Farm Animal Voice - Issue 184

FARM ANIMAL

VOICE YOUR MAGAZINE FROM COMPASSION IN WORLD FARMING

Issue 184 – Spring 2012

BARREN BATTERY CAGES ILLEGAL SINCE

JAN 2012

THANKS TO YOU! COMPASSION IN THE USA We launch our new campaign to protect the welfare of billions of chickens RABBIT FARMING The secret scandal

Joanna Lumley unveils our ‘Stop Live Exports’ advertising campaign.

ISSUE 184

FARM ANIMAL VOICE CONTENTS UPDATE

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4 News Animal welfare headlines from around the world 18 Progress in South Africa How your support is making a difference internationally

INSIGHT 16 Compassion in America Our first campaign to improve farm animal welfare launches in the USA

INSPIRATION 19 Wills made easy A step-by-step guide to leaving a legacy 20The future of food Interview with compassionate chef, Paul Merrett

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ACTION 6 Stop Live Exports Joanna Lumley unveils our Stop Live Exports campaign 8 Millions of pigs are counting on us Making sure the 2013 sow stall ban comes in on time

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14 Rabbit farming The secret scandal affecting millions of rabbits in Europe 23 Campaigners’ Corner How you can make a difference to farm animal welfare Front cover photograph © Shutterstock

Editor Richard Brooks Production manager Sarah Bryan Design Neo – weareneo.com Farm Animal Voice Compassion in World Farming, River Court, Mill Lane, Godalming, Surrey GU7 1EZ, UK Enquiries Tel +44 (0) 1483 521 953 (lines are manned Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm) Email supporters@ciwf.org Compassion in World Farming is a registered charity (England), registered number 1095050.

Our Patrons Bishop John Baker, Alexandra Bastedo, Jilly Cooper OBE, Princess Alia Al Hussein of Jordan, Penelope Keith OBE, Bruce Kent, Joanna Lumley OBE, Sir Peter O’Sullevan CBE, Jonathon Porritt CBE, Sir Crispin Tickell GCMG KCVO

COVER STORY 11 THE END OF THE BARREN BATTERY CAGE How five decades of campaigning resulted in victory

AT LAST! © Bas Meelker

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n 1st January 2012, BARRE we didn’t just BATTERY CANGE celebrate the S ILLEGAL SINCE New Year – we celebrated the legal end JAN 2012 of the barren battery cage for Europe’s 250 million hens.

The UK, along with most of Europe, is now 100% barren battery cage free, thanks to you! On pages 11-13, we take a look back at the five decades of campaigning to end the barren battery cage, and highlight the importance of our work going forward to ensure that this momentous law is enforced properly and as quickly as possible. We also show how our work with global food companies is helping to build a future where all cages for laying hens no longer exist.

The power of the lobbying letter has long been key to achieving better welfare law.

Now more than ever, we need you to keep up the pressure on MPs and MEPs to ensure that the 2013 sow stall ban comes into place on time next year; that live exports from the UK stop; that no animals suffer behind bars. Our new Campaigners’ Corner (page 23) has been set up to make it easier for you to get writing to politicians, newspapers and magazines – to spread the animal welfare message.

On behalf of farm animals everywhere, thank you for your compassion and commitment to our cause. Together, we are giving farm animals a voice.

Philip Lymbery Chief Executive PS: Happy Easter!

My personal blog is available at: acompassionateworld.org or you can follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/philip_ciwf

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UPDATE

A CALL FOR HONEST FOOD LABELLING

At present Compassion feels that there is a severe lack of transparency in the labelling of meat and dairy produce.

Opinion polls tell us time and again that consumers also feel that existing labels are unclear and can be misleading.

COWS BELONG IN FIELDS John Griffiths, the Welsh Assembly Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development has “called in” the application for a mega dairy in Powys, Wales. This means the decision to allow the farm to go ahead or not, has been taken away from the local council and placed in the hands of the Welsh Government.

The intensive dairy unit at Lower Leighton Farm, if allowed, would see the gradual development of a 1,000-cow herd. The proposed development would be around 10 times the size of the average UK dairy farm. The result of the application could help set a precedent for dairy farming in the UK. The call-in comes hot on the heels of a Dairy Co. report that shows all systems of dairy farming currently practised in Britain can be economically viable, no matter how small the unit. It found the amount of milk each cow produces isn’t the key factor in making profit.

These findings mean huge zero-graze dairies, where cows are pushed to their limit to produce ever higher amounts of milk, aren’t necessary for dairy farmers to make money. Both pieces of news make encouraging reading for everyone who believes, like Compassion in World Farming, that cows belong in fields.

Therefore we have just started work on a new campaign calling for mandatory labelling of the method of production for all meat and dairy produce across Europe. We will be partnering with our friends at the RSPCA, Soil Association and WSPA to deliver a campaign that aims to ensure consumers have clear information to make informed buying decisions when it comes to their food.

