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− | <ul>
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− | <li>Context.
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>People are becoming increasingly concerned about the welfare of animals used for food. This concern is
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− | spawned by undercover videos, social-media postings, documentary movies, and reporting by the press.
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Some people hope to act on that concern by buying products that bear one of the humane-certification
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− | labels or that brandish some other designation, such as ''cage free'', ''free-range'', ''grass
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− | fed'', or ''organic'', thinking that such purchases cause little or no harm to the individuals
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− | whose flesh and secretions have been packaged for sale.
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− | </li>
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− | <li>First, we explain why—even if specific humane claims are true—using animals for food is still not
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− | humane. Because using animals for food is still not humane, it's not necessary to show that the
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− | humane-sounding labels and certifications are misleading. But we do so anyway just so there can be no
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− | doubt. We also reveal that cruel practices are systemic to the process of using animals for food.
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− | </li>
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− | <li>After the evidence is presented, it's easy to conclude that these labels have little to do with the
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− | well-being of the animals but are designed to at once assuage our guilt and compel us to spend more.
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− | </li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Animals are harmed by depriving them of their lives.
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>Research by cognitive ethologists and neurobiologists has confirmed that the animals we exploit for
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− | food, including fish, have desires, preferences, and emotions. They have a sense of themselves, a sense
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− | of the future, and a will to live. They have families, social communities, and natural
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− | behaviors.<ref>Bekoff, Mark, Colin Allen, and Gordon Burghardt. ''The Cognitive Animal: Empirical and
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− | Theoretical Perspectives on Animal Cognition''. A Bradford Book, 2002 </ref>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>In these ways and others, they are like us, and what happens to them matters to them. They each have an
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− | inherent value apart from their usefulness to us.
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− | </li>
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− | <li>So even if humane-sounding labels were aboveboard, using animals for food is still not humane because we
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− | are depriving them of the only life they have and a life they value.
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− | </li>
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− | <li>This is true no matter how the killing is done, and it is true not only for animals used for meat but
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− | also for animals used for dairy products and eggs. Those used for dairy and eggs, like those used for
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− | meat, are slaughtered very early in their lives. They are slaughtered when their reproductive systems
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− | are used up and they are no longer profitable. None of the animals we use for food are allowed to live
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− | out their lives.
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>Details: Age of Animals Slaughtered vs. Natural Life Span.
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>Note
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>The equivalent human age was calculated based on an 80-year human life span.
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− | </li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Broiler Chickens
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>Natural Life Span: 8 years</li>
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− | <li>Age at Slaughter: 5–7 weeks</li>
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− | <li>Percentage of Life Lived: < 1.2%</li>
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− | <li>Equivalent Human Age at Slaughter: 1 year</li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Laying Hens
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>Natural Life Span: 8 years</li>
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− | <li>Age at Slaughter: 18 months</li>
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− | <li>Percentage of Life Lived: < 18.75%</li>
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− | <li>Equivalent Human Age at Slaughter: 15 years</li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Beef Cows
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>Natural Life Span: 15–20 years</li>
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− | <li>Age at Slaughter: 18 months</li>
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− | <li>Percentage of Life Lived: 7.5%</li>
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− | <li>Equivalent Human Age at Slaughter: 6 years</li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Dairy Cows
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>Natural Life Span: 15–20 years</li>
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− | <li>Age at Slaughter: 4 years</li>
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− | <li>Percentage of Life Lived: 20%</li>
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− | <li>Equivalent Human Age at Slaughter: 16 years</li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Pigs
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>Natural Life Span: 10–12 years</li>
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− | <li>Age at Slaughter: 5–6 months</li>
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− | <li>Percentage of Life Lived: 3%</li>
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− | <li>Equivalent Human Age at Slaughter: 3 years</li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Source<ref>Age of Animals Slaughtered.” Accessed February 23, 2018.
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− | http://www.aussieabattoirs.com/facts/age-slaughtered </ref>
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− | </li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Taking the life of anyone who wants to live is to harm that individual, regardless of their species.
