FARM ANIMAL
VOICE YOUR MAGAZINE FROM COMPASSION IN WORLD FARMING
Issue 185 – Summer 2012
PROJECT PIG No stalling on animal welfare
RAW Welcome to the 21st century Agricultural Revolution
HONEST & CLEAR FOOD LABELLING We launch our Europe-wide campaign
ISSUE 185
FARM ANIMAL VOICE CONTENTS UPDATE
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4 News Animal welfare headlines from around the world 6 Live transport – no holiday for animals Investigations expose mindless cruelty and suffering 11 The Big Move Monitoring the barren battery cage ban compliance in Europe
INSIGHT 12 RAW Compassion’s global campaign to kickstart a farming revolution 18 How one Italian food company is benefitting millions of hens Food companies around the world have the power to benefit all farm animals
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INSPIRATION 20 One supporter making an extraordinary difference Interview with Jackie Cox on how Compassion fits into her very busy life
ACTION
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8 Honest labelling Compassion's campaign to make food labelling clearer 23 Campaigners’ Corner Join our growing community and get campaigning! Front cover photograph © iStock/Tommy Alsén
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 16 PROJECT PIG Ensuring Europe’s pigs get a better life
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elcome to your latest issue of Farm Animal Voice, full of good news stories that I hope will brighten up your summer!
With the weather and climate change the current hot topics of debate, it is timely that we tell you about our bold new RAW campaign (page 12). For many years, Compassion has linked the impacts of intensive farming to environmental damage. It is now imperative that we expose the true cost of factory farming, for animals, people and the planet. Two out of three farmed animals worldwide are kept in factory farms. With your passion and support, our work has seen the beginning of the end for many of the worst aspects of factory farming, improving the lives of hundreds of millions of farm animals. I know I can count on you, and our supporters around the world, to work toward the day when we can celebrate all farm animals being free from cages and confinement. Thank you for helping us achieve so much so far. Philip Lymbery Chief Executive My personal blog is available at: acompassionateworld.org or you can follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/philip_ciwf
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UPDATE
SAME, SAME BUT DIFFERENT Compassion in World Farming is extremely concerned and disappointed to learn that the EU has recognised the US National Organic Programme as equivalent to its own. As it stands, the US organic standards on animal welfare are far lower than the EU standards. Not only would the US standards in some cases be considered non-organic in the EU, but some elements might
even be deemed illegal on animal welfare grounds. US standards lack detailed welfare provision: bathing water is not required for ducks, plus routine mutilations are not prohibited and stocking density is not specified for any species in the US. In addition to the huge animal welfare concerns, there is the risk that the agreement will undercut EU organic farmers in their home market. If the EU recognises a set of animal welfare standards as being equivalent to those of the EU, when they are clearly much lower, it makes EU farmers vulnerable to being undermined by these products and indeed their prices.
A LOBBYING SUCCESS The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) subsidises Europe’s farmers. Compassion’s overall aim is for the CAP to be a tool to move us towards more humane sustainable farming. Compassion has been lobbying for five specific changes to the proposed CAP reforms and in June we received news that the two most significant changes we are calling for have been added as amendments to the European Parliament's draft Agriculture Committee report. This is a really important step in what is a very long process. In short, it means that ‘animal welfare’ stands a good chance of being added to the EU’s priorities for rural development
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and that animal welfare payments stand a good chance of being protected in their current form, which will support farmers wanting to move to higher welfare systems.
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WE SAY NO TO THE GOVERNMENT’S GOBBLEDYGOOK Thank you to everyone who signed our petition to Jim Paice MP, asking him to not go down the ‘sustainable intensification’ route for farming. On May 15 2012, Compassion’s Senior Campaigns Manager, Emma Slawinski (pictured above), handed more than 4,000 of the petition slips over to Defra official, Larry Castallack-Ridgley. Compassion’s message was presented loudly and clearly. We say NO to more UK factory farms and we have research to back up the truth: that factory farms cause horrific animal suffering, environmental damage and impact on human health.
JIMMY & THE GIANT SUPERMARKET Compassion’s research and media teams helped TV farmer, Jimmy Doherty, with his latest three-part series about supermarket food for Channel 4. Jimmy was set the challenge of making Tesco’s three bestselling standard-range meat products, using higher welfare meat whilst maintaining their affordable prices. The fascinating programme explored the use of spent hen meat for chicken kievs, higher welfare British veal for meat balls and using more parts of a pig, such as offal, for sausages. Both the chicken kievs and sausages are selling really well. Tesco reports that a rosé veal range is in production but couldn’t yet reveal when it will be available on the supermarket shelves. To find out more, visit ciwf.org/jimmy
UPDATE
RED TRACTOR RANKED LOWEST ON ANIMAL WELFARE The Red Tractor scheme ranked lowest for farm animal welfare in a joint study of UK assurance standards by Compassion in World Farming and OneKind. It was found often to offer little more on animal welfare than compliance with minimum legal requirements. Red Tractor allows tethering and year-round housing in zero-grazing systems for dairy cows; teeth clipping and tail docking of piglets and, for meat chickens, stocking densities that allow little room to carry out natural behaviours.