Egg labelling is an excellent example of how clear and simple method of production labelling can work. Three simple terms: “eggs from caged hens”, “barn eggs” and “free range eggs” describe the method of production and are indicative of the welfare of the hens.

Since mandatory labelling came into place in the EU on shell eggs in 2004, production of non-cage eggs has increased from 31% – 51% in the UK alone. This goes to show that when consumers are able to differentiate higher welfare products, the majority will buy the higher welfare option.

Labelling the method of production has helped deliver a better life for millions of egg-laying hens and we feel shell egg labelling is an excellent model for market-led reform. This level of transparency should be rolled out on all meat and dairy products.

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UPDATE

SAVE OUR ANTIBIOTICS

MAKING THE FRENCH CONNECTION What percentage of pork in France do you think comes from factory farmed pigs? That was one of the questions CIWF France was asking visitors to the biggest event in the French agricultural calendar. The Salon de l’Agriculture, held from 25th February to 4th March in Paris, attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors, including President Sarkozy.

This year was the third year Compassion was present at the farming show, engaging with farmers, food businesses and the general public to spread the message of better animal welfare in farming.

Among the attractions to our stand was a quiz designed to test visitors’ knowledge of animal welfare in farming – the winner getting a weekend in the country. The correct answers shocked and surprised many, who were saddened to learn that more than 90% of pork in France comes from factory farmed pigs. Léopoldine Charbonneaux, Director of Compassion’s French office in Paris, said: “This is a really big event and it’s very important for us to be there to inform people about food and farming in France. It was great to hear from lots of people who said that, after talking with us, they would be more attentive to what animal products they buy in the supermarket. It also gave us a great opportunity to have some face-to-face meetings with French food producers to put our point across and let them know about our Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards.”

UNIVERSITY AWARD HAT-TRICK! Three universities have received a hat-trick of Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards for sourcing higher welfare eggs, chicken and dairy produce. Congratulations to Oxford Brookes University, the University of Winchester and the University of Portsmouth for winning a Good Egg, Good Chicken and Good Dairy Award. When the public sector is under increasing pressure to cut costs, it’s great to see educational organisations leading the way in sourcing more ethical food.

Collectively, these universities are set Students enjoying the sunshine outside the Food Hall, University Centre, Winchester to benefit 561 laying hens, 21,931 Photo: courtesy University of Winchester. meat chickens and 330 dairy cows.

To find out more about our public sector Good Farm Animal Welfare Award winners visit ciwf.org/publicsector

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The overuse of antibiotics in intensive livestock farming is a critical issue for both animal welfare and human health.

Due to the sickness-inducing factory farm conditions in which they raise their animals, many intensive livestock farmers routinely use antibiotics prophylactically (as a preventative) on whole herds or flocks of healthy animals. Antibiotics are being misused, not to treat sick animals, but to prop-up inhumane factory farming.

The overuse of antibiotics in farm animals has already resulted in animals becoming a breeding ground for antibiotic-resistant strains of Salmonella, E.coli and Campylobacter. Some animals are harbouring the antibiotic-resistant strain MRSA which could become infectious to humans. Livestock farming has also contributed to the diminishing effectiveness in human medicine of critically important antibiotics, such as cephalosporins. If we don’t tackle antibiotic resistance now we could well be unable to treat many illnesses in the future, including meningitis, typhoid, tuberculosis, pneumonia and tetanus. A recent German study has found antibiotic-resistant bacteria in chicken meat, and in America it has been found that after giving pigs a low dose of antibiotics for just two weeks, a drastic rise was detected in the number of E.coli bacteria in the guts of the animals.

Compassion is working with the Soil Association and Sustain in The Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics. We have published an in-depth report into the issue titled Case Study of a Health Crisis and are calling for a 50% reduction in overall antibiotic use on EU farms by 2050. You can download our report for free here: ciwf.org/antibiotics

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ACTION

THE LIVE TRANSPORT CAMPAIGN

MOTORS ON

Press photographers surround Joanna and Compassion's 'Stop Live Exports' bus in Trafalgar Square.

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On a windswept morning in early January, commuters and tourists in London’s Trafalgar Square stopped to take pictures or simply stare at our special Routemaster bus carrying our award-winning ‘stop live exports’ adverts. But that was nothing compared with what happened when our patron Joanna Lumley arrived to unveil the adverts to the press. A scrum of photographers jostled for position as Joanna posed in front of the bus before giving a press conference on the terrible consequences of long distance animal transport.

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he resulting national press coverage helped expose the cruelty of the trade, so often kept out of sight of the general public. And the bus adverts, designed for free by David Mccullough and Seth Jones of Elvis Communications, appeared on buses across eight major UK cities throughout January and into February.

