No room to move
Well at least Trump and his friends showed those chickens a thing or two.
The Trump administration officially withdrew an Obama-era rule that would set higher standards for the treatment of animals whose meat can be sold as organic.
The rule, created under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), would require poultry to be housed in spaces large enough to move freely and fully stretch their wings. Livestock would be required to have some access to outdoor space year-round.
The USDA officially overturned the rule Monday, after delaying its implementation three times. It was first created in 2016 and built on seven years of deliberation.
So I guess it’s not like all those reports about what Pruitt was doing when really he was just starting the process of trying to do them and might fail. I guess “officially overturned the rule” means what it says.
Many hens and cows live in the same or similar conditions as their nonorganic counterparts, with no room to move and only screened-in porches for “outside” access. The USDA estimates that about half of all organic eggs come from hens living in total confinement.
“Organic” of course doesn’t mean “humanely raised,” but people tend to conflate the two.
The rule was poised to hurt large-scale organic egg farms that house up to 180,000 birds in one barn, said the Organic Trade Association (OTA), which represents organic farmers. Some of these farms house as many as three egg-laying hens per square foot, with no time spent outdoors.
In contrast, Organic Valley, one of the most popular medium-scale organic producers in the United States, provides each bird with 5 square feet of space. In Europe, birds are given 43 square feet.
43 square feet versus a third of a square foot – quite a difference.
The proposed rule drew 47,000 comments, but only 28 supported its withdrawal, according to data compiled by the OTA.
“This is representative of the influence lobbyists and election money has at the Trump administration’s USDA,” said Mark Kastel, co-director of the Cornucopia Institute, which provides research on organic agriculture and has long been critical of USDA standards.
“They’re servicing large, conventional egg producers at the disservice of small and medium-sized organic farms,” he said. These large companies recognize the growing popularity of organic products and want to trick consumers into purchasing their own by obfuscating the way they treat their animals, Kastel argued.
The worse they treat the hens, the more $$$ they make. Let’s remember what’s important here.
As a comparison here, barn raised laying hens are required to have litter they can scratch in, room to move around, roosting perches and laying boxes. Maximum density is 1 hen per 1.5 sq foot (7 hens per sq metre). Free range hens (not necessarily the same as organic) maximum density is 43 per sq foot (2,500 per hectare).
Three per sq foot is grotesque. I’ve actually been in a barn (with slightly lower density than the above). It was quite an experience, but the birds actually seemed pretty happy and there were areas of quite open floor. The main thing I disliked was the noise. Between the ventilation fans and 50,000 chickens it’s overwhelming.
Rob, is that 43 free-range hens per square foot a typo?
I read an article somewhere (can’t recall where) recently in which somebody from the industry was defending the use of caged hens by claiming that allowing chickens to roam was cruel because they’re naturally agoraphobic animals that are happiest in confined spaces. That tickled me, somewhat.
Ooops! 43 sq feet per hen for organic/free range!
Hens are a bit weird. Hierarchical flock birds that will be quite social yet turn on the weakest bird and peck it to death in extreme circumstances. They will roam widely across ‘safe’ areas but will be very wary of sudden noise and movement, as befits a prey bird.
I pass a lot of hens while walking around my neighborhood. I usually greet them, in words or clucks.
This reminded me of a cartoon I saw in a newspaper many years ago. It was a drawing of two chickens in a cage, outside a restaurant’s kitchen door. One of them was saying to the other ‘But what I don’t understand is why, if everything tastes like us, why are people still eating us?’
I can’t find anything like 43 square feet per hen in organic or free-range standards for the UK (organic has the same space requirements as free-range). One free-range standard is for 1.2 hens per square foot indoors, but more importantly:
“Organic poultry must have continuous and easy daytime access to an outdoor range covered with suitable vegetation, except in adverse weather conditions.”
Maybe the 43 refers to the outdoor range?
David, given the wording of the NZ rules, the 43feet would be for outdoor, unless someone felt rich enough to build very very big sheds.
Shoot, there are no shortage of humans whose living standards would be improved by 43 square feet each of enclosed, climate-controlled habitat.