Tag: Factory Farming
Solutions for inhumane slaughterhouse practices
The XL Foods E. coli outbreak in the fall of 2012 was a vivid reminder for many Canadians of the reality and risks of industrial slaughter. Accompanying the daily news updates on the outbreak — in total, there were 18 confirmed cases — were glimpses into the scope and speed of modern slaughter plants. XL […]
The (animal) costs of transport
At some point in their lives, virtually all farmed animals are transported. The duration and conditions of transport have a major impact on animal well-being and are especially hard on certain species. Pigs are prone to motion sickness and heatstroke, in part because they don’t sweat. Chickens, meanwhile, are stacked on trucks in such a […]
The hard lives of animals on Canada’s factory farms
Concentrated feeding animal operations — more commonly referred to as factory farms — first began to appear around the 1920s. Industrialization was speeding up everything from transportation to communication, while, at the same time, medical discoveries such as insulin and penicillin were dramatically improving the quality of human and animal health. Farmers realized they could […]
Loblaw-led coalition of grocers drive phase-out of sow stalls by 2022
As the country’s largest food retailer, Loblaw has a very real impact on what and how Canadians eat. Over the past several years, animal welfare has been on our corporate social responsibility agenda as part of our sourcing-with-integrity principle. We have spent time investigating the issues with various stakeholders; we’ve visited numerous farms, dedicated […]
The EU vs. Canada: Fixing factory farms by granting ‘The 5 Freedoms’
Globally, the number of land animals killed each year for food exceeds 65 billion, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. In the United States alone, 10 billion land animals are killed for food. In Canada, the number is 700 million. These statistics are unfathomable — a bit like the national debt. Standards for […]
Food animals: How Canada lags on humaness
Feed many families and you begin to feed a whole nation. To that end, the UN has declared 2014 The International Year of Family Farming. This family-by-family focus targets food self-sufficiency and large-scale benefits for developing countries. It aims to supply tools and know-how to small farmers — often women — so they can feed […]
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