While the Trafalgar Square event raised awareness of the 80,000 animals that were exported through Kent ports in 2011 – a press conference in Brussels the following week helped get our message out through the European media about the trade across Europe.

More than one million sheep and cattle were transported from the EU to Turkey in just one year (November 2010 to October 2011), many of these in conditions that broke EU rules.

We revealed the findings of four investigations into the conditions for live animals being taken across the Turkish border. Out of 158 vehicles checked at the border, an alarming 67% broke the EU’s regulations on the welfare of animals during transport. Long delays, lack of any food or water for the animals and terrible overcrowding were just some of the problems witnessed by investigators on the border.

ACTION Please write to Commissioner Dalli at the European Commission, urging him to introduce an 8-hour journey time limit across Europe.

For our new template letter-writing pack, please call us on 01483 521 953 or email supporters@ciwf.org Thank you.

Joanna poses with a miniature Routemaster bus sporting our campaign advert.

Of course the answer to that question is simple: the trade in live animals should be replaced by a trade in meat and all live animal transport should be limited to eight hours. Over the past few months, our generous supporters have helped us take big steps towards those goals. Thank you to everyone who has donated and supported our campaign against live transport.

So far, over 10,200 people have sent emails to Thanet District Council asking them to take action on Ramsgate port (the only port in Britain currently used for live exports). Thousands more have signed the Europe-wide 8-hours petition calling for an eight hour limit for all live animal transport across the EU. With your support and generosity, we are making progress. Thank you.

The media coverage generated by the conference spurred the European Commission to action and it has now called the offending countries to account. Discussions are now taking place to work out what can be done to stop the needless suffering of animals in transport.

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ACTION

MILLIONS OF PIGS ARE COUNTING ON US WE MUST KEEP THE SOW STALL BAN ON TRACK From January 2013, following years of fervent campaigning, it will at last be illegal in the European Union to keep sows in cruel stalls after the first four weeks of pregnancy.

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et, despite the UK ban being in place since 1999 and the EU having had over eleven years to prepare for the new law, only 7 out of the 27 EU Member states are currently ready for this ban – leaving the fate of Europe’s pigs in extreme jeopardy.

You need only see one pig, desperately frustrated and continuously biting the bars of her cage, to understand why the EU law on sow stalls is so urgently needed and should not be delayed.

Yet, we estimate that in some European countries, two thirds of sows could still be confined illegally after the sow stall ban comes into force. We now have less than 9 months to turn this around.

We must make sure the ban comes in on time and is strictly enforced throughout the EU. Compassion has launched a campaign directly tackling this issue. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, work is already underway to collect case studies of best practice within the pig industry.

These will prove that farming can be both humane and profitable, to help persuade farmers to comply with the ban.

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You need only see one pig, desperately frustrated and continuously biting the bars of her cage, to understand why the EU law on sow stalls is so urgently needed and should not be delayed.

Our ongoing investigations into the cruelty of factory farming will also help to ensure that everyone understands the level of suffering that would be caused by any violation of the new law.

The next few months are going to be crucial. By working together now, we can defend this momentous legislation and finally secure this victory for Europe’s pigs.

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If you would like to make a donation to help with our campaigns, please call 0800 999 0101 (Monday – Friday, 9am-5pm).

Thank you.

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ACTION

LEADING THE WAY This year sees the launch of Compassion in World Farming’s new Good Pig Award, which will recognise companies that are using or committing to use higher welfare production systems for sows and meat pigs. The criteria for this award address issues of confinement, lack of straw and bedding, tail docking, tooth clipping and surgical castration.

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inning an accolade such as the Good Pig Award demonstrates a company’s commitment to ethical sourcing and is increasingly attractive to leading food companies. With sow stalls (also known as gestation crates in the USA) being banned across Europe from 2013 after the first four weeks of pregnancy, and consumers increasingly turning to more ethical and sustainably produced food, it makes sense for producers to move to higher welfare farming systems and husbandry in order to stay competitive.

In 2011, Compassion awarded eight producers that were making tangible improvements to pig welfare with a Leadership in Pig Welfare award. As a result, more than 248,000 pigs are set to benefit each year due to these award winners' policies. With your support, Compassion is looking forward to working with, and awarding, those companies taking even further steps in pig welfare with the Good Pig Award in 2012. © Getty Images

HOT ON THE HEELS OF PROGRESS IN EUROPE In February 2012, McDonald’s and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) issued a joint press release announcing that the country’s largest restaurant chain is moving to end sow stall confinement in its US supply chain. This encouraging progress from the other side of the Atlantic confirms our belief that our work to improve pig welfare has never been more timely.