UK DAIRY FARMS NEED OUR SUPPORT
by the analysis. The Scottish Organic Producers Association and RSPCA Freedom Food schemes also offer significant welfare benefits compared with minimum legal requirements and standard industry practice for all species. There is, however, significant room for improvement for all of the schemes – none currently achieves a “gold” rating overall for any species.
The Soil Association performs best overall across all species covered
PROGRESS AGAINST FOIE GRAS UNIT IN CHINA Together with our friends at Humane Society International/UK, we wrote to Creek Project Investments, a British company based in Cambridgeshire, urging the company to stop funding animal cruelty. It was reported that Creek Projects Investments PLC had invested millions of pounds to build what would have been the largest foie gras facility in China. According to its website, 15 million geese were expected to be delivered over the next five years, with 100 million to be farmed in that timescale. Following our letters, we learnt that the director of Creek Projects suspended proceedings based on animal welfare concerns. China is fast becoming one of world’s largest consumers and producers of foie gras, principally to satisfy growing domestic demand from the Chinese middle class for ‘international’ food.
As Farm Animal Voice went to press the media was full of stories about the price of milk. Dairy farmers reacted to yet another cut in the amount they are paid for their cows’ milk by holding a protest meeting at Westminster, attended by farming minister Jim Paice MP. It was clear from the meeting that British dairy farming has reached a crisis point. Compassion supports farmers in their call for a fair price for their milk. The current trend could have serious consequences for dairy cow welfare. There is a very real risk lower farm gate milk prices will lead to lower cow welfare. Cows will be pushed to their limits and into unsustainable Americanstyle mega dairy systems where they are unable to graze in fields. This would be damaging for our dairy farmers, and disastrous for our hardworking dairy cows. We are urging the government and industry to take notice of the very real concerns of UK dairy farmers and work towards a solution that gives them a fair price for their product. If this does not happen, and more British dairy farms close, then it is also likely we will be forced to import more milk and milk products from countries with potentially lower welfare conditions than the UK. We need a humane and viable future for British dairy farming; a fair price for farmers is an essential part of this.
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UPDATE
LIVE TRANSPORT
IS NO HOLIDAY
FOR ANIMALS
Summer is traditionally the time when tales of airport chaos and travel nightmares flood the media, as our annual getaway puts a strain on the nation’s airports and ferry terminals. But, while we can sympathise with everyone who wants their holiday travel to go smoothly, it sticks in the throat when people complain that “they wouldn’t treat an animal like this”. Indeed, in our experience, they would not – animals get a far worse deal.
INVESTIGATION LIVE TRANSPORT FROM UK TO SPAIN When Joanna Lumley launched our bus advert campaign against live farm animal exports from the UK earlier this year, she also announced our plan to trail a shipment of British calves to Europe. Because of your support we were able to trail 166 unweaned calves, over a three-day period, on their journey from Ramsgate port in Kent all the way through France to a farm near Barcelona in northern Spain.
Thanks to Compassion’s supporters,we can expose the suffering caused by live transport.
These calves were so young they were trying to suckle each other, and we received intelligence that they had come from a farm in North Devon. To make the morning sailing, the truck had set off in the middle of the night. So, despite being unloaded overnight in France, we believe these vulnerable animals were on the move by road and sea for at least 59 hours. And, by the time they reached their destination we calculate they had travelled over 1,100 miles. These young animals are poorly adapted to withstand the rigours of this kind of journey.
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Investigations like this are essential to our work – exposing the truth about live transport and lobbying for change. You can see the film we made about this investigation and read an eyewitness account from one of our investigators at ciwf.org/noholiday
Young animals are poorly adapted to withstand the rigours of long distance transport.
Hundreds turned out in Ramsgate to mark the one year anniversary of live exports going through the port.
COMPASSION
CAMPAIGNING CAMPAIGNING AGAINST NEEDLESS CRUELTY The nightmare does not end when the journey stops. Throughout the world, the story of live animal transport is one that ends in the animals being slaughtered, often after a period of fattening. In the past few months, Compassion has been pushing hard at national and international levels for compliance by all member countries with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) guidelines on the welfare of animals at slaughter. There are far too many examples of inept and cruel methods being used. And, as a result, animals who may have already undergone arduous journeys are made to suffer yet again. In June, Compassion made the difficult decision to release some extremely disturbing footage of horrendous animal suffering at slaughterhouses and in transport. It reveals some of the worst animal cruelty that Compassion has ever seen. Thousands of you responded to our urgent call for action and, as a result of sharing the footage, we have now secured meetings with representatives of not just the OIE, but also the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, The World Bank and The European Commission. By bringing these major bodies together we have a real chance to protect farm animals at one of the most vulnerable times of their lives – such as during transport and at slaughter. Thank you again to everyone who helped us get to this position.