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− | Just as we would not consider killing for food humane if it were done to dogs, cats, or humans, then by
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− | any measure of fairness and justice, it is not humane when done to other sentient beings.
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Humane slaughter is an oxymoron. ''Humane'' means showing compassion or benevolence. To slaughter is
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− | to kill or butcher someone who does not want to die. Slaughter is a violent act, not an act of
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− | compassion or benevolence.
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− | </li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Humane-sounding labels and certifications are mostly meaningless.
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>Context.
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>Here we address the most common labels and certifications. Some labels and certifications cover
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− | some forms of abuse, and others cover different forms of abuse, but none address all forms of
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− | abuse. But even if they did, the standards are often not enforced.
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− | </li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Free-Range.
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>The USDA standard for ''free-range'' requires only that chickens are given some access to the
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− | outdoors. There are no stipulations for the size or quality of the outdoor space, and there is
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− | no requirement that the chickens actually spend time outdoors.<ref>“FSIS.” Food Safety Inspection
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− | Service, USDA,
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− | http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/food-labeling/meat-and-poultry-labeling-terms</ref>
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− | Also, the claim does not have to be verified through inspections.<ref>“What Does ‘Free Range’
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− | Mean?” Greener Choices | Consumer Reports, April 25, 2017.
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− | http://greenerchoices.org/2017/04/25/free-range/ </ref>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>So it's not surprising that investigations by Consumer Reports (and others) reveal that most
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− | chickens labeled ''free-range'' spend their lives confined inside a crowded chicken house.
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− | The free-range space itself may be nothing more than an enclosed concrete slab that the chickens
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− | never use. These individuals lack the room even to turn around, much less engage in their
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− | natural behaviors of preening, nesting, foraging, dust bathing, and perching.<ref>“What Does ‘Free
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− | Range’ Mean?” Greener Choices | Consumer Reports, April 25, 2017.
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− | http://greenerchoices.org/2017/04/25/free-range/ </ref>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>This has led Consumer Reports to say that "'free range''''' is one of the most potentially
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− | misleading labels because of the discrepancy between what it implies and what is required to
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− | make the claim."<ref>“What Does ‘Free Range’ Mean?” Greener Choices | Consumer Reports, April 25,
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− | 2017. http://greenerchoices.org/2017/04/25/free-range/ </ref>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Extra.
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>Only one percent of eggs are from ''free-range'' hens that have the option to go
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− | outdoors, but like the other 99 percent, even those hens have likely never actually been
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− | outdoors.<ref>“A Hen’s Space to Roost.” New York Times, August 15, 2010.
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− | http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/weekinreview/20100815-chicken-cages.pdf </ref>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Jonathan Foer, in his well-researched and fact-checked book<ref>Yonan, Joe. “Book Review:
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− | Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer,” November 22, 2009.
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− | http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/20/AR2009112001684.html</ref> ''Eating
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− | Animals'', sums it up well in saying that "the free-range label is bullshit" and
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− | "should provide no more peace of mind than 'all-natural,' 'fresh,' or 'magical.'"<ref>Foer,
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− | Jonathan Safran. Eating Animals. Little, Brown, 2009, 102 </ref>
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− | </li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Cage Free.
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>Consumer Reports advises you to “ignore cage-free claims” for chickens.<ref>“A ‘Cage-Free’ Claim:
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− | Does It Add Value?” Greener Choices |Consumer Reports, March 5, 2018
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− | http://greenerchoices.org/2018/03/05/cage-free-add-value/ </ref> "'Cage-free' does not mean the
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− | chickens had access to the outdoors." It only means the chickens were not confined to a
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− | cage.<ref>What Does ‘Cage Free’ Mean?” Greener Choices | Consumer Reports, February 6, 2017.
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− | http://greenerchoices.org/2017/02/06/cage-free-mean/ </ref>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>''Cage free'' chickens, like ''free-range'' chickens, may be confined not by a cage but by
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− | crowding so extreme that turning around and engaging in those previously mentioned natural
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− | behaviors of preening, nesting, foraging, dust bathing, and perching is difficult or impossible.