The Good Pig Award forms part of our full suite of Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards, including the Good Egg, Good Chicken and Good Dairy Award. To find out more about our awards, visit ciwf.org/awards

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BARREN BATTERY CAGES – ILLEGAL IN EUROPE FROM 2012

“PERHAPS THE MOST MONUMENTAL VICTORY IN THE HISTORY OF ANIMAL WELFARE.” PHILIP LYMBERY, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, COMPASSION IN WORLD FARMING

2012 Battery cages must go! The cry of thousands of voices over the years during one of Compassion’s longest running and most successful campaigns.

Perhaps the oldest and certainly one of the cruellest factory farming systems, battery cages imprison billions of hens around the world every year, subjecting them to lives in cramped and miserable conditions.

Thankfully, on the 1st January 2012, and after more than 40 years of campaigning by Compassion in World Farming, a ban on the barren battery cage came into force across the European Union.

For Compassion supporters, this was a tremendous achievement, truly reflective of decades spent battling the egg industry and various EU member states that opposed the ban right to the end.

Now over 250 million hens will live their lives away from this inhumane system of egg production. Make no mistake, the impact of this single piece of European legislation will be felt all around the world.

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BARREN BATTERY CAGES – ILLEGAL IN EUROPE FROM 2012

1960S 1970S 1980S 1990S IN THE BEGINNING

STARS BEHIND BARS

GOING PUBLIC

ON TOUR

It was during the late 1960s that Compassion in World Farming first started campaigning against the cruelty of keeping hens in battery cages – in fact it was our first campaign.

There were many ‘caged’ highlights throughout the years, including model Celia Hammond (above) being locked inside a human-sized battery cage in Piccadilly Circus (1970); Joanna Lumley, Christopher Timothy and Lynsey de Paul experiencing a battery hen’s plight by cramming into a cage in Covent Garden (1991). Many celebrities, MPs, members of the public – even an NFU official – were photographed in a cage.

Further publicity events included two free-range breakfasts for MPs; an awardwinning 1980s cinema advertisement (above), “Welcome to the battery”, that was banned from being shown by one well-known cinema chain.

In the 1990s, ‘Hetty’ the giant hen became our mascot (she’s still around today!). Hetty was exclusively produced for Compassion by the puppet maker of TV’s ‘Spitting Image.’

Hetty travelled the country and toured Europe raising awareness and generating publicity for the campaign.

Peter Roberts’ ‘Project 70’ aimed to see an end to the battery cage by 1970. Little did he know that it would take more than four decades spanning two centuries...

You can watch the banned advert online at ciwf.org/banned

OWER AVE THE P H S IE N A P M FOOD CO TEMS TO HELP DITCH ALL CAGED SYS Campaigning for the elimination of the barren battery cage in Europe is just one part of Compassion’s work to see all hens kept in cage-free systems. We have been engaging with market leading food companies across Europe and rewarding them for policies that have resulted in millions of hens living cage-free lives.

1991: Joanna Lumley, Lynsey de Paul and Christopher Timothy campaign in Covent Garden.

As of 1st January 2012, one of our Food Business partners, Premier Foods, has gone cage-free (barn or free-range) across 95% of its supply chain, including famous names such as Mr Kipling (Good Egg Award winner 2011), Hovis and Birds (custard), improving the lives of over 1 million laying hens each year. Ian Bowles, Group Head of Sustainability at Premier Foods said, “Our customers are increasingly concerned about the quality and provenance of the food they eat. They want us to make sure that their food is sourced ethically and that the highest animal welfare standards are practised”.

Since 2007, our Good Egg Award has celebrated companies that have gone above and beyond the current legal threshold by committing to use only eggs and egg products from cage-free systems.

As a result of our award winners’ policies to date, over 26 million laying hens are set to benefit each year. To find out more about the Good Egg Award visit: ciwf.org/goodegg

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BARREN BATTERY CAGES – ILLEGAL IN EUROPE FROM 2012

BARRE BATTERY CANGE S ILLEGAL SINCE

JAN 2012

1999 2011 2012

THANK YOU

THE BEGINNING OF THE END

WE DEFENDED THE BIG MOVE

UK FINALLY FREE OF BARREN BATTERY CAGES

BUILDING A MOVEMENT FOR CHANGE

All the lobbying and campaigning finally paid off when in 1999, the European Commission announced that the barren battery cage would be phased out by 1st January 2012. As Compassion’s Campaign Director at the time, Chief Executive Philip Lymbery was outside the meeting of the Agriculture Council of Ministers and remembers the huge thrill of hearing the result in person. “I’ll never forget that amazing moment” he says. “We really didn’t know until then if we’d achieved a majority vote in favour of the ban.”

In the years that followed, our supporters led the way, campaigning to ensure that there were no extensions and no delays to the ban. On 1st January 2012, the ban on the barren battery cage finally came into force. Compassion supporters know that it was all worthwhile: the end of the road for the cruel and inhumane barren battery cage But our fight wasn't quite over.

