I don’t know the answer to the question you pose about whether, on average, animals used for organic food production have net positive lives. I’m thinking there’s probably a lot of variation based on animal species, what product the animal is being used for, and how well-run the organic operation is. All that makes it harder for me to try to compute an average in my brain.
But I have a question and a thought.
The question: I’m wondering why you chose to explore organic in this post, as opposed to other food labels that are more exclusively focused on animal welfare. Organic seems to me like it introduces some distracting elements. Because my understanding is that a lot of the organic requirements are aimed at protecting consumer health, the environment, and naturalness. But there are other food labels that are more exclusively aimed at protecting animal welfare, like the various tiers of Global Animal Partnership labels. That said, I’m imagining you may have a specific reason in mind for focusing on organic.
The thought: Legal Impact for Chickens is suing Alexandre Family Farm, which advertises its products as certified organic, for starving cattle; pouring salt into animals’ eyes; dragging disabled cows across concrete; leaving calves to die while isolated in small, filthy, individual hutches; and more. I would not want to be one of those cows. That said, others in the organic farming community, like the Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance and the Regenerative Organic Alliance, have come out to condemn Alexandre. And some of Alexandre’s cruel practices explicitly violate organic rules. So it’s possible that most animals used for organic agriculture do have net positive lives.
On your question: I chose organic because I had initially planned to take the EU Organic one because it’s so wide spread here and has some animal welfare standards. In the end I chose Naturland though because it seems to be stronger on animal welfare, and I wanted to make a strong case.
I am not aware of any reported malpractices as the one you cited for that label but of course there is always a chance to have these outliers.
Oh, got it! I am so sorry. I’m American and have a very American-centric worldview. I was thinking of organic as referring to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Organic certification. I therefore feel like I pretty much totally missed what you actually meant by your post. I’m sorry! 🇪🇺
This is an interesting and important post.
I don’t know the answer to the question you pose about whether, on average, animals used for organic food production have net positive lives. I’m thinking there’s probably a lot of variation based on animal species, what product the animal is being used for, and how well-run the organic operation is. All that makes it harder for me to try to compute an average in my brain.
But I have a question and a thought.
The question: I’m wondering why you chose to explore organic in this post, as opposed to other food labels that are more exclusively focused on animal welfare. Organic seems to me like it introduces some distracting elements. Because my understanding is that a lot of the organic requirements are aimed at protecting consumer health, the environment, and naturalness. But there are other food labels that are more exclusively aimed at protecting animal welfare, like the various tiers of Global Animal Partnership labels. That said, I’m imagining you may have a specific reason in mind for focusing on organic.
The thought: Legal Impact for Chickens is suing Alexandre Family Farm, which advertises its products as certified organic, for starving cattle; pouring salt into animals’ eyes; dragging disabled cows across concrete; leaving calves to die while isolated in small, filthy, individual hutches; and more. I would not want to be one of those cows. That said, others in the organic farming community, like the Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance and the Regenerative Organic Alliance, have come out to condemn Alexandre. And some of Alexandre’s cruel practices explicitly violate organic rules. So it’s possible that most animals used for organic agriculture do have net positive lives.
I’m curious to hear other peoples’ thoughts.
Thanks for your thoughts!
On your question: I chose organic because I had initially planned to take the EU Organic one because it’s so wide spread here and has some animal welfare standards. In the end I chose Naturland though because it seems to be stronger on animal welfare, and I wanted to make a strong case.
I am not aware of any reported malpractices as the one you cited for that label but of course there is always a chance to have these outliers.
Oh, got it! I am so sorry. I’m American and have a very American-centric worldview. I was thinking of organic as referring to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Organic certification. I therefore feel like I pretty much totally missed what you actually meant by your post. I’m sorry! 🇪🇺