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− | Such extreme crowding in large metal warehouses is the norm, with each chicken allowed less than
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− | a square foot of space.<ref>ibid.</ref>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Extra.
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>Other conditions inside the warehouses add to the misery of the confined birds. To
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− | mention only one, for brevity's sake: the ammonia-laden air in the chicken houses is so
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− | noxious that the birds commonly suffer respiratory disorders, severe flesh and eye
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− | burns, and even blindness.<ref>“Ammonia Toxicity in Chickens.” PoultryDVM. Accessed October
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− | 25, 2018. http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/ammonia-burn </ref>
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− | </li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Pasture Raised.
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>According to Consumer Reports, “government agencies have no common standard that producers have
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− | to meet to make a 'pasture raised' claim on a food label, no definition for ‘pasture,’ and no
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− | requirement for the claim to be verified through on-farm inspections.”<ref>“Pasture Raised” Greener
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− | Choices | Consumer Reports, April 4, 2017, http://greenerchoices.org/2017/04/26/pasture-raised/
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− | </ref>
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− | </li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Grass Fed.
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>The USDA-regulated ''grass fed'' label in the United States requires that the bovine is fed
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− | grass their entire life. The designation has only to do with feeding and does not prohibit
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− | routine cruelties, such as dehorning, castration, confinement, harsh living conditions, rough
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− | handling, and lack of veterinary care.
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Enforcement is weak,<ref>“Labeling Guideline on Documentation Needed to Substantiate Animal Raising
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− | Claims for Label Submissions.” USDA FSIS, n.d.
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− | https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/bf170761-33e3-4a2d-8f86-940c2698e2c5/Label-Approval-Guide.pdf?MOD=AJPERES</ref>
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− | and the animals are still slaughtered at an early age.<ref>Whisnant, DVM, Patricia. “FAQ Grass Fed
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− | Beef.” American Grass Fed Beef (blog). Accessed October 25, 2018.
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− | https://www.americangrassfedbeef.com/faq-grass-fed-beef.asp </ref>
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>Details: Enforcement.
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>Enforcement is weak. The regulation states that "the addition of the grass
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− | fed claim for products formulated with grass fed beef is a type of claim that
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− | can be approved through a request for blanket approval." This means that an
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− | on-site audit is not required. Instead, the producer must submit documentation
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− | to FSIS, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service.<ref>“Labeling Guideline on
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− | Documentation Needed to Substantiate Animal Raising Claims for Label
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− | Submissions.” USDA FSIS, n.d.
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− | https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/bf170761-33e3-4a2d-8f86-940c2698e2c5/Label-Approval-Guide.pdf?MOD=AJPERES
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− | </ref>
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− | </li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Details: Age of Slaughter.
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>While bovines that finish feeding with grain in a feedlot are slaughtered when
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− | about one year old, ''grass fed'' animals are allowed to live no longer than
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− | two years of their 15-to-20-year life span.<ref>Whisnant, DVM, Patricia. “FAQ Grass
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− | Fed Beef.” American Grass Fed Beef (blog). Accessed October 25, 2018.
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− | https://www.americangrassfedbeef.com/faq-grass-fed-beef.asp </ref>
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− | </li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Organic.
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>Some have the perception that ''organic'' means humanely raised, but that is not the case.
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− | Organic farmers are free to treat their animals no better than non-organic farmers. This is
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− | because the USDA, which controls the ''organic'' label in the United States, ruled that the
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− | label does not allow "broadly prescriptive, stand-alone animal welfare regulations."<ref>Whoriskey,
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− | Peter. “Should ‘USDA Organic’ Animals Be Treated More Humanely? The Trump Administration Just
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− | Said No.” Washington Post, December 15, 2017.
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− | https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/12/15/should-usda-organic-animals-be-treated-more-humanely-the-trump-administration-just-said-no/
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− | </ref>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Consumer Reports informs us that while there are organic standards relating to animals, they
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− | lack clarity and precision, letting producers with poor standards sell poultry and eggs.<ref>“Do
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− | You Care about Animal Welfare on Organic Farms?” Greener Choices | Consumer Reports, February 6,
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− | 2018. http://greenerchoices.org/2018/02/06/care-animal-welfare-organic-farms/ </ref>
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− | </li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Certified Humane Raised and Handled.
