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 ~

Blogiversary - The Big 3 and A Freebie!

Three years ago this coming Sunday, I started a blog with this post about one of my favorite agriculture traditions.

And boy oh boy, I had no idea the things that would come of this little ole blog.

Over the past 3 years and almost 300 posts, I have learned far more about blogging and social media than I ever imagined possible. I have gained followers from all walks of life and from all over the world. I have found friendships with people I have never met but feel like I've known a lifetime. This blog prompted my signing up for, and eventual addiction to, Twitter (@brandibuzzard). It has also sparked a journey that led me to my career today, so without any more insightful crap mushy memories, here's a list of things that have come of this blog:

- The development of my writing skills which led to freelancing opportunities with:
    -- Farm Talk
    -- Grass and Grain
    -- DRIVE magazine
    -- SwineWeb.com
- Master's of Beef Advocacy Blog of the Month - August 2010
- Blogging on these other sites - YPC Beef Blog, Food For Thought 
- Social Media Coordinator for NCBA's Young Producer's Council (which led to):
- Co-Chair Communications Committee NCBA YPC
- Featured twice in articles by Chuck Jolley in Drover's Cattle Network -- October 2009 and March 2012
- Featured in a BEEF Magazine article by Jamie Purfeest in the October 2011 issue
- Because of my vocal advocacy of agriculture on this blog and Twitter I was an invited to speak about agvocacy at the Australasian Pig Science Association (APSA) Conference in Adelaide, South Australia in November 2011. There were a lot of different demographics and ideals in the room but I think everyone benefited from the experience.
- The freelancing and blogging experience led to a job with K-State Research and Extension incorporating several of my favorite things into one amazing experience: K-State, agriculture, writing, social media - whammo. Perfect.

The Hardcore Stats

My top 5 all-time posts are:
1. Temple Grandin - HBO Biopic: 4570 views - A post announcing the release of the Emmy award winning film about Dr. Grandin's early years
2. Buzzard's fly, they don't ski: 3469 views - This post was about Ninja and I getting engaged so while I would like to think that 3500 people were concerned with our lives, I am assuming some other search term like "buzzards flying" brought them to that post.
3. Who Are We to Judge Horsemeat: 1791 views - A post about how American's don't set the tone for what other countries eat and we shouldn't condemn those that don't rely solely on beef, pork or chicken.
4. Grillin' Ain't BBQ'in: 1149 views - A surprisingly popular post about how the terms grilling and bbqing are often interchanged and misused.
5. In Honor of Pigs and Pork: 847 views - Again, a post which garnered a lot of attention for some unknown reason. This contains a lot of factual information about pork. It was written during Pork Month.

Where y'all be coming from?

The top ten countries that visit Buzzard's Beat are:
1. United States
2.  Russia (surprising)
3. Australia (not surprising)
4. Canada
5. United Kingdom
6. Germany
7. Netherlands
8. France
9. India
10. Brazil  

Whatcha lookin' for?

The 10 most popular search terms used to find this blog since its inception:
1. Temple Grandin
2. Buzzard
3. Turkey Buzzard (thanks Sharita)
4. Buzzards
5. Horse meat (which I'll not be eating)
6. Fiji (probably stems from posts of this nature)
7. BBQ
8. Buzzards Beat (hooray you remembered my url!)
9. Mini pigs (whaaat?)
10. Trevor Brazile (hahahaha - I love me some Trevor Brazile)
Those that didn't make the top 10 but are still funny were: vet (uh, no), great American desert, school lunch policy, 80s girl, article on global warming and my personal favorite: bone in cow heart (twice!).

Ok - so now to the part that you all really came to the blog for....

A friend of mine makes western jewelry with copper and silver. It's gorgeous - her company is called Silo Silver and you can find her on Facebook. She has generously helped me out with a pair of these gorgeous feather earrings with turquoise and copper to giveaway to one lucky reader. For the fellas, you may not think they'll look good on you but what about that lucky lady in your life???

Enter by following the instructions on the easy peasy Rafflecopter thing - (Sheridan introduced me to these and they make giveaways so much easier). Entries will close on Halloween - then I'll announce the winner the next day! It'll be a spooky surprise, but not really spooky.

****This giveaway is now closed - the Rafflecopter widget has been removed****

Thanks so much for your loyal readership over the past three years. It's been quite a journey and I've loved it and hope to be able to continue sharing my opinions, sarcasm and passion with you for years to come (did I say years? yikes).