In May 2012, Compassion took part in a rally to mark the sad first anniversary of live exports going through the town of Ramsgate, and to celebrate the hard work of all those involved in the battle against it.
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We have enough victories under our belt to encourage us to keep on carrying on. Certainly with the level of support we've being seeing here in Ramsgate, it's not a matter of if, but when.
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Dil Peeling, Director of Public Affairs, Compassion in World Farming
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A CONSTANT PRESENCE With your support, we are also monitoring the transportation of live animals across the EU and further afield outside the EU. While our long term aim is to stop all long distance live animal transport, we are pushing hard for the current laws to be properly observed. We are a constant presence in the ears of policy makers and enforcement authorities. And, with the help of you, our supporters, we fill the in-trays and inboxes of decision-makers, making sure the realities of the trade are exposed and building the pressure for an end to this needless suffering. GOOD NEWS! Through the efforts of Compassion supporters and EU campaigners, over half of Europe’s MEPs recently signed Written Declaration 49/2011 on the transport of animals. This means that, in March 2012, an 8-hour limit on journey times was adopted as the official position of the European Parliament. Now, more than ever, we must keep up the pressure. We must persuade the European Commission to introduce legislation banning long distance transport. And then we must ensure that the rest of the world follows suit.
Together we can keep up the momentum. Together we can end the needless, desperately long journeys forced upon farm animals. With your support, together, we can end this suffering.
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Photo © Animals’ Angels
MISLEADING FOOD LABELS MASK THE DARK TRUTH ABOUT FACTORY FARMING.
ACTION
IT’S TIME FOR
HONEST FOOD LABELS In partnership with RSPCA, World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) and the Soil Association, Compassion in World Farming is launching a campaign for clear and honest ‘method of production’ labelling on all meat and dairy products across the European Union.
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ublic opinion polls support Compassion’s belief that labelling information on food is often misleading and confusing. Current European labelling rules on meat and dairy products aren’t fit for purpose. Some food labels can imply that the products were from animals that had good, outdoor lives, when the produce actually came from a factory farm.
Words such as ‘farm fresh’ and ‘quality assured’ or images of animals outdoors on idyllic landscapes are commonly used to mask the dark truth about factory farming.
You can help us identify Europe’s most misleading labels and push for clear and honest food labelling
This image was found on Greek egg packaging that actually contained eggs from battery caged hens.
We are especially interested in identifying misleading labels from across the European Union. So whether you live, work or holiday in any of the 27 EU member states we really need your help! Our campaign is focussed on products containing chicken, pig meat and dairy produce – fresh, frozen and pre-prepared – but if you find other alarming examples please send them to us too. WHAT TO DO 1. Please take a photo of labels that you think might be misleading – including the bar code. 2. Email your photos to us at labels@ciwf.org, together with the date you took the photo and the shop, town and country in which you saw the product. Please submit your photographs no later than 30th September 2012. To keep costs down, please be aware that we will be unable to respond to individuals about every label we receive. You can find out more about this project and upload your photos directly via our website at ciwf.org/misleadinglabels If you don’t have access to the internet and would still like to take part in this project, please do contact us on 01483 521 953 (lines are manned 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday).
HOW YOU CAN HELP WITH OUR RESEARCH Our new campaign for clear and honest labelling is in its research stage. Between now and 30th September this year, we will be gathering photographic examples of misleading food labels from across Europe.
The evidence that we gather together will be essential for the next stage of our campaign. Thank you.
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UPDATE
EXPOSED: FACTORY FARMING’S BEST KEPT SECRET Earlier this year, Compassion ran a series of investigations revealing the appalling living conditions and the terrible suffering of rabbits farmed for their meat. We witnessed one of factory farming’s worst scandals yet.
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uring the investigations, we found that rabbit factory farming is big business right across Europe. We saw rabbits packed together in wire mesh battery cages, sitting above mounds of their own faeces. Farms were ramshackle and literally falling apart. Rabbits were exposed to the elements.
GOOD NEWS! Belgian retailers to only sell free-range rabbit meat Compassion welcomes the recent announcement made by representatives of Belgian retailers Colruyt and Delhaize to only sell free-range rabbit meat as of end of 2014.
When our investigation continued back in the UK, we found that rabbit meat from caged animals like these was being sold widely to unwitting customers in restaurants and markets.
The announcement was made at a press conference where representatives of the government and civil society, both members of the Belgian Animal Welfare Council, presented an agreement recently concluded on a roadmap for the phase out of wire mesh cages used in rabbit meat production.