As 2012 dawned, we were surprised to learn that the UK was not fully compliant with the barren battery cage ban.

We had to act urgently by asking our online activists to email Defra minister, Jim Paice to defend The Big Move.

14,732 supporters responded – flooding his inbox with demands for action against illegal egg producers. On Monday 13 February 2012, Defra announced that the UK was completely barren battery cage free.

Behind the scenes, Compassion lobbied tirelessly, racking up the miles to win the support of politicians, journalists, educators and the food industry. However, none of this would have been effective without the support, passion and voice of thousands of supporters who campaigned and marched for change. You made sure that our outrage was heard across an entire continent – impossible to ignore.

OUR WORK CONTINUES Outlawing the barren battery cage is just the beginning. With your support, Compassion will work day and night to ensure that this law is enforced as quickly as possible – across 27 countries in Europe. We estimate that Europe still has around 46 million hens in illegal barren battery cages.

In addition to our lobbying, we will continue working with leading food companies to build a future where all cages for laying hens are consigned to the history books.

Compassion’s founder, Peter Roberts (pictured on the right), aimed to see the barren battery cage banned by 1970.

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ACTION

RABBIT FARMING: THE SECRET SCANDAL At this time of year we are surrounded by images of Easter bunnies delivering chocolate eggs and heralding the arrival of spring. Domesticated rabbits are also a popular companion animal in the UK, so when rabbit meat is sold by retailers, many people assume that they are buying wild rabbits.

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ut the sad reality is that more than 325 million rabbits are actually farmed for their meat across the European Union (EU) each year – largely in factory farms, and some of this meat is being imported into the UK. Worse still, at least 32 million rabbits raised for food in the EU die prematurely each year, having never been outside their filthy cages.

The intensive factory farming of rabbits is truly a filthy business and goes on behind closed doors, kept away from public scrutiny. A soon to be released undercover investigation conducted

by Compassion will reveal the extreme suffering caused by this method of farming. We believe that most people would be shocked to discover the conditions in which these sensitive animals are being kept.

Please send the enclosed postcard to the French Minister of Agriculture, urging the welfare of farmed rabbits in France to be addressed. Thank you.

Compassion is campaigning to end the factory farming of all species, including rabbits. One way we are doing this is through our campaigning to tackle the proposed changes to The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). We are calling for a CAP that supports the move to more humane and sustainable farming practices.

In addition, we are calling for specific action to be taken on the factory farming of rabbits in Italy, Spain and France – where over 76% of all rabbit farming in Europe takes place.

The rabbits’ cages only allow around 15 x 30cm of space per animal – which is roughly ¾ of the size of a single page of Farm Animal Voice. This space is too cramped to allow even a single hop and may be too low to allow them even to sit up. Standing on a wire mesh floor can lead to painful cuts and sores on the feet of adult rabbits and these infections can go untreated.

You can also support our campaign by entering our Spring Raffle to win one of five fantastic prizes. Just imagine what you could do with our first prize of £2,000. To take part, please call 01483 521 953 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm) or email supporters@ciwf.org for tickets. But hurry! The closing date is 13th April 2012. Winners will be contacted by telephone and their names printed in our next issue of Farm Animal Voice.

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Photo © Istock

LIKE ALL FARM ANIMALS, RABBITS WERE NEVER MEANT TO BE CAGED.

INSIGHT

PROMISE FOR CHICKEN COUNTRY

The United States is the largest producer of meat chickens in the world, nearly all of whom are kept in factory farms. That’s 8.84 billion broiler chickens packed each year into long windowless houses, ending up beak-to-beak in their own excrement. Many will suffer from devastating leg, lung and heart problems. Compassion’s Director in the USA, Leah Garces, reports on our latest work.

beginning to demand a change. This new campaign brings together environmentalists, farmers, chefs, law firms and local food advocates under a common goal – to oppose the relentless factory farming of chickens in pursuit of a more humane and sustainable way.

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he United States is one of the largest and most technologically powerful economies in the world.

Each year, the US livestock sector produces over 91 billion eggs and nearly 9 billion chickens.

Despite the huge scale and value of livestock farming in the US, you may be surprised to learn that farm animals are exempt from the federal Animal Welfare Act. In fact, the only piece of federal legislation that protects farm animals is the Humane Slaughter Act – and shockingly, this exempts all chickens. So despite the fact that 95% of all farm animals raised in the US are chickens, there are virtually no federal laws to protect them.

OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND It is with this in mind that Compassion began its bold investigation into the heartland of US factory farming.

Georgia, a state located in the deep south of the US, produces the greatest number of broiler chickens in the US, some 1.4 billion every year – far exceeding the UK's entire production. It is here that Compassion decided to plant its first seeds of change.