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>Consumer Reports says that "we do not rate Certified Humane as a highly meaningful label for
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− | animal welfare, because the standards do not have certain requirements that a majority of
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− | consumers expect from a 'humanely raised' label, such as access to the outdoors."<ref>“Certified
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− | Humane Raised and Handled.” Consumer Reports—Greener Choices | Consumer Reports, January 30,
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− | 2017. http://greenerchoices.org/2017/01/30/certified-humane/ </ref>
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− | </li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Whole Foods's Global Animal Partnership (GAP) Certified.
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>The Open Philanthropy Project criticized GAP for having weak enforcement and for providing only
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− | slight improvements over standard factory farming conditions.<ref>“Global Animal Partnership.” Open
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− | Philanthropy Project, March 26, 2016. <a
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− | href="https://www.openphilanthropy.org/focus/us-policy/farm-animal-welfare/global-animal-partnership-general-support">https://www.openphilanthropy.org/focus/us-policy/farm-animal-welfare/global-animal-partnership-general-support
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− | </ref></a> For example, according to Consumer Reports, "standards for slaughter do not exist at
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− | any level for chickens and there is no limit on their rate of growth."<ref>“Global Animal
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− | Partnership Step 5+.” Greener Choices | Consumer Reports, May 23, 2017.
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− | http://greenerchoices.org/2017/05/23/global-animal-partnership-step-5/ </ref>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>GAP doesn't even publish standards for dairy cows, arguably the most abused of any of the farmed
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− | mammals.
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− | </li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>American Humane Certified.
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>According to Consumer Reports, "the requirements fall short in meeting consumer expectations for
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− | a 'humane' label in many ways."<ref>“American Humane Certified.” Consumer Reports—Greener Choices |
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− | Consumer Reports, January 11, 2017.
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− | http://greenerchoices.org/2017/01/11/american-humane-certified/ </ref>
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− | </li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>United Egg Producers Certified.
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>Consumer Reports says that while the label is verified, "it is not meaningful as an animal
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− | welfare label because certain basic conditions, such as the freedom to move, are not
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− | required."<ref>“United Egg Producers Certified.” Greener Choices | Consumer Reports, March 23,
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− | 2017. http://greenerchoices.org/2017/03/23/united-egg-producers-certified/ </ref>
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>Details: Freedom to Move.
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>According to Consumer Reports, "the UEP Certified guidelines allow continuous
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− | confinement in crowded cages in dimly lit buildings without natural light and
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− | fresh air. Hens only have to be given enough space to stand upright, with a
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− | minimum space requirement of 8 by 8 inches for white laying hens kept in a cage.
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− | Producers keeping their hens in cages do not have to allow the hens to move
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− | freely, perch, dust bathe, or forage, and nest boxes are not required. While the
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− | label is verified, it is not meaningful as an animal welfare label because
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− | certain basic conditions, such as the freedom to move, are not
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− | required."<ref>“United Egg Producers Certified.” Greener Choices | Consumer
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− | Reports, March 23, 2017.
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− | http://greenerchoices.org/2017/03/23/united-egg-producers-certified/ </ref>
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
| |
− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>USDA Process Verified.
| |
− | <ul>
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− | <li>According to Consumer Reports, ''Process Verified'' claims can be written by the
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− | manufacturers themselves—and the claims do not have to be meaningful to the welfare of the
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− | animals.<ref>“USDA Process Verified.” Greener Choices | Consumer Reports, March 7, 2017.
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− | http://greenerchoices.org/2017/03/07/usda-process-verified/ </ref>
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>Details: Process Verified.
