Dear Suspicious: One national certification program for humane treatment of farm animals is Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC). Take a look at its Web site and see what you think (www.certifiedhumane.com). It tells how the program inspects, and lists standards. The site also shows where to buy the certified meats and poultry in 47 states, along with featuring the names of restaurants using the products.
Another tact is to think local and organic (which, if practiced as originally intended, means healthy land as well as pesticide- and harmful-substance-free food). Shop farmers markets where you can meet the person who’s raising the beasts and working the land. Local food coops can be another source, depending upon their standards.
Supermarket chains specializing in “natural” and “whole” foods are cropping up like mushrooms after a rain. There is good news here — and bad news. The good news is the large selections of organic food and possibly humanely treated meats. The bad news is that some of these chains have sky-high prices, and offer little support of local suppliers.
Personally, whenever possible I’d rather put my food money into the pockets of local farmers and producers who, in the best of all possible worlds, are working organically and treating their livestock well.
An aside: Here is yet another dimension of this question of how an animal is treated. Italy’s laws on Parma ham production are specific about the care of Parma ham pigs before they meet their demise. They must be calm. This ham, which is solely cured with salt, air and over a year of careful aging, will spoil if the animal is stressed. That adrenaline rush releases acids and other substances that bar the meat from properly accepting the cure.
Scripps Howard News: Letters
Posted: February 27, 2006 by Certified Humane
Dear Suspicious: One national certification program for humane treatment of farm animals is Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC). Take a look at its Web site and see what you think (www.certifiedhumane.com). It tells how the program inspects, and lists standards. The site also shows where to buy the certified meats and poultry in 47 states, along with featuring the names of restaurants using the products.
Another tact is to think local and organic (which, if practiced as originally intended, means healthy land as well as pesticide- and harmful-substance-free food). Shop farmers markets where you can meet the person who’s raising the beasts and working the land. Local food coops can be another source, depending upon their standards.
Supermarket chains specializing in “natural” and “whole” foods are cropping up like mushrooms after a rain. There is good news here — and bad news. The good news is the large selections of organic food and possibly humanely treated meats. The bad news is that some of these chains have sky-high prices, and offer little support of local suppliers.
Personally, whenever possible I’d rather put my food money into the pockets of local farmers and producers who, in the best of all possible worlds, are working organically and treating their livestock well.
An aside: Here is yet another dimension of this question of how an animal is treated. Italy’s laws on Parma ham production are specific about the care of Parma ham pigs before they meet their demise. They must be calm. This ham, which is solely cured with salt, air and over a year of careful aging, will spoil if the animal is stressed. That adrenaline rush releases acids and other substances that bar the meat from properly accepting the cure.
Category: news