Ethical Eating

Ethical EatingEthical Eating…taking a look into animal welfare in our food system

What are we talking about?

• Conventional Animal Production• Ethical treatment• Questions about human health• Environmental Impact• Vegetarianism and Veganism• What’s available for you on campus?• Questions?

Some definitions

• Feedlot where cows go to get fattened up before slaughter

• Castration removal of testicles

• CAFO confined animal feed operation

• Slaughter the killing of animals mostly for human consumption

• Livestock all animals raised for intent of food production

• Free range not defined by law, but used by the industry to say that poultry, pigs lived outside of cages/crates

• Pasture-raised most sustainable way of producing animals for human consumption; animals are able to roam around freely, and do all things naturally

Do Animals Feel Pain?

All birds, mammals, fish have a central nervous system…

All birds, mammals and fish can feel pain.

Is there emotional pain associated with physical harm? The jury is out on that…

Conventional Animal Production

Chickens, poultry

Pigs

Cattle

Fish

Chickens

Broiler chickens meat consumption

Layer hens egg consumption, meat consumption

BroilersBred to grow muscles 2x as fast as in 1940’s

Muscle growth does not match bone growth

Deformities

Can’t walk

Crowded pens on concrete/slatted floors

De-beaking

Disease vector administer antibiotics

Unnatural diets

Layers98% live in crowded cages - 48 sq. in. each – vertical

integration

De-beaking

Disease vector administer antibiotics

Forced molting through starvation to increase egg production

Unnatural diets

Butchered after 2 egg-laying seasons

By slaughter, 29% suffer broken bones due to neglect and maltreatment

Health Risks and Human Concerns

Hormones – increase growth; illegal in US

Antibiotics – promote growth; treat disease

Arsenic – antimicrobial dug; promotes growth

Disease vector – E. coli, bird flu, salmonella

Environmental pollution

What happens at slaughter?

Transported by truck to slaughter

No legal requirement for chickens to be anesthetized for slaughter… they are awake

Throats cut

Dipped into tanks of scalding hot water to loosen feathers

Plucked of feathers by hand or machine

Facts and figures• There is no federal law that regulates humane treatment of

chickens

• Over 9 billion chickens were slaughtered in the US for their flesh

• 245 million hens are raised for eggs

• 99% of all chickens raised for food spend their entire lives in confinement

• Due to genetic manipulation (selective breeding) 90% of broiler chickens have trouble walking

• 100 million male chicks are ground up alive or suffocated each year

• 71% of the farmers who work under contract for Tyson earn below-poverty wages

Poultry’s environmental impact

Soy-based high protein feed diet

Ammonia emissions and water contamination

Manure lagoons

Nitrates and phosphates contaminate waterways

Nitrates algae blooms fish kills

Blue baby syndrome result of drinking nitrogen-contaminated water

The Industry…

“Is it more profitable to grow the biggest bird and have increased mortality due to heart attacks, ascites, and leg problems, or should birds be grown smaller so that birds are smaller, but have fewer heart, lung, and skeletal problems?

A large portion of grower’s pay is based on the pound of saleable meat produced, so simple calculations suggest that it is better to get the weight and ignore the mortality…”

Free Range Poultry

Guaranteed for all egg laying hens and broilers – Prop 2 by 2012

What does free range mean?

Is it really free range?

“Most free-range birds are still fenced in corrals, though people like to imagine the birds are out roaming the range. They are not out exercising. These birds are raised much like the regular poultry.” – Ralph Ernst, UC Davis Poultry Specialist

TurkeysKilled when they are 5-6 mo. old

300 million slaughtered ea. year

No federal legal protection

Beaks, toes seared off

Crammed in tight quarters with thousands of other birds

Slaughtered like chickens

Too obese to reproduce artificially inseminated

Turkey treatment

Mortalities from organ failure or heart attack before reaching 6 mo. old

Become to obese to walk

Transportation to slaughterhouse results in the death of millions of turkeys each year due to heat exhaustion, freezing, transport accidents

Free range turkey?

“Consumers can really be fooled. Some farms can qualify for free range, but they raise turkeys in the same conditions as industrial farms” – Mary Pitman from Mary’s Free-Range Turkeys

PigsOver 100million pigs are killed ea. year for

consumption

97% of the pigs consumed today are raised on factory farms

Baby pigs have some of their teeth removed, are castrated (males), and have their tails cut off and ears notched

