|
1.
THINKING OF EATING
“It seems undeniable that, over
the past two decades, the ethical arguments of the
animal rights movement have caught on with a broader
public,” states a Chicago Tribune feature article,
subtitled Once Viewed as Crazies, Animal Rights Activists
Say their Message is Starting to Get Through. Among
the various examples reporter Mick Dumke cites in
support of his statement are a number of ones regarding
farmed animals. Dumke interviewed activists working
on fur, circus and vegetarian campaigns, and attended
demonstrations. He writes: “Surveys have found
that few Americans are comfortable with the idea of
animals being abused or neglected, yet they also struggle
with the implications…shouldn't cows be allowed
to graze?…Is it right to eat veal? Wear leather?”
Omnia Ibrahim, the Chicago-area events
coordinator for Mercy for Animals (MFA), concurs:
“I think people are really defensive about their
food…I think it's hard to think something is
wrong that you've done your whole life." Hal
Herzog, a psychology professor who has studied animal
rights activism for more than 20 years, points out
that although Americans are eating less “red
meat,” they are eating more chicken [and fish,
though the opposite seems to be happening in Japan:
http://tinyurl.com/39jjsk
]. Noting that people are less likely to empathize
with chickens [or fish] than with cows and pigs, he
comments, "Chicken has become a kind of vegetable."
Daniel Haugh, also with MFA, asserts: "The most
compassionate way people can make a difference immediately
is by taking on a vegetarian diet. Every vegetarian
saves 95 to 100 lives a year" (see also: http://www.timetogoveggie.com
).
RUFFLING FEATHERS
Chicago Tribune, Mick Dumke, May 27, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/2fp8b5
2.
GOURMET ON CHICKENS' PLIGHT
Noting recent progress made for farmed
animal welfare, reporter Daniel Zwerdling (see: http://tinyurl.com/32c5by
) states: "These are astonishing developments
-- especially when you consider that only ten years
ago industry leaders shrugged off the animal-welfare
movement as the province of kooks." Writing in
the June issue of Gourmet magazine (see: http://tinyurl.com/2swp29
) Zwerdling asserts that the “entire food industry
is being kicked and shoved towards transforming the
way it treats animals [i.e., less inhumanely] -- and
chicken executives are making a last ditch effort
to resist." He tells that he was denied entry
to chicken production facilities and slaughterplants
to research “A View to Kill,” his article
about chicken catching and killing. Nonetheless, he
offers detailed descriptions of the catching, shackling,
shocking and killing procedures.
The National Chicken Council's Animal
Welfare Guidelines consider it acceptable if no more
than 0.6% of the birds (up to 54 million annually)
die enroute to slaughterplants, which, according to
Zwerdling, is “usually from being jammed together
and heated to death in summer or frozen to death in
winter.” The Guidelines also note that by the
time the birds are shackled, up to 10% (900 million
per year) may have had a wing dislocated, fractured,
or broken from mishandling. Additionally, the Council
permits up to 2% of the birds (180 million per year)
to suffer botched slaughter (but see: http://tinyurl.com/2wvz3c
).
Zwerdling tells of his trip to a slaughterplant
in Demark: "A forklift unloaded crates of chickens
and set them gently on a conveyor….no shackles,
no squawking and flapping.” The birds are killed
using Controlled Atmosphere Killing: "when you
suck oxygen out of the air and replace it with other
gasses like argon and nitrogen, the chickens go unconscious,
painlessly -- and then expire," veterinary scientists
are said to have learned. Switching to this less inhumane
method could be done almost immediately and might
not add to the cost of chicken. While Burger King
is favoring suppliers that use it, KFC is resisting
efforts by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal
and “well respected” animal scientists
to get KFC to require its suppliers use it.
Zwerdling also considers the life of
the 9 billion chickens killed in the U.S. for meat
each year: “…the chickens balloon in weight
so fast that their baby skeletons can't support it
well: among other problems their tendons slip and
their leg bones twist, making a large proportion of
commercial broilers partially or completely lame."
An experiment conducted in the 1990s indicates that
the lame birds do indeed suffer pain as a result.
GOURMET MAGAZINE ON CHICKEN SLAUGHTER
METHODS
DawnWatch, Karen Dawn, June 2007
http://tinyurl.com/26bccn
3.
PIGS IN SIGHT
Pigs in Sight, a campaign by members
of the Dutch pig industry, has been deemed misleading
by an advertisement monitoring committee. The campaign
promotes unscheduled public visits to production facilities
where pigs can be viewed from a window: http://www.varkensinzicht.nl.
The facilities are equipped in accordance with future
European Union standards, such as without gestation
stalls. The committee said the campaign website suggested
that all pig production facilities in the Netherlands
are like those featured on the site. The challenge
was initiated by the Dutch “Party for the Animals,”
which holds two seats in Parliament.
ACTIVISTS NUISANCE FOR PIG SYMPATHY CAMPAIGN
Pig Progress, May 25, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/3xdw6c
4.
