Why Are Retailers Allowed to Mislead Us?

We are, supposedly, a nation of animal lovers. We love our pets and we give generously to animal charities, yet we continue to buy vast quantities of intensively reared meat that causes untold cruelty to millions of animals. One of the big reasons for this dichotomy is simply that most people are ignorant of the conditions in which the animals they eat are raised.

Intensively reared chickens at retailers like Tesco often don't even say that they were kept indoors, never mind informing the consumer of the cruelty involved in the process. In fact they often, in my opinion, actively mislead, with quaint photos of farmers standing outside and a description of how these chickens are raised to the 'highest welfare standards'.

It is a disgrace that in 2009 Britain, our retailers are allowed to get away with this.

It is in the interests of us all that we spend our money as informed consumers so that we can truly make a free choice as to what we buy.

The 'Chicken Out' campaign has been running a competition on its website to come up with a label for intensively reared chickens which properly allows consumers to know exactly what they are buying.

Take a look at the winning entry here.

There is also a link on the site to email your MP to encourage them to sign an Early Day Motion on this very subject.

John Lewis: setting the standard.

As a former employee of the John Lewis Partnership I already knew what a truly conscientious and forward thinking company they are. This has just been confirmed.

Before christmas I was having lunch in a John Lewis store and I noticed that the egg used for their omelettes was 'pasteurised egg' from the catering company brakes. Having worked in the catering industry, I know that unless specified as otherwise, eggs used will almost undoubtedly be from caged hens (want to know what the problem is? See here). They're cheap, and so is much of the food that catering companies supply. 

Knowing the commitment to animal welfare that the Partnership has, I was quite shocked by this. 

I wrote to them, and received a rather inadequate and ambivalent response. I obviously therefore wrote to them again. This time the results were much more promising (see picture below). They confirmed that since my first letter it has become possible for them to source free range pasteurised egg for use in their omelettes. 

Every decision like this, however small it seems, saves thousands of animals from living a life of pain and suffering.

Click to enlarge.

If only our biggest retailers shared even a fraction of their ethical code.