As you know if you’re a regular reader of my blog, I rarely get ‘political’. However I do care a great deal about animal welfare and a fair system for British farmers who, let’s face it, get a pretty shitty deal a lot of the time, shouldering blame for everything from BSE and Foot and Mouth to the proposed badger cull. I have lifted this article directly from the NFU website as it’s something I feel quite strongly about and something I’m sure a lot of non-farmers aren’t even aware of – why would they be?
It would appear that some supermarkets are still selling bacon/ham/pork/sausages made from pigs who’ve been reared in cruel conditions. When I shop I try to ensure I buy meat products from animals raised in the UK as I’m fully aware of the regulations governing such production. We eat our own beef for much the same reason – we know where the animal came from and how it was treated during the time it lived. We’re lucky in that we have the luxury of doing that. I’m not preaching here, that’s just what we do. I’ve also heard the argument that British meat is often more expensive than foreign imports, but at least with British meat you know what you’re getting. There are some countries still using steroids and hormones in their animals to produce a bigger ‘end product’. If everyone insisted on meat that had not only been ‘processed’ in this country but raised here too, the prices would drop since most prices are dependent on supply and demand.
Anyhow, apologies if I offend anyone, but it is something I believe in. Read the article, make your own decisions, but at least be aware that not everyone treats their livestock with the respect it deserves.
Around 40,000 ‘illegal’ pigs an hour will be entering the European food chain in January and bacon, ham and pizzas containing their meat is destined for Britain’s supermarkets, corner shops and restaurants, according to Britain’s National Pig Association.
The pigs will come from continental farms where sows are still confined in individual steel cages known as ‘stalls‘ — a practice outlawed by European Union animal welfare legislation from 1 January 2013.
Stalls have not been used in the United Kingdom for many years, but figures released by Brussels this month show that with the continental ban only days away, 80 per cent of European Union countries have not yet complied with the ban.
Even allowing for a last minute rush to remove sows from stalls and house them in new group pens, this indicates that nearly two million pigs a week from farms operating illegally will be delivered to Europe’s processing plants.
‘It makes a mockery of Europe’s animal welfare legislation,‘ says NPA chairman Richard Longthorp. ‘As the United Kingdom imports around 60 percent of its pork — much of it as processed food such as ham and bacon — shoppers will need to be very careful about what they choose from supermarket shelves and when eating out in restaurants.’
NPA is urging British shoppers who care about animal welfare not to buy imported pork or processed pork products such as bacon, until all European Union member countries have complied with the stalls ban.
‘The major British supermarkets have promised they will not sell pork from continental farms operating illegally but our concern is that in many cases these farms will be difficult to identify and everybody admits that imported processed foods will be almost impossible to trace,’ said NPA general manager Dr Zoe Davies.
‘Our advice to shoppers is always to look for the independent Red Tractor logo on the pack, which is an absolute guarantee that the product comes from a British pig farm where keeping sows in stalls has been banned for over a decade.’
The data published by Brussels this month shows France is only 33 percent compliant with the European stalls ban, Germany only 48 percent and Ireland only 57 percent. Other countries unable to hit the January 2013 deadline include Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.
Thanks Jackie; that NFU article has now been sent on to the 151 members of an environmental group I belong to.
Thanks Jackie, I missed that one and hope you dont mind but I’m going to put it on facebook x
Don’t mind at all Val.