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>Consumer Reports says, "the USDA Process Verified shield means that one or more
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− | of the claims made on the label have been verified by the U.S. Department of
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− | Agriculture. Both the claim and the standard behind the claim can be written by
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− | the company; the USDA only verifies whether the standard has been met, not
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− | whether the claim is a meaningful one. The label adds credibility to meaningful
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− | claims like 'no antibiotics, ever,' but also allows for claims with lower
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− | standards that mostly reflect the existing industry norm and add little value,
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− | such as 'raised without growth-promoting antibiotics.'”<ref>ibid.</ref>
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− | </li>
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− | </ul>
| |
− | </li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | </ul>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Animal Welfare Approved.
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>This is the only certification that Consumer Reports says has strong standards, yet the
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− | standards still allow for mutilations<ref>“Animal Welfare Approved.” Greener Choices |Consumer
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− | Reports, November 16, 2016. http://greenerchoices.org/2016/11/16/awa-label-review/ </ref> and other
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− | injustices.
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Also, products with this label are challenging to find. A search using their own product finder
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− | reveals that it's unlikely you will find any products with this label at a grocery store near
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− | you.<ref>“Find Products.” A Greener World. Accessed October 4, 2018.
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− | https://agreenerworld.org/shop-agw/product-search/ </ref>
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− | </li>
| |
− | </ul>
| |
− | </li>
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− | <li>Certified Sustainable Seafood.
| |
− | <ul>
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− | <li>Sustainability has nothing to do with the treatment of the fish. Fish typically die of
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− | suffocation because they are left in the air, or they die by having their throats slit while
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− | they are alive. Although our concern for fish is typically less than it is for other animals,
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− | research in cognitive ethology and neurobiology reveals that fish show intelligence, feel pain,
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− | display emotions, and have many of the other characteristics of the land animals we use for
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− | food.<ref>Balcombe, Jonathan. What a Fish Knows: The Inner Lives of Our Underwater Cousins.
| |
− | Scientific American / Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016. </ref>
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | <li>Not only that, but the sustainability claim itself is suspect. In a piece titled "Is
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− | Sustainable-Labeled Seafood Really Sustainable?" NPR reports that scientists and other experts
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− | believe fisheries are being certified that should not be. In addition, fish are being
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− | incorrectly counted, rendering the claims of sustainability doubtful.<ref>“Is Sustainable-Labeled
| |
− | Seafood Really Sustainable?” NPR.org, February 11, 2013. <a
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− | href="https://www.npr.org/2013/02/11/171376509/is-sustainable-labeled-seafood-really-sustainable">https://www.npr.org/2013/02/11/171376509/is-sustainable-labeled-seafood-really-sustainable</a></ref>
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | </ul>
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | <li>Backyard Chickens.
| |
− | <ul>
| |
− | <li>Although backyard chickens are not associated with a certification or label like the others that
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− | we are covering here, they deserve a closer look. A considerable number of people regard the
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− | practice of keeping chickens in the backyard for food as innocuous. These backyard chickens are
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− | of the same or similar variety as those on industrial farms—the very farms that account for most
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− | of the cruelties outlined below.
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Baby chicks often die in transport. A quick search will find numerous reports of chicks being
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− | shipped alive to backyard hobbyists and dying in transport—and reports of those that make it
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− | being greatly stressed.
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Backyard chickens, like those on industrial farms, have been selectively bred, which stresses
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− | their bodies. Here are just a few examples out of many:
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− | <ul>
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− | <li>Laying hens are bred to lay large eggs, which stresses their reproductive systems and
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− | causes such problems as osteoporosis, bone breakage, and uterus prolapse.<ref>Jamieson,
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− | Alastair. “Large Eggs Cause Pain and Stress to Hens, Shoppers Are Told,” March 11, 2009,
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− | sec. Finance.