A humane alternative that protects all farm animals from suffering in factory farms must be found. Any future campaigning or lobbying would call for: • A ban on barren battery cages • Honest and clear labelling so consumers are aware of how their food is produced • The inclusion of specific and detailed provisions for rabbits in the EU slaughter legislation, including minimum currents for stunning, to minimise pain and suffering • Further investigations to expose poor animal welfare. This work will take time. With your support, we will continue exposing the truth and raising awareness of the plight of all animals that suffer because of factory farming.
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SPRING 2012 RAFFLE WINNERS Thank you everyone who took part in our spring raffle. The lucky winners are: 1st £2,000 Ms N. Sharkey, London 2nd £1,000 Mrs M. Putland, Surrey 3rd £500 Mrs Sayce, Hampshire 4th £100 Mrs S. Gibson, Glasgow Seller Prize £100 Ms M. How, Buckinghamshire
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UPDATE
BARREN BATTERY CAGES ILLEGAL SINCE 1 JANUARY 2012 The long-awaited barren battery cage ban in Europe is now eight months old. At the time of writing however, there are still nine rogue countries failing to comply with the law, despite having had 12 years to prepare for and implement it.
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ith 18 countries now compliant, more than 250 million hens will be better off. We are now embarking on the final stage of ridding Europe of all illegal cages – to make sure we see justice for all Europe’s hens and the farmers who did the right thing, by getting rid of barren battery cages on time.
WHAT NEXT
With your support, we soon hope to be able to report that all barren battery cages have been banished from Europe. Forever.
Over the next few months, our Big Move team will make the final push to ensure 100% compliance across Europe. It’s time for Europe to behave as a Union and prosecute the law breakers. With your ongoing support we will: • Monitor those countries still trading in illegally-produced eggs
THANKS TO YOUR SUPPORT, OUR BIG MOVE CAMPAIGN HAS SO FAR RESULTED IN:
• Submit evidence of non-compliance to the European Commission to be used as evidence when prosecuting and imposing fines
• 360,872 emails and 91,604 postcards sent to MPs, MEPs and Ministers across Europe
• Call on Europe’s consumers to boycott illegally-produced eggs • Continue to engage with and encourage more companies to commit to sourcing higher welfare products, thereby improving the lives of millions more farm animals.
• 72,453 lobbying letters sent to EU agricultural ministers • 17 groups in 14 countries coming together to campaign for hens • 100,000 emails sent to Defra alone, demanding that UK farms in breach of the ban should be reprimanded.
The barren battery cage ban is one of the most significant victories ever for farm animal welfare. Its success will have huge implications for all farm animals, and could determine the success or failure of future improvements in animal welfare regulations.
• Thousands of our ‘origami hens’ (pictured right) posted directly to the Spanish Agricultural Minister, urging him to use his authority and ensure Spain’s egg industry complies with the ban, for the sake of its 12 million hens still in illegal cages.
THANK YOU!
Photo © Andrew Owen
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Photo © NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Image
» » » » » » » » »
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We will only take the biggest step forwards in protecting farm animals from cruelty if we take steps to end factory farming forever.
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Philip Lymbery, Chief Executive, Compassion in World Farming
INSIGHT
Why we need a food and farming revolution Compassion CEO, Philip Lymbery explains our new campaign to tackle factory farming and stamp out animal cruelty forever. complementary, agendas to defeat a common threat. As with RAW, the thread connecting all of the arguments was that factory farming is a failing system of food production.
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ompassion in World Farming has a vision. A vision of a world where factory farming has ended and all farm animals are treated with compassion and respect. With your passion and support, our work has seen the beginning of the end for many of the worst aspects of factory farming, improving the lives of hundreds of millions of farm animals.
United, our collective voices will be too powerful to ignore We’ve seen and heard a lot about the strength of people power in recent times. It has halted the sell-off of England’s forests and brought down oppressive governments in the Middle East. Now it is time to mobilise people power to bring an end to factory farming. Only with the broadest range of arguments and the widest possible support do we have a chance to turn the tide; a chance to challenge current thinking; a chance to expose the true cost of factory farming; and a chance to champion a world where everyone has access to safer, fairer, greener food.
Now we need to take the next big step Despite the progress we are making, we have to face the stark truth that factory farming is still a huge challenge, and actually expanding in many countries. This is why, in addition to the ongoing work that you are already supporting, Compassion needs to take the next big, brave step. Exposing the full cost of factory farming We believe that we will only be truly successful in ending farm animal cruelty if we also join forces with other organisations across the world. This is why we have launched a bold new campaign called RAW; an ambitious initiative to expose the true cost of factory farming – for animals, people and our planet.