Extensive broiler sheds are hidden from the public eye

Our first step, a campaign called Georgians for Pastured Poultry, complete with a coalition, white paper and undercover film, launched in February 2012. It sent a clear message that despite Georgia being the poultry factory farming capital of the world, Americans are now

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There are other signs that perhaps the tide is turning.

In January, a bill was proposed to ban the barren battery cage in the US. While the debate will be long and hard, it does now seem entirely possible that the US will follow in the footsteps of Europe.

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SOMETHING TO HIDE? Recently, lawmakers in several stat es have made attempts to ensure that Americans remain in the dark about what is happening insi de factory farms.

Proposed bills have tried to make it illegal to secretly film inside a factory farm or even film farms from the roadside. While these have faile d so far, this gives a small indication of the cha llenging climate we are working in and the lengths that our opponents are prepared to go to.

To learn more about Compassion’s new phase of work in the United States and to watch our new undercover campaign film, please visit ciwf.org/outofsight

This new work is only made possible because of your support, thank you.

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UPDATE

PROGRESS IN SOUTH AFRICA Our image of farming in sub-Saharan Africa may be of backyard chickens and a single cow per family, but there is another reality – a huge burgeoning of the same disastrous factory farming systems that have plagued the western world for the last fifty years.

Our dedicated campaigners in South Africa, Tozie Zokufa (pictured right in the sunglasses) and Louise van der Merwe, are spreading Compassion’s message into primary schools, confronting pork producers over their continued use of sow stalls and taking legal action against battery cages.

RECENT WORK AND ACHIEVEMENTS BY COMPASSION IN WORLD FARMING (SOUTH AFRICA) INCLUDE: • An agreement by the South African Pork Producers Organisation to an industry phase-out of sow stalls for pregnant pigs by 2020; • A formal complaint by CIWF (SA) to the newly established Consumer Commissioner that battery cages violate the new Consumer Protection Act in that (to use the Act’s own words), they are “unconscionable and unethical and improper to a degree that is offensive and shocking to any reasonable person”. The outcome of the Commissioner’s deliberations is expected this year; • The City of Cape Town has partnered CIWF (SA) in the promotion of one meat-free day a week and has helped plaster our posters on the benefits of eating less meat across the city’s health facilities; • When it comes to reaching the new generation of school children, Louise’s endeavours to roll-out Compassion’s resources as part of Humane Education in schools were

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acknowledged when she was presented last year with a winner’s trophy in the heroine category at the glittering annual Feather Awards ceremony in Johannesburg; • As elected chairperson of the Pan African Animal Welfare Alliance (PAAWA), based in Kenya, Tozie met the Director General of the African Union, Professor El Sawalhy, in July last year and was welcomed as a contributor to the drafting of an animal welfare policy for Africa.

In addition, Tozie has had three separate meetings recently with the South African Minister of Agriculture, Tina JoematPetterson, who publicly supports Compassion’s Eat-LessMeat campaign.

South Africa is one of the five most important developing economies, alongside other BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). It is therefore vital that the Compassion message is heard there, loud and clear. Thank you for supporting all our international work.

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INSPIRATION

WILLS MADE EASY A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO MAKING YOUR WILL As a charity, Compassion in World Farming relies entirely on the generosity of supporters like you to achieve lasting change for farm animals. Some individuals choose to support us in a very special way – by remembering us in their Will. Writing a Will doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. Here are some simple steps to get you started.

CHOOSE A SOLICITOR If you don’t have a solicitor, you can have a simple Will drafted free of charge using Compassion’s free Wills service. Please contact us for more information.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK Before visiting your solicitor, write down the details of all the people and organisations or charities you wish to benefit from your Will.

From 6th April 2012, anyone leaving 10% of their estate to charity can reduce their inheritance tax bill from 40% to 36%.

solicitor, accountant or bank manager.

Have two executors in case one is unable to act for you.

SIGN AND WITNESS YOUR WILL Your Will must be signed by you and witnessed by two people who are not beneficiaries. In Scotland you need only one witness.

STORE YOUR WILL IN A SAFE PLACE Your solicitor will usually keep your Will free of charge and give you a copy.

If your solicitor does not have a copy, keep your Will safe and tell someone where to find it.

Estimate the value of your estate (all your assets less debts) to work out whether you will be liable to pay inheritance tax.

The amount of an estate worth over £325,000 is taxed at 40%. However, under new rules, anyone leaving 10% of their estate to charity will only pay inheritance tax at 36%.

REVIEW YOUR WILL EVERY FEW YEARS Look at your Will every 2-3 years to see if it still reflects your wishes and circumstances. Update your Will if your family circumstances change – in particular if you get married, separated, divorced, or if you have children or grandchildren.

APPOINT YOUR EXECUTORS An executor administers your estate and makes sure your wishes are carried out.