Gestation crates

Transport to slaughterhouse results in the death of 1 million pigs ea. year

Treatment of pigs

Farrowing crates

Piglets placed in “battery cages” similar to vertical integration for layer hens

Pigs are crammed into small pens with many other pigs until slaughter

Rampant disease

Pigs live up to 6 mo. in factory farms… in nature pigs live up to 15 years

Pig Illnesses

Genetic manipulation to grow too big too fast

Arthritis

Joint problems

Mange

Pneumonia – 70% have it before slaughtered

Slaughter of PigsTransported to slaughterhouses in trucks

170,000 pigs die each year in transport

420,000 pigs are crippled during transport ea. year

Typical slaughterhouse kills up to 1,100 pigs every hour

Pigs stunned with stun guns, or bolt guns

Improper firing of stun guns/bolt guns result in live slaughter

Throats slit to bleed out

Scalding water bath to remove hair

Health Risks and Human Concerns

Antiobiotics in pigs

Trichinosis – parasites; raw and undercooked pork

Linked to when pigs were fed garbage

1997-2001, average of 12 cases per year

Environmental Impact

Feral Pigs in North and South America, New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii

Invasive species – extensive environmental damage

Pollution from waste

Cows

Beef cows

Dairy cows

Beef CattleBread specifically for meat production

First year spent grazing

Iron-branding

Castration

Horns removed

After first year auctioned off

Shipped to feedlot

Many arrive at feedlot crippled or dead

Life at the Feedlot

Unnatural diet of mostly corn and antibiotics

Acidification and bloating of the stomach

Ulceration and rupturing of the intestines

Manure overload and manure lagoons

Respiratory problems due to chromic inhalation of the ammonia, methane, and noxious chemicals created by confined environment

Dairy CowsRepeatedly impregnated in order to induce

lactation

Calves taken away from them

rBGH and rBST – growth hormones used to increase milk production

Unnatural diet high in fat and protein-rich grains to increase milk production and replace energy lost by producing such large quantities of milk

Antibiotics administered to keep cows healthy

SlaughterWhen to slaughter - beef cattle is an “acceptable size”;

dairy cows stop producing at an “acceptable” rate

Fast and messy the faster they slaughter, the more meat they can produce, and for cheaper

400 cows slaughtered per day in ea. slaughter house

Cows are stunned, sometimes not completely

Throats slit, bleed out

Slaughtered – specific cuts or ground beef

What’s in the Beef?

GROSS• Fecal

contamination• E. coli 0157:H7• Mad Cow Disease• Saturated Fat

GOOD• Protein• Vitamin B12• Iron (heme form)

What is in the milk?

GROSS• Pus• Hormones• Antibiotics• Saturated Fat• Cholesterol• Pesticide residues• Dioxins• Antibiotics

GOOD• Calcium• Protein• Vitamin B12• Added Vitamin D

Got Osteoporosis?

A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2000) looked at all aspects of diet and bone health and found that high consumption of fruits and vegetables positively affected bone health and that dairy consumption did not.

Such findings do not surprise nutritional researchers: The calcium absorption rate from milk is approximately 30 percent, while figures for broccoli, Brussels sprouts, mustard greens, turnip greens, kale, and some other green leafy vegetables range from 40 percent to 64 percent.

Something’s Fishy

Overfishing – 90% of large fish populations have been exterminated in the past 50 years

Contamination of our waterways

Factory Farmed Fish (aquaculture) – it takes 5lbs of wild fish to produce 1lb of farmed fish

Destruction of ocean’s ecosystems

Bycatch

Health Concerns and Fish

Seafood is the #1 cause of food poisoning in the US

E. coli

Biomagnification

Heavy metals: cadmium, mercury, lead, chromium, arsenic

Kidney damage, nervous system issues, cancer, etc.

What do we do?

“Sustainable” Proteins

Mary’s Turkey – free range

Mary’s Chicken – free range

Petaluma Poultry/Rosie’s Chicken – free range

Food Alliance Certified“Animal Welfare Approved”

Grass Fed Beef – Fulton Beef

Pure Country Pork

Healthy, humane animal treatment

“Food Alliance certified producers raise livestock with the greatest respect for their needs and comfort. Food Alliance producers provide proper nutrition for excellent animal health and fitness, without excess fat. Living conditions and space allowances provide physical and thermal comfort, afford access to natural lighting and vegetated pasture (where appropriate), and enhance natural behavior (including social contact among animals). Food Alliance producers are trained and competent handlers, minimizing animal fear and stress during handling, transportation and slaughter. Use of hormone treatments is prohibited. Antibiotic use is restricted to treatment of occasional illness, and not as a substitute for healthy living conditions.”

Monterey Bay Seafood Watch

Milk and dairy products

Horizon Organic organic, but humane?

Berkeley Farm rBST free

Butter Sysco brand

Creamers

Cheeses Sysco brand

Other options…

Vegetarian entrees

Vegan entrees

Vegan corner

Soy milk

Vegan desserts

Opportunities for the future…

Glaum Eggs – cage free – possibly for the Fall of 2009… may be too expensive

Continue to purchase Food Alliance Certified products as they become available

Vegan ice cream

What is the barrier?

Student demand

Cost

Availability

QUESTIONS?