Building on strong foundations In 2008, we published the report, Global Warning, which looked at livestock's impact on climate change. Just a year later, we partnered with leading environmental group Friends of the Earth to produce Eating the Planet; a unique report, that showed how humane and environmentally sustainable farming can provide sufficient food to feed a growing population – the ultimate win-win scenario. In 2011, our ‘Gobbledygook’ campaign sought to highlight the threats of using tax-payers' money to fund research into the ‘sustainable intensification’ of the livestock industry. And most recently, we've exposed the wider impacts of factory farming around the world – from the UK to Georgia in the USA.
Factory farming is the biggest cause of animal cruelty on the planet.
United, we are stronger Compassion’s mission is to end farm animal cruelty – this thinking will continue to drive every decision that we make. The RAW campaign recognises that factory farming is more than an animal welfare issue alone. It also threatens us and the planet on which we live, with impacts ranging from climate change to disease. Through RAW, we will work with others to showcase the full breadth of arguments against factory farming and fight for more humane sustainable methods of food production. We have already seen the benefits of this kind of inclusive campaigning, for example in our campaign against the Nocton mega dairy farm. Compassion worked alongside environmental and local groups with different, yet
We think our founder, Peter Roberts, would be proud of what we are trying to do. In 1967, he took the biggest, bravest step of all in founding Compassion in World Farming when no-one else would take up the fight for farm animal welfare. Today in 2012, we are continuing his mission to cross out factory farming. Forever.
PS: Find out more and join us at www.raw.info
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INSIGHT
Winning the argument against factory farming
gas emissions are caused by the livestock industry. The animals' digestive processes and manure produce methane and nitrous oxide, which are far more potent greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide. On top of this, greenhouse gases are released in order to grow and harvest animal feed crops. As the dominant form of livestock farming, factory farming makes a significant contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions.
There's a lot of misinformation around that's designed to support the case for factory farming. We have created a simple guide to help win the debate and arm ourselves with the RAW facts against factory farming. For a more detailed set of arguments, please visit www.raw.info
“Organic or free-range food has no real health benefits.” Researchers at London Metropolitan University have found that when compared with meat from intensivelyreared animals, organic free-range chickens contain 25% less fat, and pasture-reared beef and lamb contain higher levels of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids, which are important for brain and heart health.
“Animals in intensive farms don't know a better life. What they don't know, they don't miss.” Regardless of their living conditions, farm animals still have natural instincts and basic needs which often aren’t met. On a bare floor, for example, chickens will peck at the ground or try to take a dust bath; sows confined in barren stalls will try to forage and build a nest in a space so small they can't even turn around; and caged egg-laying hens will try to stretch their wings fully but can't. Many animals don't even get sufficient food. In such stressful, barren conditions, factory farmed animals often exhibit distress, aggression and abnormal behaviours.
“With an expanding global population and limited resources we need more efficient ways of producing food, like factory farming.” Factory farmed meat and dairy is actually an inefficient way of feeding the world. The grain feeding of confined animals uses more food than it produces; several kilograms of feed crops are needed for every kilogram of meat. A much more sustainable, common-sense approach is for a higher proportion of plant crops to be eaten directly by people and for animals to be put back on the land to graze on pasture which people can’t eat.
“Factory farming doesn't contribute to climate change.” Factory farming is actually a significant contributor to climate change. 18% of all human-induced greenhouse
“Factory farming is essential for keeping food prices down.” Factory farmed meat and dairy may appear 'cheap' but the true costs are often far higher. By moving animals indoors and feeding them on grain, it can actually serve to increase the demand for grain, and therefore the price of the grain crop. The result of this can be be increased food prices for many of the world's poorest people. “One person's choice at the supermarket won't have an impact on any of this.” Each food and drink choice that we make can add up to a food and farming revolution. It's often said that supermarkets and big agricultural companies have all the power, but they only produce and sell the products that we buy. Every time we choose to buy higher-welfare meat and dairy, it's a vote for a better way of farming.
Animal waste from large factory farms is threatening our health, the water we drink and swim in, and the future of our nation's rivers, lakes, and streams
It is clear that factory farming is bad for animals – the practice prioritises maximum production above all else. Animals are treated as commodities and are often raised in intense confinement.
National Resources Defense Council, USA (2001)
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INSIGHT
Farming facts
Finding positive, practical alternatives to factory farming
// Livestock farming accounts for around 18% of our global greenhouse gas emissions – more than the global transport sector.
There are alternatives to factory farming. A recent Compassion report, Food Sense, highlights some of these, showcasing a common sense approach to feeding the world; one that ends the competition for food between people and farm animals; reduces and recycles food waste; supports the keeping of animals on ethical farms, not in factories; and delivers more effective food systems geared toward feeding all people, now and in the future.
// Some large farms can produce more raw waste than the human population of a large US city. // Grass-fed beef uses 30% less irrigation water than intensively-farmed beef and causes 65% less water pollution. // Agricultural expansion in the Amazon for grazing and crops could see 40% of this fragile, often pristine, rainforest destroyed by 2050. // In 2009, nearly 80% of the total antibiotics distributed in the US were for farm animals.