Appoint someone you trust, such as a spouse, or a professional such as a

If you are interested in learning more about our free Wills service or you would like to order our Guide to Making Your Will, please contact us on legacy@ciwf.org.uk or 01483 521 953.You can also download our guide by visiting ciwf.org/legacy

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INSPIRATION

A RECIPE FOR

THE FUTURE OF FOOD? Paul Merrett, Michelin-starred chef and advocate for humane, sustainable food, talks to Lara Richardson about how he “found” the sustainable movement, and where he sees its future.

in him that he had yet to discover. Asking Paul about his success and how he got there, he once again, plays down his part, saying: “I’ve never thought that I’m particularly talented. I’m quite stubborn. I have a streak running through me that thinks I’ve got something to prove – I don’t know who I’m trying to prove it to – I’m still trying to prove it! However, I am very organised in the way I work. I’m a good man manager and team player – and I think my success as a mature chef, the Michelin stars and good reviews have really been down to the team I’ve built.

I’ve put some talented people into kitchens and got the best out of them.”

COOKING: THE BEGINNING Paul is incredibly self-deprecating when he divulges how he ‘fell’ into the food industry. Of his beginnings, he says: “Really truthfully: I messed about at school. I didn’t think about my future at all – all I wanted to do was buy a Lambretta and be Paul Weller. I was brought up by my mum and she said to go and learn to cook – because at least that’s a job that you can always muddle through”.

As a Michelin-starred chef and owner of The Victoria, a highly regarded hotel, restaurant and gastropub in West London, you wonder whether his mother saw something

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c

The positive moves in the food world are customer led.

The consumer is the one that is actually saying: I do care where my eggs come from.

d

Paul says: “The positive moves in the food world are customer led. I wish I could say that the catering and restaurant industry was leading on this, but it’s not. It’s being dragged, unwillingly, by a hopeful few – of which I am one. I get angry when I go into good restaurants and see completely unseasonal food, fish that really shouldn’t be out of the water, let alone on a very posh menu. I see foie gras – it really annoys me. The consumer is the one that is actually saying: I do care where my eggs come from.”

THE SUSTAINABLE MOVEMENT An incredibly impassioned speaker, Paul sees “using sustainable and higher welfare produce as a movement.

Up until about 5 years ago I spent my entire career in fine dining. I was working for some of the best chefs in London. I worried day and night about my technical abilities, how I was perceived by my peers and getting the best reviews I could possibly get”.

When asked how and why he changed his ways, he simply says: “About the time I had children, and was just getting older, I started to look at food slightly differently.

I started to realise that food was rather more important outside of the commercial scene than it was within it.

Technical brilliance is fantastic but food feeds the world.

I started to become much more interested in the social and political issues around food. I’ve always been driven in a political direction – so it was natural for me to want a cause and food seemed to be a good cause.”

FROM FARM TO TABLE Paul lights up when discussing his choice of using sustainable produce. He feels secure in the knowledge that he is helping pave the way for the future of food. He says: “We get asked now where our ingredients are from and I love that because we’re very proud of where we get our ingredients from.”

TASTING THE FUTURE In December 2011, Paul gave his time to Compassion in World Farming and worked with fellow chef, Anton Manganaro, to cook for a group of leading environmentalists. The meal was inspired by Compassion’s vision of a world beyond factory farming, with a menu designed to reflect the food of the future.

Paul initially started looking at the food within his own home and saw that it wasn’t seasonal and that he hadn’t been paying enough attention to labels. With no half measures, Paul decided to get an allotment and teach his “London, urbanite children” a Iittle bit about selfsufficiency. For a year, he and his family tended the small patch of ground and did their best to be self-sufficient.

Paul acknowledges that some tough questions needed to be answered: in a world with a far greater population, how might our choice of food and the balance on the plate need to differ from a typical western meal today? Paul and Anton recognise that moving to a world beyond factory farming will require us to eat less, but better, meat.

It was through that, Paul says: “I got interested in Action against Hunger, in sustainable fishing, in Freedom Food, in Compassion in World Farming, in all of these causes, movements I could see as one and the same. They are so interlinked. Just by showing a little bit of willing they were keen to involve me. I’m still doing it and I love it.”

Their menu reflected this belief, with animal products kept to small portions and of the highest welfare.

“To those that choose to eat it, meat becomes a treat to be savoured and appreciated”. The meal also drew on the best of seasonal local produce, such as wild mushrooms and cobnuts. As Paul says: “We don’t claim to have all the answers but we hope that this meal is the start of a different conversation about food – we would like to challenge others to come up with their own interpretations of the food of the future. We believe that it is time for change. It is time to think differently.”

