Background information provided for students
Throughout the activity, students will be directed to the supporting information given below, which provides some background, challenging ideas and options for further research. They are given fact round ups at the start of each section, and invited to scroll down for more information, ideas for research and discussion points.
Introduction
"Look, times are hard, and as long as the food I buy is cheap, I don't care how it's produced or what happens to the animals it comes from, and I'm sick of TV programmes trying to make me feel guilty. It's just not my problem."
How do farmers produce cheap food?
Since the Second World War, farmers have been under ever-increasing pressure to satisfy consumer demand for cheaper food. In turn there has been a constant drive to increase productivity, through intensive farming.
What is intensive farming?
Intensive farming means trying to produce as much food as possible from the land, plants and animals available. It can involve using high inputs of capital, labour or labour-saving systems and chemicals to get the maximum yield and financial return out of each unit of land. At one time, intensive agriculture was confined to relatively small farms, such as market gardens, but it is now undertaken by large commercial agri-businesses that sell their produce in national and international markets through supermarket chains. The increasing demand for food, and for more varieties of food, has seen intensive methods being applied to ever-larger areas of land in the most economically developed countries.
What does it mean for animal welfare?
Intensive farming methods may be efficient, but they raise ethical dilemmas. The RSPCA is concerned that the commercial mass production of food animals in the livestock industry causes suffering, whether through the close-confinement and/or the barren nature of some systems, or through shortcomings in transport or slaughtering techniques.
Did you know?
Around 99 per cent of people in the UK eat animal products of one type or another, such as meat, eggs, milk, cheese - they also use animal by-products such as leather. Around 900 million animals are slaughtered for food each year in the UK (around 16 for every person).
Something to think about
A box of six medium eggs from hens kept in a battery cage usually costs under £1. If the eggs come from free-range hens, this usually adds to the cost by about 50 per cent. Would you buy the free-range eggs, or the battery ones? Which would you buy if the cost difference were even bigger?
Now it's time to say what you think - remember you're voting on whether or not you agree with the case made by this first character: "I need to buy cheap food, and I don't care how it's produced."
Round 1
"I think animal welfare is important, and we can make a difference if we only buy welfare-friendly stuff, so...yeah, it's sometimes a bit more expensive, but I just do without something else. I mean, I think it's worth it."
"We're finding more and more customers are asking about farm animal welfare, and choosing higher-welfare products, like those labelled Freedom Food, free-range and organic. But in these difficult economic times we also have a duty to provide our customers with low-price options, and some people will choose them."
Can consumers change things?
In 2008, Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall ran two high-profile media campaigns alongside the RSPCA's chicken welfare campaign, highlighting the conditions in which broilers (meat chickens) and caged hens (for eggs) are kept. As a result, it seems many more people now choose to pay more and buy higher-welfare chicken and eggs, despite difficult economic times. Some supermarkets, such as Waitrose, no longer stock standard chickens, as a result of the change in demand.
Find out more
Find out how higher-welfare poultry sales increased by 32 per cent as a result of Jamie and Hugh’s campaigns, with some supermarkets running out of stock. The Independent newspaper supported the campaign in February 2008, and most other national newspapers ran stories about it.
Read what Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall have to say about higher-welfare chicken at this link.
What supermarkets stock
To remain competitive, all the large UK supermarket chains say they need products and prices that suit every budget. But many are changing what they stock, as a result of consumer demand for higher animal welfare.
Something to think about
Nearly all the major supermarkets have told the RSPCA that the 2008 chicken welfare campaigns, led by the Society, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver, have changed people's shopping habits, in spite of the difficult economic climate. What does the success of these campaigns tell us about people's priorities when it comes to food and animal welfare?
In a poll commissioned by the RSPCA, 73 per cent of consumers said that, since discovering standard chickens were farmed in poor conditions, they now buy chickens that have had a better life. After many years of campaigns by animal welfare organisations, why do you think two TV programmes headed up by celebrity chefs were so successful in changing people's buying habits so quickly?
Find out more
Find out which supermarkets have experienced increased sales of higher-welfare chicken by following this link.
Something to think about
Who do you think is to blame for consumers' dependence on intensive farming systems?
If you were managing a household budget, what - if anything - do you think it would be worth giving up, in order to buy more higher-welfare food?
Do you think products from animals reared to higher welfare standards always cost more to produce?
If supermarkets didn't stock cheap standard chickens and other lower-welfare meat/animal products, would the price of higher-welfare products fall?
Now it’s time to say what you think - remember you’re voting on whether or not you agree with the case made by the first character: “I need to buy cheap food, and I don’t care how it's produced.”
Round 2
"My chickens are reared to higher-welfare standards. They've got more space, and perches, and straw bales to peck at, natural daylight and so on. They're a slower-growing breed too. Well, it's just good to see them doing what they want to do, and gives me more job satisfaction, to be honest. And at the end of the day, they're happy, and I'm happy, so everyone's a winner!"
"I don't know what the heck I'm buying half the time. I mean it's not really obvious, is it? Maybe if it said something on the pack in great big letters about how it was produced or something, I might think twice. But this just looks like a pack of sausages, so in it goes..."
Why do farmers raise meat chickens to lower-welfare standards?
As a result of perceived consumer demand, supermarkets may tell farmers to supply them with cheap meat. Some people think that the most cost-effective way for farmers to do that with chickens is to fit as many as they can into an environment they can control - such as an enclosed shed - and then encourage them to grow as quickly as possible. Around 830 million chickens are reared for their meat in the UK each year.