Food Sense is available to download from www.raw.info/foodsense
It's not just Compassion who thinks farming should be fairer for all Our Vision for Fair Food and Farming – which seeks the global adoption of food and farming policies that respect and protect the interests of animals, people and the planet – has already been signed by a range of high-profile individuals, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Joanna Lumley, Peter Gabriel, Penelope Keith and Dame Vera Lynn.
Your support is vital Thank you once again. Without your support we would not have been able to help so many millions of farm animals over the last 45 years. And without your continuing support we would not be able to launch campaigns such as RAW to convince the world once and for all that factory farming is a failing system of food production – for animals, for people and for the planet. Peter Roberts founded Compassion in 1967 to fight for better farm animal welfare when no-one else would. Today in 2012, with your support, we are continuing his mission to cross out factory farming. Forever. Thank you. Visit www.raw.info and register your support. And please share RAW with your friends and family.
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ACTION
KEEPING THE
SOW STALL BAN ON TRACK A commercial breeding sow can expect to spend around 300 days of her life per year confined in a narrow metal cage known as a sow stall. Here she will exist, enclosed by solid metal bars, rarely with any bedding for rooting and comfort. There is not even enough space for her to turn around. Pigs are highly active animals so this appalling confinement is complete mental and physical torture for them.
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ut, in the EU, the end of this suffering is in sight. Thanks in large part to the campaigning activities of Compassion supporters, the cruel sow stall was banned in the UK in 1999. And, from 1st January 2013, a similar ban will take effect across the entire EU, for all but the first four weeks of a sow’s pregnancy and the week before giving birth. This new law represents a tremendous leap forward for pig welfare. INTRODUCING PROJECT PIG Earlier this year we launched our Project Pig campaign to help ensure compliance with not just the sow stall ban, but also the EU Pigs Directive, to bring about higher welfare standards and better living conditions for all pigs. The good news is that there are now nations reporting that they are on course to achieve full compliance with the new legislation. Now we need to keep up the pressure on the remaining nine nations to keep the sow stall ban on track.
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HOW YOU CAN HELP TODAY 1 Please fill in and send the enclosed postcard to show your support for Project Pig. 2 Enter our autumn raffle to support the 2012 Good Pig Awards – you could win up to £2,000. What’s more, you’ll be helping to give pigs better lives too! For more tickets, please call 01483 521 953 or visit ciwf.org/raffle
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GOOD PIG AWARD Your support not only funds our campaigns for better legislation. You are also helping Compassion actively engage with the food industry across Europe to deliver real change for farm animals. This year sees the launch of our Good Pig Award, and in the autumn we will be officially acknowledging a host of progressive food companies for their leadership in raising the standards of pig welfare. Today, we need you to continue helping us improve the lives of pigs across Europe. Your support is vital to changing the lives of millions of animals.
TOGETHER, WE ARE GIVING EUROPE'S PIGS A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE. THANK YOU. 17
INSIGHT
THE POWER OF FOOD COMPANIES GLOBAL AND LOCAL With your support, we are campaigning for change from the top global food companies. Our engagement is persuading them to adopt common sense and consumer-attractive welfare policies like using cage-free eggs and ethically sourced meat and dairy products.
investment, we see our cage-free move as an essential part of our sustainability programme”.
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ne of our 2011 Good Egg Award winners was Mulino Bianco – the most famous Italian bakery brand. They have now launched an ad campaign featuring Hollywood actor Antonio Banderas. The advertisement raises awareness of the cage-free eggs they are using in their biscuits, thanks to their laying hen ‘Rosita’.
As consumer awareness grows, more and more global brands are starting to report on animal welfare as part of their corporate social responsibility and sustainability programmes. Each year, our Good Farm Animal Welfare Award winners are making it their policy to produce and source higher welfare food. By supporting our Food Business programme, you are actively improving the lives of millions of farm animals around the world. Thank you.
Mulino Bianco has become part of Italian food culture, and in line with their commitment to sustainability, they have chosen to use only barn eggs for their biscuits, snacks and pastries – a major coup in Italy where millions of hens still live in illegal barren battery cages (despite the ban on these cages coming into force in January 2012). Nearly 1 million hens are now set to benefit, each year, from the cage-free policy of this one company.
HIGHER WELFARE IN THE COMMUNITY
Their parent company, Barilla, has also followed suit and recently announced that all of their European egg-made pasta will be produced using 100% fresh eggs from cage-free hens. In Italy, this affects 33% of the total egg-made pasta market per year – improving the lives of a further 1 million hens.
What does your community have in common with the world’s leading pasta maker? Well, in 2011, as part of our work to engage with all sectors of the food industry, Compassion awarded over 50 public sector organisations for their commitment to purchase higher welfare eggs, meat and dairy produce. We hope many more will join our list of winners in 2012.