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− | https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/4971966/Large-eggs-cause-pain-and-stress-to-hens-shoppers-are-told.html
| |
− | </ref>
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− | </li>
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− | <li>Another stressor for laying hens is the number of their eggs, which is the result of
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− | selective breeding. A laying hen produces more than 300 eggs a year, but the jungle fowl
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− | from which they are bred lay 4 to 6 eggs in a year.<ref>Cheng, H.-W. “Breeding of
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− | Tomorrow’s Chickens to Improve Well-Being.” Poultry Science 89, no. 4 (April 1, 2010):
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− | 805–13. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3382/ps.2009-00361">https://doi.org/10.3382/ps.2009-00361
| |
− | </ref></a></li>
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− | <li>Chickens used for meat have been bred to grow at an unnaturally fast rate and have large
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− | breasts. This selective breeding comes with serious welfare consequences: leg disorders;
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− | skeletal, developmental, and degenerative diseases; heart and lung problems; respiratory
| |
− | problems; and premature death.<ref>Stevenson, Peter. “Leg and Heart Problems in Broiler
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− | Chickens.” Compassion in World Farming, January 2003.
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− | https://www.ciwf.org.uk/media/3818898/leg-and-heart-problems-in-broilers-for-judicial-review.pdf
| |
− | </ref>
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | </ul>
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | <li>In the hatcheries from which backyard chicken hobbyists order baby chicks, the males are either
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− | ground alive in macerators, gassed, or smothered to death soon after they are hatched. This is
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− | because the laying hens are selectively bred for producing eggs, not meat, rendering the males
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− | useless for their intended purpose.<ref>Blakemore, Erin. “Egg Producers Pledge More Humane Fate for
| |
− | Male Chicks.” Smithsonian, June 13, 2016.
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− | https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/egg-producers-pledge-more-humane-fate-male-chicks-180959394/
| |
− | </ref>
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | <li>Backyard hens are likely to be slaughtered when egg production wanes, preventing them from
| |
− | living out their natural lives. As one hobbyist euphemistically put it, "when the expenses
| |
− | outweigh the value, then changes have to be made."<ref>“At What Age Do You Kill a Laying Hen?”
| |
− | BackYard Chickens. Accessed November 2, 2018.
| |
− | https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/at-what-age-do-you-kill-a-laying-hen.837302/ </ref>
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | </ul>
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | </ul>
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | <li>Cruelty and suffering are systemic in using animals as commodities for profit.
| |
− | <ul>
| |
− | <li>The abuses inflicted on farmed animals are many and often severe, and they're part of the normal
| |
− | operations of exploiting animals for food. These abuses include confinement, crowding, mutilation,
| |
− | deprivation of natural behaviors, debilitating selective breeding, cruel handling, separation from their
| |
− | offspring, and, of course, slaughter.
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | <li>Because many of the abuses are systemic, they cannot be humanely-labeled away. To be profitable, animal
| |
− | agriculture depends on animals being mistreated. For any label or certification to omit all animal
| |
− | abuses would render the products unaffordable by all but the most affluent.
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | <li>The cruelty stems in part from the attitudes that surround the commodification of animals, as
| |
− | exemplified by a piece in ''Hog Management'', which recommends that farmers "forget the pig is an
| |
− | animal—treat him just like a machine in a factory."<ref>Prescott, Matthew. “Your Pig Almost Certainly Came
| |
− | from a Factory Farm, No Matter What Anyone Tells You - The Washington Post,” July 15, 2014.
| |
− | https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/07/15/your-pig-almost-certainly-came-from-a-factory-farm-no-matter-what-anyone-tells-you/
| |
− | </ref>
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | <li>Here are a few specific examples of cruelty not covered earlier. These are allowed under many, if not
| |
− | most, labels and certifications.
| |
− | <ul>
| |
− | <li>The early separation of calves from their mothers, depriving the calves of the love and milk of
| |
− | their mothers and depriving the grieving cow of her nurturing instinct<ref>University of Veterinary
| |
− | Medicine, Vienna. (2015, April 28). Early separation of cow and calf has long-term effects on
| |
− | social behavior. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 26, 2018 from
| |
− | www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150428081801.htm </ref>
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | <li>Painful debeaking of chickens, depriving them of their ability to engage in preening and
| |
− | foraging<ref>Welfare Implications of Beak Trimming.” American Veterinary Medical Association,
| |
− | February 7, 2010.
| |
− | https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/LiteratureReviews/Pages/beak-trimming-bgnd.aspx^^“UPC
| |
− | Factsheet - Debeaking.” United Poultry Concerns, Inc. Accessed March 28, 2018.
