Meat Labels for the Humane-Minded Sensitive Carnivore
* * Meat Labels Hope to Lure the Sensitive Carnivore
By Andrew Martin
The New York Times, Oct 24, 2006
Straight to the Source
<http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061024/ZNYT01/610240334/1070/COMMUNITIES02>*
Many cows, pigs and chickens will soon be living cushier lives.
But in the end, they will still be headed for the dinner plate.
Whole Foods Market is preparing to roll out a line of meat that will
carry labels saying animal compassionate, indicating the animals were
raised in a humane manner until they were slaughtered.
The grocery chains decision to use the new labels comes as a growing
number of retailers are making similar animal-welfare claims on meat and
egg packaging, including free farmed, certified humane, cage
free and free range.
While the animal-welfare labels are proliferating, it remains unclear
whether they appeal to anyone other than a niche market of animal
lovers, particularly since the meat and eggs are as much as twice as
expensive as products that do not carry the labels.
Mike Jones, a Louisburg, N.C., farmer who is raising animal
compassionate pigs for Whole Foods, is convinced the new label will
find buyers among recyclers and foodies.
The recyclers will buy it because they love this kind of agriculture,
Mr. Jones said. The foodies will buy it because they love the taste.
The increase in animal-welfare labels has been driven in part by
animal-rights organizations. The Humane Society of the United States,
for instance, has been working for nearly two years to end the practice
of confining hens to cages. But, like organic and natural labels, the
animal-welfare claims are also a way for food retailers to offer
something their competitors do not.
You are always trying to find a point of difference, said Ted Taft,
managing director of the Meridian Consulting Group. You could argue
that chicken is chicken. But if you get a chicken that is free range,
consumers will say, I like that.
Mr. Taft added that buyers say It makes me feel good. Its something
to give it an edge in a tie-breaker.
The labeling trend has even been embraced by the restaurant industry,
where a handful of high-end restaurants are now carrying certified
humane meat. The Chipotle Mexican Grill, meanwhile, trumpets its
humanely raised pork in an ad campaign that appears on the companys Web
site and on billboards.
Steve Ells, the chains founder, chairman and chief executive, said his
decision to use humanely raised pork, free of antibiotics and hormones,
in his burritos was based in part on his distaste for industrial-style
farming, but also on his belief that it tastes better. When the natural
pork was added to the menu six years ago, sales of the pork burrito
quickly doubled, though the price jumped by $1.
What is cool about this is we made our food taste better, and we did
something good for the food system, for sustainability, Mr. Ells said.
The market for cage-free eggs, which often cost 60 percent more, is
growing rapidly, though neither the federal government nor the United
Egg Producers, a trade group, tracks their share of the market.
It is harder to determine how many meat packages carry animal-welfare
labels. There is general agreement, though, that it remains a small
niche that will probably expand substantially when Whole Foods begins
offering its animal-compassionate line in its 186 stores.
At one grocery outlet, at least, certified humane meat is selling
briskly. DAgostino, a small grocery chain in New York, said sales of
meat jumped 25 percent since it added the certified humane logo,
though the products cost, on average, 30 to 40 percent more.
Several other vendors said they believed that the animal-welfare labels
have helped them in various ways. It has probably helped sales, but
its not really recordable, said Steve Gold, vice president for
marketing at Murrays Chicken, which uses the certified humane
label. It helps the image of what we are trying to be as a company.
Whole Foods, which recently banned the sale of live lobster amid welfare
concerns, has been working on its animal compassionate standards for
three years and plans to unveil its logo in a few months, as soon as
auditing guidelines are established to make sure farmers are following
the rules. The initiative was started by Whole Foods chief executive,
John P. Mackey, a vegan who has been increasingly outspoken on
animal-rights issues.
We want to make sure that people know that its real, said Margaret
Wittenberg, vice president for communications and quality standards.
That its not just marketing.
But some critics say all the new marketing labels will confuse consumers
who are already struggling to decide between organic and
antibiotic-free, grass-fed and natural.
