Which Food Service Companies Ban Gestation Stalls?

 image from here

It seems like almost every month another food service provider breaks with the news that they are going to be phasing out gestation stalls. I have scoured searched a little bit on the internet for a succinct list of all these food companies but haven’t been very successful. Then I thought to myself, “Self, I bet there are other people who would like to know this information – you should find and combine all of this for the folks on the internet to find.” So here is my list. I may not have found all of them but if you know of one I have missed, please let me know and I’ll keep the list updated!

These are the companies who have committed to sourcing pork from producers who don't use gestation stalls or are phasing them out of their own facilities:

Applebee's ARAMARK Arby’s Atlantic Premium Brands - supplier to Wal-Mart Au Bon Pain Bon Appetit Management Company Bruegger's Bagels Burger King Campbell Soup Cargill Carl’s Jr Carnival Cruise Line Chipotle Compass Group ConAgra Costco Cracker Barrel Denny’s Dunkin' Brands Einstein Noah Restaurant Group Fresh Enterprises (Baja Fresh, Canyon's Burger) General Mills Hardee’s Harris Teeter Supermarkets Heinz Hillshire Brands (Jimmy Dean, Ballpark) Hormel Foods IHOP Jack in the Box Kraft Foods/Oscar Mayer Kroger Marriott International McDonald’s Metz Culinary Management Quiznos Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Royal Caribbean Safeway Smithfield Foods Sodexo Sonic Subway Supervalu Sysco Target The Cheesecake Factory Wolfgang Puck-owned restaurants Wendy’s  Whole Foods Wienerschnitzel Williams Sausage Company Winn-Dixie

Not only have these food service companies decided to phase out gestation stalls, there are nine states - Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon and Rhode Island – who have already passed laws to ban the use of gestation crates from pork supply chain practices. Unfortunately, I don't see this pattern of phasing out gestation crates ending anytime soon. So, until the next company issues a press release here is the list. Again, please let me know if I missed any. Until next time, ~ Buzzard ~

HSUS and PETA - Lover's Quarrel

photo courtesy

Did you hear the news?! PETA and HSUS are in a spat. But probably not for long - some celebrity like Kim Kardashian (I'll never understand why she's considered a celebrity) will wear a leather cap and then be back in cahoots. However, for now they aren't seeing eye to eye on a very important issue.

Horse slaugher in the U.S.

Remember a few months ago when a bill was passed that reinstated funding for federal inspection of horse slaughter plants? Well, HSUS is totally and 100% against horse slaughter saying that the decline in horse welfare over the past few years, mainly abandonment, has occurred because of economic circumstances. Which is partly true but as www.HumaneWatch.org puts it, "who can predict economic downturn?" On the other hand, PETA is actually the voice of reason in this debate - Ingrid Newkirk, PETA co-founder, recently said to the Christian Science Monitor:

It's quite an unpopular position we've taken. There was a rush to pass a bill that said you can't slaughter them anymore in the United States. But the reason we didn't support it, which sets us almost alone, is the amount of suffering that it created exceeded the amount of suffering it was designed to stop.

I never thought that I would agree with Ingrid Newkirk, not in a million years. However, she hits the nail right on the head. We (agriculturalists) have been saying for the past four years that if there's nowhere to take the horses in the states, they'll just be shipped to Mexico for slaughter and that situation certainly won't be as well-monitored as the U.S. once was. The reinstatement of funding is a good thing for agriculture, for many reasons, which I'll briefly go over again:

1. Horse meat is a delicacy in many countries. The U.S. could once again be a player in horse meat exports to Canada and France

2. The quality of life for horses can improve phenomenally if slaughter plants re-open. No more 30 hours treks to Mexico to be slaughtered in non-USDA plants. Owners, now with an outlet for their unwanted horses, will no longer be cutting brands off their horses and turning them loose on the range.

3. Slaughter plants need manpower to run - manpower comes from men (and women). Men and women who need jobs in a crappy economy. Slaughter plants = job creation.

I definitely side with PETA on this issue, as HSUS isn't about animal welfare improvement. Their goal is to abolish animal agriculture. At least for the moment, PETA is a friend of agriculture (although I'm not sure how long that will last).

To read more of the Humane Watch piece, click here.

Thoughts?

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

How Useless would Agriculture Be if You Went Hungry?

The agriculture world has been abuzz today with the recent posting of an article titled, College Majors That Are Useless, where the generic terms "Agriculture Majors" sits at #1. Sitting at #4 was Animal Sciences and #5 was Horticulture. Oh, where shall I begin?

First off, one cannot major in agriculture. For example at my alma mater, Kansas State University, and most other land grant univerisities, you enroll in a degree program within the College of Ag. Degree programs may include Animal Sciences & Industry, Horticulture, Ag Communications etc. Upon graduation, you may have earned a degree in Agriculture but it is concentrated in a specific area of study.

Does this journalist (I use that term loosely here, because this was horrible, horrible journalism) have any idea who produces his food and fiber or the science behind creating those products? Obviously not. Agriculture produces more than just food - check out this list of ag prodcuts:

-- chewing gum
-- detergents
-- candles
-- photofilm
-- shampoo and conditioner
-- deoderant
-- emery boards
-- cotton clothing (got those cotton commericials stuck in your head now?)
-- glass
-- charcoal
-- medicine
-- wallpaper
-- chalk
-- cake mix

I'd be willing to bet that Mr. Loose (so-called journalist) uses one or more of those items on a regular basis. In addition to all those non-food products, let's not forget that if it weren't for AGRICULTURE, ANIMAL SCIENCE and HORTICULTURE, there would not be a food supply.
Agriculture graduates, regardless of their specific major, are employable in thousands of different job settings. A degree in agriculture is not necessarily indicative of a career as a farm manager. What about agriculture education, academia, meat industry, research, the thousands of veterinary clinics in the U.S., feed processing, ag sales - I could go on and on. Think about the number of agriculture jobs that there isn't even a need for yet? As our population continues to grow, so will our need for producers and people to develop new ways to feed so many people. I would be willing to bet that Terence wouldn't be saying agriculture degrees were useless if he was starving and naked.

There have been a multitude of blog posts and tweets circulate because of this outrageous article. Anna-Lisa Giannini has even created a Facebook group called "I Studied Agriculture and I Have a Job", which already has over 2500 likes. You can also check out these links to other blog posts on the topic:

-- Allen Levine, Dean of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences at the University of Minnesota wrote a piece of The Huffington Post
-- Food For Thought colleague, Tera Rooney, on the Food For Thought blog
-- An Open Letter to Terence Loose by Rebekah Bowen
-- Greg Henderson of Drover's CattleNetwork, wrote Yahoo! Please Don't Mess with the Goat Ropers

Also, if you want to send your own response to Terence Loose, you can do so by emailing him at tloose7@gmail.com

Let agriculture's voice be heard!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~