Luca Ruini, Health, Safety, Environment & Energy Director of the Barilla Group says:
As consumers, we have the power to persuade companies to adopt higher welfare policies and practices. Together we can collectively benefit millions of farm animals and represent a community which is actively leading the movement towards a more ethical and sustainable food supply.
“Deciding to go beyond the minimum law requirements by using only cage-free eggs, Barilla has made a clear choice in favour of farm animal welfare. We are proud to have contributed to the cage-free egg market in Italy and beyond, freeing almost 2 million birds from cages per year. Although this has required greater
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ANTONIO BANDERAS RAISES AWARENESS ABOUT HEN WELFARE AND CAGE-FREE EGGS FOR ONE OF OUR GOOD EGG AWARD WINNERS
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INSPIRATION
FROM LADIES’ SOIRÉES TO LEGACIES ONE FANTASTIC STORY OF SUPPORT
Meet Jackie Cox – a woman with huge amounts of energy, passion and self-belief. Her support for Compassion in World Farming over the decades has included raising thousands of pounds running marathons, hosting ladies’ nights, organising zumbathons and pledging a gift in her Will to Compassion. Hannah Child finds out how Jackie manages to work all this around her busy life as a beef farmer.
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c I feel I’m quite privileged in that I’m a farmer, albeit small scale. I eat meat because it’s all mine or my farming friends’ and I know exactly where it comes from and how it’s produced.
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ACTIVE SUPPORT Jackie’s efforts are as much about raising money as spreading the word about farm animal welfare. Her chosen way of getting the message out to friends and neighbours is through fun, social events.
A LASTING GIFT Jackie’s commitment to farm animals extends even beyond her lifetime. She has left gifts in her Will to her two favourite charities, one being Compassion in World Farming. “I changed my Will when my kids were older and they had made their own way. Of course they’re included in my Will and they’ll be fine but I just wanted to leave a legacy to Compassion.”
“I just don’t want to sit in front of the computer and send emails out to everybody. I personally would rather do a zumba event, a ladies' dinner or an afternoon tea. These really register with people. People get so many emails these days!”
Jackie feels this is the best way to protect all animals in the future from factory farming and the misery of long distance transport.
YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT ‘You are what you eat’ is a favourite mantra of Jackie’s and one she lives by. In 1990, Jackie bought a 13-acre farm in Surrey with her husband Colin. Back then there were just a few chickens in the garden but she knew she wanted to farm cattle to a really high welfare standard. Her lack of farming experience certainly didn’t deter her – she enrolled in an evening class at the local agricultural college and has never really looked back.
THANK YOU Compassion salutes Jackie and every single supporter who gives up their time to fundraise for us. All the money our volunteers raise goes directly to improving the lives of farm animals. If you think you might also like to help us in this way we have a free fundraising pack full of great ideas, as well as materials, to get you started.
RECYCLING FOR FREE
And we are always hugely grateful to all the wonderful people who have remembered us in their Wills. For those of you who might consider supporting us in this very special way, we have a useful guide to writing your Will.
Jackie's farm is now 34 acres and has a herd of almost 40 cattle, wonderfully cared for, with year-round access to the outdoors and a fabulously varied diet. An arrangement with her local branch of Sainsbury’s has her collecting fruit and vegetables past their ‘sell by’ date. Jackie explains:
Please call us on 01483 521 953 (9am-5pm, Monday to Friday) to request a fundraising or legacy pack. Or you can download at ciwf.org/packs
“Sainsbury’s doesn’t have to pay to get rid of this food, it doesn’t end up in landfill or in a skip. And in the winter when there’s no grass about and the cattle are just eating hay and silage it’s lovely to be able to see them munching away on parsnips and carrots”. Jackie’s devotion to her animals starts at their birth. All calves born on her farm stay with their mothers until they are 8 months old. And she’s just as passionate about the last hours of her animals’ lives too. She explains why it’s so important to her to use a local, trusted abattoir: “What’s the point in me spending 2½ years with them having a lovely life and then for them to have a 4-hour stressful journey at the end?”
Jackie proudly sports her London Marathon 2006 medal – having raised an amazing £2,230 for Compassion.
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JOIN OUR GROWING COMMUNITY OF CAMPAIGNERS & FUNDRAISERS Here at Compassion we really value our supporters’ generosity, time and commitment to helping us end the misery suffered by billions of farm animals everywhere.
JOIN A LOCAL GROUP
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any of our supporters tell us they wish they could donate more to us (and that they are keeping us in mind should they win the lottery, fingers crossed!) but dedicating time to Compassion is absolutely priceless to us. We hope some of our suggestions will inspire you to get involved too!
We desperately need new Local Groups in Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and London; and right across the country we have Local Groups who would love to get bigger so that they can do more to improve farm animal welfare!
