First it was Hugh F-W with chickens and this time around it Jamie O making the general public aware of pig welfare. Even though I deem myself to well read on various food issues the programme screened on Thursday night still surprised me.
It may sound silly, but you just don't think of pork being intensively reared, but it can be. It was good to see that the UK has a higher minimum welfare conditions compared to the rest of the EU, but these minimum conditions hardly produce happy pigs. This also means the supermarkets are flooded with cheap pork products that misleadingly appear to be from the UK, but are really from the rest of the EU where welfare conditions are poorer. Similarly, imported pig products that do not conform to UK law and/or common practice are sold alongside UK products in many stores. Not only are these welfare standards poor for pigs they are slowly killing the British pork industry as many consumers are choosing price over quality.
For me, the most shocking part of the programme was the misleading labelling. Don't trust the pictures and writing on the front of the packaging. Even if on the front of the packaging it says "UK sourced" don't trust it. The only place to find out the truth is to read the back label. For example Wiltshire Cured bacon isn't cured in Wiltshire, it's cured using a cure called Wiltshire Cure and could be cured anywhere. For those of you interested in what exactly Wiltshire Cure it I found this .
Not only was it about how pigs are treated, but also what happens to the meat after slaughter. Not mentioning any names but in one supermarket some pork steaks were found to contain only 85% pork. How a slab of meat can only contain 85% meat? That will be the classic trick of pumping meat with saline...mmmm nice.
All of the programme made me very glad we get all of our pork from Packington Pork or from a smallholding friend where we know the pigs have had a happy, free-range life. It also makes me want to rear some pigs. Not right now as we wouldn't be able to fit them in teeny tiny garden, but you never know, in the future. Hubby's piggy visit to River Cottage has also cemented this notion.
In conjunction with Jamie's show the RSPCA have launched a Rooting for Pigs campaign. They are calling for:
* clear and consistent labelling on pork products.
* a better law to protect pig welfare.
In a recent poll, only 2% of those questioned understood the terms used on pork products, such as 'outdoor bred' or 'outdoor reared'. So what do the different terms mean?
Free range
There is no legal definition of 'free range' when it comes to pork. Retailers can label the pork they sell as 'outdoor bred' or 'free range' without providing definitions. Although the perception that keeping livestock outside is best for welfare does not always hold true, free range systems in which pigs are kept throughout their lives outside in paddocks do ensure animals have freedom to move around and express natural behaviours.
Outdoor bred
There is no doubt the term 'outdoor bred' sends out all the right messages to consumers who want to buy pork from pigs free to roam outdoors. However, despite the often held belief that this term means pigs will spend much of their lives living outside, in practice, the term is usually used to label pork from pigs that have only spent the first three or four weeks of their lives in free range systems. ‘Outdoor bred’ pigs are born outside, and their mothers almost invariably stay outside in paddocks throughout their breeding lives. However, once they have been weaned from their mothers, the piglets are moved into indoor systems, which can vary considerably in terms of the welfare standards they provide.
Outdoor reared
'Outdoor reared' is usually used to describe a system in which the piglets are kept with full access to the outdoors for up to around 10 weeks of age, before being moved to indoor rearing/finishing accommodation. Production of ’outdoor reared’ pigs on any commercial scale is relatively rare.
Go on, start rooting for pigs.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Rooting for pigs
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Last time I checked England was part of the EU.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eu
Anon - I am aware the UK is part of the EU. Maybe I should have made it more clear that I mean the rest of the EU outside the UK.
ReplyDeleteI saw the programme and it certainly did shock me. I will be looking more closely at the labelling from now on
ReplyDeleteI missed the program, but my colleague told me all about it. I just can't believe how profit margins stamp out any consideration for animal welfare. It's so disgusting. I get pretty much all of my meat from my local butcher, it's expensive, but I just eat less, knowing that what I eat is from 'happy' animals.
ReplyDeleteThat was a really interesting post Jules. I watched the programme too and, like you, I consider myself to be reasonably well informed about animal welfare but I realised there was still a lot I didn't know.
ReplyDeleteI generally buy my sausages from the butcher but I have on occasion bought them from Sainsbury's and it never crossed my mind to check whether they were using British pork - I just assumed they were.
The other thing I learnt from the programme was just how susceptible I am - I'm really craving pork now!
'Anonymous' - less of the attitude please. I think we all know what Jules meant.
ReplyDeleteJules - THANK you so much for putting this up here. I thought I was pretty gemmed up on the atrocities of mislabelling by the supermarkets, but I've picked up a couple of extra bits of info from your post.
I've been veggie for around 16 years, but Rich eats meat around once a week. The bacon he eats comes either from Duchy Originals, or a local place called Farrowby Farm, where you can go round and actually meet the pigs and give them a scratch and a pat. They even have footballs to play with! Needless to say, if you want Farrowby products, you either have to go to the farm shop to buy them, or get to the farmer's market (once a month) REALLY early before they sell out.
I think a lot of the problems with animal welfare in some ways lies with consumers. We're far too used to getting what we want, when we want and how we want, and being closed off from the realities of the meat industry. A bit like a blissful ignorance. But then the supermarkets are pretty keen to hide that from consumers, so in some ways people aren't actually able to make informed choices about their food. It irks me SO much that the supermarkets (see: Chickens, Hugh and Tesco Too) shun their responsibility in that regard. They say they're giving consumers what they want, whilst simultaneously (and deliberately?) using very underhand tactics to mislead and plant ideas in our head.
Beth - It has certainly made me think more about the meat I buy.
ReplyDeleteSylvie - I get all of my meat form a butcher too and although at first it may seem expensive I think in the long term it works out cheaper as you can buy exactly the amount you want and they are more likely to sell different cheaper cuts that the supermarkets don't sell.
Ginger - I know what you mean. I did have sausages (from happy pigs) for tea the night I watched it!
Lucy - Some supermarkets have now got behind the campain, but I'm still going to stick to the butchers.
he he he - think we're on the same wavelength! I know exactly what you mean and feel about pigs and pork - I thought the same after watching Jamie too (as you can probably tell from my blog!) Love your blog - it looks so professional!
ReplyDeleteJules I was equally surprised by the programme. I am scrupulous about buying free range chicken and turkey, but didn't realise pork was so intensively reared. I grew up in Norfolk and every where you looked there were happy pigs snorting around in fields so I guess I thought this was the norm. It is very difficult to find out where pork has come from on some labels. But I am certainly making a effort to buy British only. If you can only get to a supermarket I found some excellent outdoor reared British pork sausages, 90 per cent pork in Sainsbury's. They were delicious. But it is best to go to a butcher or farmers market for local good quality meat. PS love the look of the beer and raspberries brownies, where can you get that beer from? Claire
ReplyDeleteMerlotti - thank you for the kind comment.
ReplyDeletefood4two - Thank you for the tip about Sainsbury sausages.
Food4two - just spotted your raspberry beer comment. I buy it from SoundBites in Derby. The only internet place I've heard of that deliver it is Abel & Cole. http://www.abelandcole.co.uk/Shop.aspx?menu1=46&menu2=172 it's called Samuel Smith Raspberry Beer.
ReplyDelete