Until next year (kidding, I'll post again before then),
~ Buzzard ~

p.s. the picture above is from my Instagram feed - here is my shameless plug. Follow me - @brandibuzzard!

Hatred In The Most Flattering Form

I've been in a writing rut lately. Between my full-time real job, blogging for the NCBA Young Producer's Council, freelancing and finishing my thesis corrections, Buzzard's Beat has been neglected. Thinking of blog fodder is difficult when my brain is dried up - looks like #drought12 isn't just affecting the crops. I love to blog but don't want to spit mindless chatter out into the web-verse just for the sake of blogging.

Well, we're in luck because a few days ago some fodder showed up in my inbox.

I want to preface this entire post by stating that I am a very headstrong and vocal advocate person. By blogging, writing and promoting agriculture I am putting myself out there for people to criticize, hate, loathe, gossip about, yell at etc. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I have never engaged in such malicious attacks as what I experienced today. We are all still human beings and as such, deserve common courtesy, even from those who despise us.

So, without further ado.

I received an email from an Ethan Smith, [ethan smith's email address], that was very simple in its nature. It was only 28 words but those few words conveyed a malevolent hatred that I've never experienced before.

Subject: Swine

It would please me greatly to learn that you had been s*******d with the hottest of hot irons, you disgusting, ugly hick. It would be your just desserts.

He didn't even sign it. #Rude.

After I stopped shaking and regained my composure, I Googled the terms "animal activist" and "Ethan Smith" for obvious reasons:
1) The subject line was 'Swine'; this is clearly someone who likes pigs (funny, I do too) and wants them to be treated humanely (again, I do too).
2) I'm trying to put two and two together - this certain someone doesn't like that I support modern ag; especially pork production.
3) Someone who is vocal and ballsy enough to send such a hateful email probably has presence in other areas, too.

What I found, among many other Ethan Smith's (quite a popular name), is an author and animal rights advocate. I am not certain if this is the same Ethan Smith and in no way am I blaming that author for the nasty email. I'll let you do some searching to ascertain the truth for yourself. I'm just informing the public of what Google found.

The very sad thing in this instance is not the email itself but the complete disregard for open lines of communication. I haven't the slightest idea what I wrote that prompted the email. My column for SwineWeb.com was about a feed purchasing website and I haven't blogged about hogs in awhile. It seems that the mysterious Mr. Smith may have stumbled upon some of my past handiwork and been so angered by my apparent disgusting nature and ugly physical characteristics that he blasted off this email without thinking. My regret is that Mr. Smith didn't provide the opportunity for open dialogue. Instead, he didn't tell me what caused him to be ticked off and simply wished me some pretty violent bodily harm.

Mr. Smith is obviously a very passionate person. I admire that. I have nothing but for respect for people who are passionate about their causes and devote that passion to instituting change. I consider myself a very passionate person so I can understand how Mr. Smith felt in that my views may have been impinging upon his own. Kudos, Mr. Smith for speaking up for what you believe in; I’ll never criticize someone for having a backbone.

The point of this post is to let advocates know that haters are gonna hate; but don’t stop pursuing your passion, whatever it may be. If you are 150% pro-GMO then share the facts and engage your audience. Grass-finished beef? Go for it – let the world know you’re proud to be a beef producer and you provide your animals with the utmost care. You are making a difference. For every hater out there, there’s someone on your side. Let not the negative Nancys of the world bring down your aspirations and good intentions.

I'll wrap this up by stating that not everyone is overly open-minded but we can all be courteous to each other. Hate is not the way to deal with people who have opposing viewpoints. While I was brought up in a house where it was common to keep your mouth shut unless you had something nice to say, in today's media based society it's difficult to censor yourself when inundated with thoughts and opinions that are in the very least, upsetting.

My advice to anyone who experiences the same hateful feedback is to smile and say, "Wow, I'm making enough of a ripple with my message that someone felt the need to put me in my place."

I'll pray for your Mr. Smith - that no person ever speaks to your wife or children the way you just spoke to me. Pray that peace comes upon you and that you appreciate how very lucky you are to live in a society that allows you to speak your mind without any repercussions whatsoever.

