WSPA: EatWell

The online tool allows people to search the top 25 U.S. grocery stores for dairy, eggs and meat based on animal welfare standards associated with labels like “cage free,” “free range” and “organic.” WSPA’s goal is to help consumers decipher often confusing food labels and identify brands to help them make more ethical and socially responsible decisions.

Studies show that consumers care about the welfare of animals and also prove that humane farming practices are better for our health and the health of our planet. Every day we have the opportunity to impact the quality of animal’s lives with our food choices, and WSPA aims to make it easier to purchase these products.

According to Sharanya Krishna Prasad, WSPA U.S. programs officer, “Studies show that consumers care about the welfare of animals and also prove that humane farming practices are better for our health and the health of our planet. Every day we have the opportunity to impact the quality of animal’s lives with our food choices, and WSPA aims to make it easier to purchase these products.”

The majority of U.S. animals raised for consumption spend their lives confined in factory-style farms that use ‘production line’ methods which maximize the amount of meat produced, while minimizing costs. Animals are often confined in filthy, overcrowded conditions. Beyond cruelty, factory farming can also cause massive environmental destruction and pose serious risks to humans. Factory-farmed meat is often laden with saturated fat, cholesterol, and hormones that promote obesity, diabetes and several forms of cancer. Antibiotics used in factory farming are believed to encourage antibiotic-resistant microbes (i.e. Salmonella and E. coli), making it more difficult to fight animal and human diseases. In addition, waste run-off from badly managed farms can result in dangerous levels of water and soil pollution.

Alternative farming systems are gaining popularity in the U.S. where farmers aim to keep animals in conditions closer to their natural environment, including providing more access to sunlight, fresh air and freedom of movement.

Levels of animal welfare are identified by a variety of food package labels At EatHumane.org, WSPA rates labels like “free range,” “USDA organic” and “Certified Humane” in terms of how animals raised for food are treated, and hopes to educate consumers about food labels to choose and to avoid.