DEFRA ON VEGANISM FOR ENVIRONMENT
An official with the United Kingdom’s
Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(DEFRA) has expressed support for the environmental
benefits of a vegan diet. The “leaked”
comment was elicited in response to an e-mail inquiry
the agency received from Vegetarians International
Voice for Animals (Viva!) which had asked why DEFRA
wasn’t promoting veganism as part of it’s
World Environment Day campaign.
The DEFRA response stated: "You will be interested
to hear that [DEFRA] is working on a set of key environmental
behaviour changes to mitigate climate change. Consumption
of animal protein has been highlighted within that
work. As a result the issue may start to figure in
climate change communications in the future. It will
be a case of introducing this gently as there is a
risk of alienating the public majority….Future
Environment Agency communications are unlikely to
ever suggest adopting a fully vegan lifestyle, but
certainly encouraging people to examine their consumption
of animal protein could be a key message."
The National Farmers' Union immediately
responded: “Hopefully Ministers will have more
sense than to suggest simplistic and, quite possibly,
counter productive responses to what is a highly complex
equation.” DEFRA subsequently stated: “The
Environment Agency believes this is a matter of personal
choice, but it would be wrong of us to dismiss the
already very public research showing the benefits
that reducing the consumption of animal protein, and
therefore methane emissions from farm animals, can
have on tackling emissions.” The Soil Association
also responded, welcoming “Defra’s acknowledgement
that eating less meat is better for the environment.”
In February, the government launched a website with
recommendations for “Greener Living,”
with a “What you eat” section that states:
“Production of meat and dairy has a much bigger
effect on climate change and other environmental impacts
than that of most grains, pulses and outdoor fruit
and vegetables”: http://tinyurl.com/2u78vk
GO VEGAN TO HELP CLIMATE, SAYS GOVERNMENT
Telegraph, Charles Clover, May 30, 2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/05/30/eavegan30.xml
ENVIRONMENT AGENCY DENIES TRYING TO CONVERT
THE PUBLIC TO SWITCH TO VEGETARIAN DIET
Farmers Guardian, Tom Levitt, May 31, 2007
http://www.farmersguardian.com:80/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=10114
5.
$3 BILLION IN AGRICULTURAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE; VEAL AID
Farmers and ranchers who incurred farmed
animal or crop losses from weather-related disasters
during 2005, 2006, or 2007 will be eligible for $3
billion in financial compensation after President
Bush signed legislation on May 29th which included
emergency agricultural disaster assistance (see: http://tinyurl.com/334dc5
). The fiscal year 2007 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations
bill had been approved by a large, bipartisan majority
of Congress on May 24th. The bill also extends the
Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program for one month,
through September 2007. This ensures that it will
be included in the budget baseline for the 2007 Farm
Bill. The program helps keep dairies in business when
milk prices bottom out.
During a markup of the Farm Bill, the
House Agriculture Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Subcommittee
(see: http://tinyurl.com/27grqk
) approved an amendment that would authorize $12 million
in compensation to producers raising calves for veal
who experienced market losses during 2005. An amendment
to lift the prohibition on the interstate shipment
of state-inspected meat and poultry products was offered
and withdrawn. Such an amendment could be offered
again when the full Agriculture committee markup occurs,
which is expected in the upcoming weeks.
FAMILY FARMERS, RANCHERS TO RECEIVE DISASTER
ASSISTANCE
The Poultry Site, May 29, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/2xsal5
HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE APPROVES LIVESTOCK, DAIRY, AND
POULTRY TITLES OF 2007 FARM BILL
American Meat Institute, May 24, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/35zwdr
6.
GLOBAL DAIRY PLATFORM
Weeks after the U.S. Federal Trade
Commission agreed that research didn’t support
weight-loss claims by the dairy industry (see: http://tinyurl.com/2snpkw
), the Global Dairy Platform (GDP), a worldwide dairy
lobbying group, is engaging in a public relations
campaign promoting weight-loss claims. GDP was formed
in 2004 to protect the financial interests of its
member companies, which includes Dairy Farmers of
America, Fonterra, Kraft, Nestle and others, by increasing
dairy consumption in developing countries and defending
against market encroachment by non-dairy alternatives.
Its members have a combined turnover exceeding $70
billion, with a target of $100 billion by Christmas.
The Chicago-based entity also seeks to promote messages
touting benefits of dairy products on hypertension,
teeth, and bone strength. In an attempt to safeguard
terms used by the dairy industry it is conducting
a worldwide regulatory review. "When was the
last time you saw a soya bean being milked?”
asked GDP executive director Kevin Ballamy, “How
dare these people?"
FONTERRA DECLARES PR WAR OVER DAIRY
The New Zealand Herald, Malcolm Burgess, May 29, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/34mlrl
|
![[missing header image]](images/faw_chicks.jpg)
![[missing header image]](images/newsletter_ico.jpg)