I have a great deal of concern over the animal welfare or certified
humane-type programs, that they are meaningful and that they dont put
forth that they do more than organics, said George Siemon, chief
executive of Organic Valley, a Wisconsin cooperative that primarily
sells dairy products. He noted that the federal governments organic
standards include animal-welfare provisions, like prohibiting cages for
laying hens and requiring outdoor access for livestock.
To remind consumers of the value of organic, the cooperatives meat
brand, Organic Prairie, is playing off the profusion of new labels in
its advertising. Forget the marketing buzz words, says an ad showing a
package of ham with six different labels. Organic Prairie says it all.
At the same time, others question the validity of the certification
programs for animal-welfare labels because some allow farming practices
like cutting the tails off pigs and allowing animals to be raised
entirely indoors.
For instance, the United Egg Producers provided an animal care
certified logo to its members that several state attorneys general said
was misleading because it falsely suggested that the chickens were
humanely raised. While denying the charges, the group recently changed
the label to say United Egg Producers certified.
One needs to understand the integrity of these seals of approval, said
Bill Niman, the founder and chairman of Niman Ranch, a meat company that
follows what he believes are rigorous animal-welfare protocols. If the
consumer knew how the animals are being raised that are receiving these
seals of approval, its quite different than what they envision. They
have this bucolic vision that is often quite far from reality.
The federal government generally does not regulate how farm animals are
treated, nor do they verify animal-welfare labels. The government does
require that labels be truthful and has established definitions for such
designations as free range, natural and organic.
Instead, several animal-rights organizations now offer to certify
animal-welfare labels to bolster their credibility. For instance, the
American Humane Association oversees the free farmed program, while
Humane Farm Animal Care administers the certified humane label. The
Animal Welfare Institute plans to unveil its own label next month,
Along with Whole Foods, their animal welfare standards are each more
rigorous than the industry norms. For instance, laying hens cannot be
housed continuously in wire cages, which is the industry norm. And dairy
cows, which are routinely raised indoors, must receive at least four
hours of exercise a day. Their tails cannot be cut off either, an
accepted industry practice.
Whole Foods has not yet completed its standards for dairy cows.
But there are differences among the humane certification programs, and
the activists who run them argue over which program is better.
For instance, the Animal Welfare Institute and free farmed allow nose
rings for pigs; the rings make rooting more difficult and prevent the
pigs from tearing up the ground. The others do not allow rings.
Mike Jones, the North Carolina farmer, said he had no trouble meeting
the standards. He has created his own version of hog heaven on 73
scrubby acres that stretch out behind the Mitchell Baptist Church.
Much of the land is divided into wire-rimmed pens in front of his house,
where on a recent morning five massive sows snoozed on a thick bed of
hay while dozens of pigs chased one another through the woods or nudged
open feeder doors for corn and soybean meal.
While most pigs in the United States are raised in buildings derisively
called factory farms, Mr. Jones, 42, has created a farm that is
decidedly low tech. Even pig breeding, which is typically done by
artificial insemination, is left to the whims of nature.
As with any romance, it does not always work so smoothly. For instance,
a 550-pound pink sow grunted and squealed to ward off the advances of an
even larger black boar.
Hes attempting to be romantic with her, and shes saying, Im not
interested, Mr. Jones explained. When the boar bit off a mouthful of
shrubs and chased after the sow, Mr. Jones remarked: Look, hes
bringing her a bouquet of flowers. Ive never seen that before.
At the Whole Foods store in Durham, N.C., several customers said they
would consider buying meat with the animal compassionate label, while
others were undecided.
To be honest with you, I dont know, said Christopher Martin, 44.
Ive never thought about it before.
Ive noticed cage free, he added. I never knew what it meant. It
didnt register.
Martha Warburton, 62, said she did not have a problem with eating meat,
though she also did not want farm animals to be mistreated. Still, when
confronted with an animal compassionate label on meat, Ms. Warburton
said, I might not want to eat meat at all.
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