North Carolina Hog Growers Association Members to All Become Animal Welfare Approved
In 2007, a group of hog farmers banded together to pool their resources and build markets for their high-quality pork products and the North Carolina Natural Hog Growers Association was born. Currently made up of 25 hog farmers, the group decided to make being Animal Welfare Approved a centerpiece of their production practices. "The Animal Welfare Approved label tells our retailers and customers that our hogs are raised outdoors, on pasture, with high welfare standards," said group president Jeremiah Jones…
Animal Welfare Approved program now open to Canadian farms
We are pleased to announce that Animal Welfare Approved now has approval from the Canadian government to begin certifying farms in Canada. American consumers know buying products with the Animal Welfare Approved label ensures their meat, dairy and eggs came from high welfare farms. Soon Canadians will be able to benefit in the same way. Labels on Animal Welfare Approved products in Canada will read "This product originates from animals who are raised under the standards of the Animal Welfare…
What Would Darwin Say?
New York Times Op-Ed columnist Nicholas Kristoff recently published a piece on the connection between the rise of MRSA-related infections and industrial hog farming. "Our Pigs, Our Food, Our Health," documents new and frightening research on this antibiotic resistant-bacterium that kills over 18,000 Americans a year (after eating their flesh and causing agonizing lesions). While MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) has traditionally been associated with hospitals, jails and locker rooms, a new strain has been found that is apparently agricultural in…
Omega-3, It’s What’s for Dinner
Jesse Kornbluth on the Huffington Post sings the praises of Omega-3. He writes: "I started paying attention to these fatty acids when I read Nina Planck's Real Food: What to Eat and Why, and was dazzled by the range of benefits they provide: heart health, brain growth, mental balance." And continues: "So...what's the best way to get your Omega-3? Ideally, from natural food --- it's not hard to consume the equivalent of two grams of fish oil a day without…
Genetically Engineered Animals: On the table, but not on the label!?
As of January 2009, you will now be able to purchase and consume products from genetically engineered animals - without one mention of that fact on the label. Whether you welcome or dread your first GE dish, we all have one thing in common--we won't know when we eat it. Our friends at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have decided that products from genetically engineered animals will not be labeled as such. The FDA says that it will not require labeling of products from genetically engineered animals because those products are not "materially different" from conventional ones. Ironically this ruling follows a recent Consumers Union poll which found that 95% of respondents favored labeling of milk and meat from genetically engineered animals. A spokeswoman for the FDA defended its decision, stating, "...the FDA doesn't require that a pork chop label specify [the breeding method of the pig]." Translation: the FDA has decided genetic engineering is just another way to breed animals and therefore, it doesn't make the meat, eggs or dairy from those animals any different from the meat, eggs or dairy out of grandma's barnyard.