Find out more
Is intensive rearing really the most cost-effective way of producing meat chickens? Find out at this link.
Find out about higher-welfare systems, such as those that use the RSPCA's welfare standards, at this link.
What do the labels mean?
Clear labelling is extremely important so that consumers can make an informed choice about the products they choose to buy.
The RSPCA advocates that the consumer should have the right to know how all farm animals are reared and that animal products (including non-food products) are produced, and they should be labelled with the method of production and the country of origin.
The labels used currently tell consumers very little:
- standard products are lower priced, usually from intensive farming methods with lower standards of animal welfare
- improved welfare products cost a little more and mean slightly improved animal welfare
- higher-welfare products, such as Freedom Food (www.freedomfood.co.uk), free-range and organic can cost a little more, but come from farms working to higher standards of animal welfare.
Find out more
See what Tesco and Waitrose say about the chicken on sale in their supermarkets at this link.
Find out what free-range, outdoor bred and outdoor reared mean when used for pork products, by following this link.
Something to think about
How would you label products, to give the ordinary shopper a clear understanding of the level of animal welfare involved in their production?
Now it’s time to say what you think - remember you’re voting on whether or not you agree with the case made by the first character: “I need to buy cheap food, and I don’t care how it's produced.”
Round 3
"I don't see how we can turn a blind eye to what goes on. I mean yes, we eat stuff that comes from animals, but we should still look after them properly so they have a good life. You wouldn't dream of keeping your dog or cat in a cage for most of their lives, so how's it all right to do that with hens, just 'cos you're going to eat their eggs?"
"Look, I keep hens in battery cages, sure, but I'm not breaking any laws, and I don't see anything wrong with it. I think they've got a reasonable life. They've got the constant company of each other, and food and water on tap. Supermarkets pay me to produce cheap eggs - that's what the customer wants, so that's what I do."
How do we produce eggs?
The UK has around 34 million egg-laying hens. These hens are housed in one of the following three systems, with approximately (in 2010):
- 50 per cent of eggs laid by hens kept in battery cages
- 5 per cent of eggs laid by hens kept in barn systems
- 45 per cent of eggs laid by hens kept in free-range systems.
Barn and free-range systems take more skill to operate, but can give much higher standards of welfare, compared with cages.
How do hens in battery cages suffer?
- Each bird gets less usable space than that provided by an A4 piece of paper.
- Severe restriction on their movement and most normal behaviours can lead to fragile bones and suffering.
- They cannot perform normal behaviours properly, such as foraging or scratching about.
- They cannot easily escape aggression and bullying from other birds.
- They can become bored and frustrated because they are housed in a barren environment.
- Their feet and claws can get damaged from standing on sloping floors made of thin wire.
Find out more
Things are going to change for caged hens in 2012 in Europe when the use of conventional battery cages will be banned. But is this really good news for the birds? Check out this link to find out abut the so-called 'enriched' cages that will still be legal. They allow a little extra space per bird, but only add about as much space as the size of one beer mat .
Did you know?
- Ten years ago, hens in battery cages laid approximately 72 per cent of UK eggs - now it’s down to 50 per cent.
- In the EU there are approximately 390 million egg-laying hens, more than two thirds of which are housed in battery cages.
What laws cover farm animal welfare?
The welfare of all farmed animals is covered by the Animal Welfare Act 2006, which makes it an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to any animal. The Act also contains a duty of care to animals - anyone responsible for an animal must take reasonable steps to make sure its welfare needs are met. However, the law also takes into account recognised farming practices, which means lower-welfare systems such as battery cages remain legally permitted, though conventional cages are to be banned in the EU from 2012. There are also other laws specific to farm animals, such as the Welfare of Farmed Animals Regulations 2007, which include certain minimum requirements for how they should be kept.
The Farm Animal Welfare Council promotes the adoption of the 'Five Freedoms', which say the following ideal states should be aimed for:
- freedom from hunger and thirst - by ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigour
- freedom from discomfort - by providing an appropriate environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area
- freedom from pain, injury and disease - by prevention or through rapid diagnosis and treatment
- freedom from fear and distress - by ensuring conditions and treatment which avoid mental suffering
- freedom to express normal behaviour - by providing sufficient space, proper facilities and company of the animals’ own kind.
But these are not industry standards for animal welfare.
What are industry standards for laying hen welfare?
The industry’s minimum welfare standards must incorporate minimum legal requirements, but often do not go any further. For example hens need to stretch and flap their wings, perch and scratch the ground, and have environmental enrichment to stop them getting bored. But current European laws give each hen the useable space of less than an A4 piece of paper. The law changes in 2012, when this sort of battery cage will be banned in Europe. But the 'enriched' cages that will still be allowed only provide as much extra space per bird as would make one beer mat.
Something to think about
Do laws do enough to protect animals? What other things, apart from better laws, would improve animal welfare, in your view?
Do supermarkets demand cheap eggs?
Marks and Spencer was the first retailer to stop selling shell eggs from caged hens. It only uses free-range eggs as ingredients in products too.
Waitrose stopped selling shell eggs from cage systems in 2001. Does this show that supermarkets alone are behind the demand for cheap eggs?
Now it’s time to reach a verdict - remember you’re voting on whether or not you agree with the case made by the first character: “I need to buy cheap food, and I don’t care how it's produced.”