Compassion has a network of Local Groups up and down the country. Getting involved in a Local Group is a fantastic way to discover like-minded people in your community and makes getting active for farm animal welfare fun. Local Groups can raise vital funds for our work, as well as awareness: organising street collections, street parties, information stands, demos and sponsored events. Our Local Groups come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from teams of ten to lone rangers, greatly in need of your help! Of course, there are still many areas where we would really love to see some Local Groups started up. If being part of a Local Group appeals to you, please get in touch by calling 01483 521 953 or emailing supporters@ciwf.org (office hours are Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm).
CARRYING THE OLYMPIC FLAME FOR COMPASSION On Thursday 12 July, Sandra Hood, one of our dedicated Compassion supporters and co-founder of Local Group, Compassionate Dorset, was given the honour of carrying the Olympic Flame through Dorset. Sandra was nominated for the work she does for charities including Compassion. Last year she raised more than £1,000 for Compassion by running the London Marathon. Sandra, an NHS Diabetes Specialist Dietician said: “I thoroughly enjoyed Compassionate Dorset members cheering me on as I carried the Olympic Flame. I was quite nervous but felt very proud to be able to be a part of Olympic history, and to fly the flag for healthy and Compassionate living too!”
Sandra Hood from Compassionate Dorset runs the Olympic Torch Relay for Compassion.
ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS!
BAKE WITH COMPASSION
FUNDRAISING IDEAS
GET ACTIVE
This October is Bake with Compassion month! We would love you to hold a bake event for us using free-range eggs and other higher welfare ingredients; anything from cake sales to baking competitions, coffee mornings to dinner parties. All money raised will help Compassion’s work to end factory farming – the biggest cause of animal cruelty on the planet.
Helen Lymbery, and Compassion staff Nick, Lara and Julie, took part in this year's Superhero Fun Run. Between them, they raised more than £1,250 and quite a few laughs round the office too! To find out how you can make a difference and have fun at the same time, call us on 01483 521 953 or visit ciwf.org/fun
Hosting your own Bake with Compassion event is also the perfect opportunity to talk to friends, family, colleagues and members of your community about buying higherwelfare ingredients and to educate them on their consumer power.
Since the launch of our Campaigners’ Corner letter writing pack in April, more than 160 supporters have become a letter-writing campaigner. We are really excited about this easy way of getting involved – and we really need more of you! Imagine the impact that your handwritten letters have when delivered to politicians and other campaign targets in their hundreds!
To find out more about Bake with Compassion, please call us on 01483 521 953 (lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm) or visit bakewithcompassion.org
GET CAMPAIGNING
Please call us on 01483 521 953 (lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm) or email supporters@ciwf.org to order your letter writing pack. We have new letter writing actions for you too!
Every year, proceeds from Sir Peter O’Sullevan’s charity Christmas cards are shared between six animal welfare charities: Compassion in World Farming, The Blue Cross, The Brooke, Racing Welfare, World Horse Welfare and the Thoroughbred Rehabilitation Centre. Each pack of 10 cards with envelopes costs £7.50 (excl. p&p). The cards won’t be available until September, but orders can be placed sooner. Order online at www.thevoiceofracing.com Phone: 020 8333 1411 Email mail@red.media.uk.com or write to Agnes Zauner, 63 Rosendale Road, London, SE21 8DY Compassion’s Christmas cards will also be available to order in September – watch this space!
GET IN TOUCH!
If you would like to Get Involved in any of our activities – or you're doing something for Compassion that you'd like us to know about, please call us on 01483 521 953 or email supporters@ciwf.org Lines are manned 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.We look forward to hearing from you!
Why we need a food and farming revolution
Animal waste from large factory farms is threatening our health, the water we drink and swim in, and the future of our nation's rivers, lakes, and streams. National Resources Defense Council (2001)
Increased demand for grains to feed livestock… is likely to push future food prices further beyond the limits of affordability for the world's poorest people. Oxfam (2009)
Factory farming endangers the survival of other animals and plants, with impacts including pollution, deforestation and climate change. UNFAO (2006)
The air at some factory farm test sites in the US is dirtier than in America's most polluted cities and exposes workers to concentrations of pollutants far above occupational safety guidelines. Environmental Integrity Project (2011)
Aerial view of a cattle feedlot
Factory farming is the single biggest cause of animal cruelty, one of the greatest social and environmental challenges of our time and utterly fails to meet the needs of all of the planet’s seven billion people. The world needs Compassion in every nation, in every food company boardroom, in every farm, on every kitchen table. Your support can help us kick start a food and farming revolution that will change billions of lives.
TOGETHER WE CAN PROTECT ALL FARM ANIMALS FROM CRUELTY AND FEED THE WORLD FAIRLY, HUMANELY AND SUSTAINABLY. THANK YOU. 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.