an expose piece.

An exception to this that I know of is Jody Scheckter's Laverstoke Park Farm www.laverstokepark.co.uk which has its own abattoir. Sainsbury's sells some Laverstoke Park Farm products as do Waitrose and Ocado.

RSPCA Freedom Foods.. www.rspcanotwhattheyseem.blogspot.com

Where in my post did I say that buying organic food was a bad thing?
This thread was started by someone who was keen to buy higher welfare food.
I don't think it's helpful for people just to bang the drum for organic food as though organic automatically means higher welfare.

blackandwhitebunny

A lot of people don't realise that each organic certification body sets its own criteria. The soil association is very strict on welfare standards and sets the highest of all bodies. However some organic foods are imported and the certifications have different sandards, however most have some welfare component to them but it might not be the main focus.
Local is not necessarily higher welfare but it does make it easier to find out about it. Our local butcher can tell us exactly who reared his beef, which fields they were grazed on, how many the farmer has taken to slaughter this month, which abbatoir they went to and probably what time they went to bed each night:D this means that I can buy his beef with a reasonable degree of confidence both about feeds and welfare. I couldn't find this out in a supermarket.
I do realise that we are lucky and can make many choices about what we eat. We have transport to reach independent shops, we still have a few market stalls and shops in our area, we have a choice of supermarkets and most importantly we have the disposable income to make choices based on criteria other than price.
Not everyone can afford to switch to only buying soil association foods and I think we should encourage people to make whatever changes they can even if it is just changing one item in their shop. I know not all free range eggs are the same but if everyone chose to buy eggs from a free range scheme pretty soon there would be no market for caged eggs which is a big step in the right direction.

VeggieCatLady

I haven't seen the programme you are referring to, but it sounds interesting. I am clearly biased as I am a vegetarian, but I agree that buying organic produce such as eggs and milk DOES make a difference to the welfare of the animals which these have come from. Personally I only buy organic milk and organic eggs and I only buy these very rarely. Organic meat does have higher standards than other meat, but the experience of being farmed can still be in my opinion unethical and can be stressful for the animal. Also, regardless of how the animals have been treated during their lives, they will still experience slaughter, which is horrendous. I won't post links to pages about this because I am not one to try and guilt trip people into not eating meat or reducing their meat consumption. Making that change is a personal choice and should not be forced in my opinion. While personally I do not believe that there is such a thing as ethically farmed meat (seems like an oxymoron to me) I do respect those who choose to look for meat which has come from animals who have had a higher quality of life and I genuinely believe that those people who decide to buy organic animal products as opposed to non organic are making a good choice and should be proud of this. :beer:

barker77

As per my starting post, I think this thread highlights a huge problem facing folks like myself.
I don't want to have to check every single label carefully in case I accidently buy pigs that were born outdoors but now live in pens.

It shouldn't be like this.... I really wish that a supermarket such as Sainsburys or Waitrose would stand up and actually do something about this problem.

Scrap all of the slightly different worded products to trick people into buying what looks to be higher welfare foods but actually aren't.

As to regards to the organic argument that's something different altogether. Whilst I like the idea, my primary focus is on buying better welfare meats, I don't actually mind if its organic or not as long as the animal has had a good happy life.

Gigervamp

Your best bet is to forget about buying from supermarkets and buy direct from the producer who will be able to tell you exactly how their meat is farmed.

Have a look here to see if there are any farmers markets or farm shops near you.

henmuffin

Hi. A good place to look for information is Compassion in World Farming. www.ciwf.org.uk

I get organic milk delivered by the milkman. More expensive but very convenient. Also Aldi sells free range chicken. Another good source would be Able and Cole or Riverford. Less meat is better for health anyway! Good luck.