Over the last year or so I’ve started noticing the packaging on meat, poultry, and eggs. Words such as “Free Range”, “Naturally Raised”, and “Humanely Raised” caught my attention and to be honest, made me purchase those items over others that did not have that sort of tag. With the recent meat recall I wondered if the meat was free range or naturally raised. This got me off my butt and…well, back on my butt in front of my computer to do some research. As I started reading, I discovered just how little those words mean.
In the early 90’s there was a huge uproar over the killing of dolphins during the harvest of tuna. Under pressure from the public, and subsequently government officials, the “Dolphin Safe” tag was born. Tuna sales skyrocketed because nobody wanted to be responsible for eating flipper and by purchasing tuna with the dolphin safe classification they showed they cared about our beloved dolphin friends.
When the meat and poultry companies realized that they could make more money by appealing to our good natured side, they got together and came up with the classifications I mentioned above. The problem is there is little to no regulation of these companies with respect to these new tags. In order to say that the chickens you sell are free range, you need only provide a small amount of open land for the chickens to bask in the sun. Never mind that the amount of land for the 5000 chickens you have is about the same as a single bedroom (and no, not the master bedroom). The other problem lies with enforcement of the right to print free range on your packaging. There simply is not enough people to keep the meat and poultry companies honest.
While I do enjoy a great steak, BBQ chicken and the occasional omelet, it would make me feel better to know the animal was dispatched in as humane and quickly a way as possible. Am I being hypocritical? Sure. Would I be willing to pay more for food that was processed in the most humane way? Sure, provided there was some guarantee that I was getting what I paid for.
7 responses so far ↓
1 Mark // Feb 20, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Great point. Nice post.
2 mrtobo // Mar 24, 2008 at 1:35 pm
maybe just stop eating meat?
3 VicinSea // Apr 13, 2008 at 10:12 pm
I also love meat but I cringe at the results. I hate the idea of how much pain and fear induced adrenalin I get from every meat meal. No wonder Americans are so stressed out…we get extra panic-drugs in every meal! If every person had to face their meal every day, I think most of us would be vegetarians. In the past year I have cut wayyyyyyyyyy back…..not with the idea of “going” vegetarian or vegan but just to cut back on the amount of suffering I ingest. I still eat meat but I make myself aware of the source and take appropriate measures.
I always pick wild game over beef….wild salmon over farmed fish….and when possible, I hunt because I know the animal I kill myself only suffers for 1 minute or less compared to veal that suffers for 6 weeks to 1 year, or beef cattle that suffer for 2 weeks on the way to market, or frying chickens that suffer for 10 weeks. Don’t worry about being perfect….make the difference by lessening the suffering.
4 Ziggy // Apr 14, 2008 at 9:16 am
Well said VicinSea.
5 VicinSea // Apr 15, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Thank You Ziggy!
I am in Seattle and we have had a recent change in local laws that allows each city residential lot to keep 4 chickens and 1 goat. I am not too sure about getting a goat but 4 hens can live very comfortably in a small dog run with a little shed to keep them out of the weather. Many of my neighbors are adding hens to the family pet quota and enjoying truly fresh cruelty free eggs!
6 Ziggy // Apr 15, 2008 at 8:54 pm
That’s fantastic. I agree…goat would be too much.
7 Shanti // Nov 13, 2008 at 4:03 am
Well, I’ve a lot to say on the labelling of food! I wrote an article on it just today, actually. One of the suggestions my article posed was to have a vegetarian Christmas. The reason? Christmas is the season of giving, and what better way to give than to forgo eating a living creature? Especially the factory farmed ones!
However, Christmas dinners must be delicious, so this will make you at least research tasty vegetarian food, even if it’s just for the one night of a year. And perhaps you will find with one night, you may be interested in a few more nights a year that are cruelty free.
If you would like any advice on the process, feel free to email me, quite a few of my friends have asked for my help in going vegetarian (asked for it, I try not to be too pushy with it!)
I should probably put the final note that I don’t celebrate Christmas per se, my family celebrates a different holiday, but I figure it’s easier to connect if I refer to the most common holiday.
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