Advocates, I’m sharing this one experience (because I’m sure there will be more) for the simple fact that if it happens to you, you'll know that you don't deserve that treatment and you shouldn't stop advocating for your cause. Be proud.

God Bless,
~ Buzzard ~

Another One Bites the Gestation Crate Dust

While the rest of the U.S. is abuzz about a case of BSE being found in California - something I am not scared about at all, since I know the safety of our food supply (more on that here) - I am more concerned about this recent piece of news.

Burger King becomes first US national chain to pledge cage-free pork, eggs

That's right, another chain has jumped on the bandwagon.

I recently wrote an article about the quickly disappearing use of gestation crates in the U.S. and worldwide on http://swineweb.com.  I won't paste that article here because I want you to visit the site so please do so by clicking on this link.

The state of our animal agriculture industry concerns me - I hope that I never live to see the day that a real live Hunger Games era exists.

Until next time (probably two weeks),
~ Buzzard ~

Delving Further into Antibiotic Use

Happy Monday!


As a brief follow up to this post, I found a podcast about antibiotic use in food animals from the AVMA media website. In this podcast, Dr. Scott Hurd, an associate professor of veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine at Iowa State University, discusses quantitative risk assessments of antibiotic resistance in humans. He does a really great job of explaining the issues and concerns in laymen's terms.

To listen to the podcast, click here. If you can help me learn how to embed podcasts in my future posts, please email me (bbuzzard13@gmail.com).

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

MFA - Report Animal Cruelty ASAP not ASACP

ASACP meaning - as soon as conveniently possible.

Yet another animal cruelty video has been released by Mercy For Animals (MFA). Again, I am outraged at the treatment of the pigs in this video and there is absolutely no excuse for this type of treatment. I feel the need to draw attention to some key points that need to be made.

1 - This is NOT how all farm animals are treated. Unfortunately, one bad apple provides a horrible example for the rest of the industry. Videographers don't focus on well run farms - they prey on farms such as the one featured in the video.
2 - Farmers and ranchers have a vested interest in the health and wellbeing of their animals. Producing a safe, healthy product in a humane fashion with low-stress practices is the number one priority.
3 - I find it extrememly frustrating that this footage has been sitting around for at least three weeks before being released this week. How do I know this? A 'Note' that was posted on Facebook about three weeks ago clued me in that something was going to be released soon (the note has since been taken down and I will not reveal it's source/author).

If videographers find animal cruelty - they should report it immediately. Not when it is convenient to their timeline or fundraising efforts. How many animals continued to be abused between the time the footage was collected and the day the video was released? The animal cruelty is abominable but standing by and doing nothing, and allowing that type of treatment to continue is just as abominable.

What are your thoughts on the issue? Again - I in no way condone animal cruelty and I am appalled at the images in the video, however, I feel that the videographers, undercover or not, should have reported the cruelty much more quickly than seen in this case.

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

image from here

Agvocacy Down Under - Sheep, Swine and Poultry

There are way more sheep here than people - 3.5X as many sheep. In June 2008, the sheep population was 80 million while the current population of Australians is 22.5 million people. Australians eat a lot of sheepmeat - there is far more sheepmeat in the supermarket than either pork or chicken. Beef still reigns supreme, at least on the shelves :) Anyway, in my last post I said that Hyatt and I had been to the biggest livestock in Australia, the Royal Easter Show in Sydney. That was the beef edition; this is the sheep, swine, poultry and consumer information edition.
As with beef, there many posters explaining animal care procedures, nutrition information and details about how hard farmers and ranchers work.

I really like this one that explains that chickens aren't dual purpose - certain breeds are for meat and others for laying eggs.

When we ventured into the swine barn we had a few reactions: 1) there are hardly any hogs here 2)  there are a lot of people here learning about hogs!

This little dude was trying to pet a pig - shame on his father for denying him that

 simple pleasure of life.

Back in the Food Farm building, children were running amuck learning about different aspects of food production. There was a 'collect your own hen eggs' station (sorry, no picture), a cooking station where people were making sausage and then there was this fun interactive learning station.

Some kids having fun on the "Livestock Learning Wall"

Is our red meat industry important to all Australians? --> YES!

I would have taken many more pictures of the Food Farm but unfortunately I haven't yet learned how to pack a camera charger for a roadtrip - so both cameras (yes, I have two and yes, I forgot both chargers) died. So sad.  Didn't get any pictures of the Opera House either.