| |
− | https://www.upc-online.org/merchandise/debeak_factsheet.html </ref>
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | <li>Forcing a hesitant animal to move by any methods necessary, including whipping, prodding,
| |
− | dragging, and forklifting (the evidence for this can be seen in numerous videos and the several
| |
− | firsthand accounts in the book ''Slaughterhouse'' by Gail A. Eisnitz)
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | <li>The dehorning of cows, which one professor of animal science calls "the single most painful
| |
− | thing we do,"<ref>Dehorning: ‘Standard Practice’ on Dairy Farms,” ABC News, January 28, 2010,</ref>
| |
− | done via acid, burning, sawing, or cutting with a gigantic clipper<ref>M’hamdi, Naceur, Cyrine
| |
− | Darej, and Rachid Bouraoui. “Animal Welfare Issues Concerning Procedures Of Calves Dehorning.”
| |
− | Department of Animal Sciences, National Institute of Agronomy of Tunisia and Hiher School of
| |
− | Agriculture of Mateur, Bizerte, Tunisia, 2013 </ref>
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | <li>The clipping of teeth and tails of piglets, a painful procedure usually performed without
| |
− | medication and which may also result in infections, tumors, and the suppression of natural
| |
− | behaviors<ref>“Welfare Implications of Teeth Clipping, Tail Docking and Permanent Identification of
| |
− | Piglets.” American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), July 15, 2014. <a
| |
− | href="https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/LiteratureReviews/Pages/Welfare-implications-of-practices-performed-on-piglets.aspx">https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/LiteratureReviews/Pages/Welfare-implications-of-practices-performed-on-piglets.aspx</a> </ref>
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | </ul>
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | </ul>
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | <li>Humane-sounding labels and certifications may be best thought of as marketing.
| |
− | <ul>
| |
− | <li>The animal agriculture industry is aware of the growing concern for animals and know that if they appear
| |
− | to be uncaring, sales and profits will decline. They also know that few will examine these
| |
− | humane-sounding claims to see if they are true. So these labels and certifications give the appearance
| |
− | of being humane, assuaging the guilt of compassionate buyers.
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | <li>They may also engender higher profits, because the industry also knows that concerned, kindhearted
| |
− | consumers are willing to pay more for products they perceive to be humanely produced.
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | </ul>
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | <li>You cannot buy products made from animals that have been treated humanely.
| |
− | <ul>
| |
− | <li>Even if you buy into the idea that it’s OK to eat animal products as long as the animals are treated
| |
− | well, there is virtually no chance that the animals have, in fact, been treated well, regardless of what
| |
− | label is on the package. While certain labels may represent less suffering for some of the abuses, other
| |
− | abuses remain. The mitigation of some of the cruelties does not justify the remaining ones.
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | <li>As we have shown and as exposed via Consumer Reports and other sources, the standards for these
| |
− | humane-sounding labels are weak and they often go unenforced.
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | <li>The life of any farmed animal can only be described as one of commodified, abusive servitude ending in
| |
− | brutal slaughter. When viewed objectively, free from the fog of our cultural norms, their treatment and
| |
− | slaughter, no matter the label or certification—and by any standard of fairness and justice—cannot be
| |
− | considered humane.
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | </ul>
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | <li>Meta
| |
− | <ul>
| |
− | <li>Contributors
| |
− | <ul>
| |
− | <li>Greg Fuller — Author</li>
| |
− | <li>Isaac Nickerson — Copy Editor</li>
| |
− | </ul>
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | <li>Revisions
| |
− | <ul>
| |
− | <li>2018-11-07 Initial post completed —glf</li>
| |
− | <li>2018-11-16 First editing pass completed —isn</li>
| |
− | <li>2018-11-20 Published—glf</li>
| |
− | </ul>
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | </ul>
| |
− | </li>
| |
− | </ul>
| |
− | {{jfa-expand-end}}
| |
− | {{jfa-expand | footnotes}}
| |
− | <references />
| |
− | {{jfa-expand-end}}
| |