The Eat with Care blog
Writing about humane farming issues by Caroline Abels, founder of Humaneitarian. Your comments and feedback welcome. (All replies are screened and posted, if thoughtful and respectful.)
Interesting news out of Germany
Viehscheid, in Germany; Photo: Schwangau
1.19.12
News out of Germany today that it will ask the European Union to introduce a label for humanely raised meat sold by European farmers. The exact definition of ‘humanely raised’ hasn’t been worked out yet, but Germany seems intent on making improved farm animal welfare a key goal of its agricultural policy.
This article from Reuters is interesting because it shows that Germans are grappling with the same issues as Americans who care about humane farming:
- what exactly does ‘humanely raised’ mean?
- will people spend more money for humanely raised meat?
- will labels inspire people to make different purchasing choices?
- will greater transparency on packaging lead farms to improve their practices?
It’ll be interesting to read the German report on what constitutes ‘humanely raised’ meat. We’ll try to get our hands on it. (Anyone reading this speak German?)