STANDING UP FOR SUSTAINABLE FOOD By the time Paul set up The Victoria, he was using sustainable products. Of his new-found cooking style and ethos, he “felt by this time that I wanted my cooking to be simpler, to suit a pocket that was rather leaner, to cook for people like me!” He built an in-house policy that was based on farming, fishing and waste ethics.

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MAKING FRIENDS AND INFLUENCING PEOPLE ible ely lucky to be supported by an incred rem ext is g min Far rld Wo in ion ass mp Co ed in a local group or volunteering olv inv g ttin Ge rs. gne pai cam and s eer group of volunt . like-minded people in your community your time is a fantastic way to discover

INTERESTED? If you are interested in joining, or even starting a new local supporter group, we would be thrilled to hear from you!

Please call us on 01483 521 953 or email us at supporters@ciwf.org

JENNY DUNN, BRIGHTON & HOVE Jenny started up our local supporter group, Compassion in Brighton & Hove, in July 2011 after we introduced her to some other supporters in the area. The group has been a fantastic success and has been steadily growing.

“I have learnt a lot of new skills and gained so much confidence since I started the group. I have challenged myself to do things I wouldn’t have dreamt of doing before, such as donning a chicken suit to collect money on Brighton seafront!

“I have been amazed by the amount of support we get from Compassion and from our friends and families. e I really feel like I am helping to mak a difference in spreading the word of Compassion.”

Compassion Brighton & Hove arrange l all sorts of events, from stands at loca e bak fêtes, to street collections and sales. The group also held a gymathon recently, which raised £500 for Compassion! Of course, arranging , events can be a little daunting at first a is p grou a but getting together as great opportunity to meet like-minded people while helping to raise . awareness about farm animal welfare

nervous before an “I’m always a little ade great friends event, but I have m y lovely people.” and met some reall

OLIVER DINSEY, RICHMOND Oliver Dinsey started the brand new group Compassion in Richmond with support from celebrity chef Paul Merrett in September last year. n “Before seeing Compassion’s Chicke too w kno ’t Out! campaign, I didn much about where my food came from. Now that I do, I am working hard to help raise awareness and funds for Compassion.

“I first joined a Compassion local group when I lived in Hampshire, but it upon moving to Richmond I decided . own was time to start a group of my “Whenever possible, it’s great for t Compassionate local groups to mee In . out er oth up and help each October I met up with Jenny and the Brighton group at Spittalfields City Farm. The group is a great bunch of e inspiring people, who gave me som excellent tips on how they had launched their local supporter group.”

“I decided to start a group to bring together like-minde d people in the local area.”

WILL YOU JOIN CAMPAIGNERS’ CORNER? Compassion in World Farming is launching a brand new Campaigners’ Corner. We are looking for dedicated supporters who would like to help us by getting involved with letter writing.

TTEN THE POWER OF THE WRI

LETTER

ians lobbying postcards to politic Writing letters and sending assion’s been instrumental to Comp and policy makers has long every give farm animals a voice. If lly rea s ter let ur Yo . ses ces suc k part in our letter-writing Farm Animal Voice reader too s! eive as many as 26,000 letter rec uld co ter nis mi e on , sts reque d by wspaper editor could be rea A single letter sent to one ne millions if published.

Compassion, please order a If you would like to write for tips, pack today. It’s full of handy Compassionate letter-writing y opes and actions that we alread template letters, freepost envel need you to be involved in! y, 3 521 953 (Monday to Frida Telephone us today on 0148 at River Court, Mill Lane, 9am to 5pm) or write to us Z. Godalming, Surrey, GU7 1E

OTHER WAYS YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE WALK WITH C OMPASSION: 13TH MAY 2012 RAISE MONEY FOR COMPASSION WHEN YOU SHOP ONLINE Through ‘Give as you Live’, 1000s of stores will donate to Compassion in World Farming when you shop with them online.

All you need to do is go to www.giveasyoulive.com, download the application and start shopping!

Once you have downloaded the app, every online purchase you make with participating retailers (now including Amazon!) can then raise money for Compassion in World Farming – and it’s free to use.

Following the su ccess of last year ’s Walk with Compassio n event, we are in viting our supporters to get their wal ki ng boots again in 2012, and get sponso red to support our wor k for farm anim als.

Join us for our 10 km sponsored w alk in Guildford on 13 th May (dogs ar e also welcome!), or or ganise your ow n walk with your friend s and family. Fo r more information, co ntact us on the details above.

ACTION

Please support our campaign and help make higher welfare farming in the EU a reality.

Together we can protect all farm animals from cruelty.

THANK YOU FOR HELPING TO CROSS OUT FACTORY FARMING.

Compassion in World Farming, River Court, Mill Lane, Godalming, Surrey GU7 1EZ, UK Tel +44 (0) 1483 521 953 Email supporters@ciwf.org Web ciwf.org Compassion in World Farming is a registered charity (England), registered number 1095050.