I remember when "free range" chicken/eggs came around. The definition of that is wild. Opened my eyes to how bullshit all of the US food labeling stuff is. It means something like they have access to 2 square feet of outdoor space access. But theres like no rules on how often they need to be able to use it. So you can just have thousands of chickens you lets cycle through a tiny outdoor area once in their lives and it meets the requirement. It's a joke.
Memes
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Supersize Me 2: Holy Chicken! covers this and is definitely worth a watch. He sets up a fried chicken restaurant and establishes all the minimum criteria to promote your food as free range/organic/healthy etc when it really isn't.
There is a thing now in Germany called "outdoor climate" for beef etc. It's supposed to be the second best form of farming and literally means: There needs to be a window somewhere.
STOSSLÜFTEN
I believe organic chicken requires them not to be pumped with antibiotics; at least in my county.
This means farms literally cannot keep them in as horrible and cramped conditions because the risk of disease could wipe them out.
I'm not an organic nut, but I do buy organic chicken/eggs or go without.
In most countries, organic mostly just means that the feed they use is organic with maybe a few minor other additions, but regardless I wouldn't trust any claims of anything actually being antibiotic-free.
Sadly, what it means in practice is that access to outdoors is strictly controlled or forbidden, and the factory will probably kill all the chickens and throw them in the trash if a disease outbreaks. There's a bunch of talk now in big ag about biosecurity, and how small farms are a risk because they can introduce disease. How about actually have a natural farm instead of a micromanaged industrial operation, and then maybe the animals will be robust to illness.
The best part is that chicken naturally live in forests. They are afraid of open spaces because those come with the threat of birds of prey.
remember: you don't have to be vegan to worry about animal welfare
However, it does help if you want to minimise your personal contribution towards animal suffering.
Also don't have to care about animal welfare to be vegan
But there's a difference between animals and capital goods producing meat.
The only goal for a farmer is in the end how much money you can make. And yes healthy and happy animals taste better but people buy cheap shit so usually the welfare isn't paid by people.
The history of food labels is really interesting and sad. It's a classic example of regulatory capture. Even the term "organic" doesn't come close to what many people think it does. The best most of us can do is find a local farmer or coop you trust, ideally one that practices permaculture, that sells to the public. Unfortunately, that can be a challenge to find and can be prohibitive for those with lower incomes or lack of transportation.
It's incredibly frustrating. Free-range eggs vs cage-free eggs... companies waging war on soy/almond milk, "cheese products".
ill just stick with my beans and rice
Killed Humanly
by Juan.
I saw a label that said, "certified humane" which sounded nice.
Does anyone have the blank version of this?