How To Tell If Your Food Was Raised Inhumanely — And What To Do About It

Let's start with some good news first: Three in four Americans now pay more attention to food labels regarding how animals are raised than they did five years ago. And according to estimates by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), more than half of the chicken industry—including the giants like Perdue and Tyson and major fast food companies like KFC, Chipotle, and Subway—recently made commitments to move away from inhumane antibiotics policies. Almost all major supermarkets and chain restaurants have also recently committed to only source eggs from chickens raised cage-free.

It's awesome proof that as consumers, we can actually influence major change, but there's still a lot of work to do. In the United States alone, almost 10 billion animals are raised for food each year, and the vast majority still spend their lives in cramped, unnatural conditions in factory farms, often suffering as a result of their welfare coming in second to a farm's profit or efficiency.

Perpetuating the situation is the fact that most consumers believe we have federal laws in place governing how farm animals are treated, but outside of laws around transport and slaughter, federal regulations don't exist for farm animal welfare. And many shoppers take humane-sounding food labels like "free-range," "natural," "cage-free," and "antibiotic-free" at face value when they may be a far cry from reality.

And that's not just bad for the animals—inhumane farming practices affect our own health, too. These large facilities are major sources of pollution and food safety concerns. Plus, their reliance on antibiotics to keep animals alive and growing in stressful, unsanitary conditions ends up weakening the effectiveness of these drugs in treating infections in humans. "Over 70 percent of medically important antibiotics in the U.S. are actually sold for use on food animals, not people," says Lena Brook, director of food and agriculture at the NRDC. "Each year more than 2 million Americans suffer infections from bacteria that cannot be treated by one or more antibiotics—and at least 23,000 die."

The ASPCA will provide those who sign up with label guides, lists of welfare-certified and plant-based brands, and exclusive recipes from top chefs like Carla Hall and Mark Bittman to help them complete the detox (start with three of our favorites below!)—and help the planet and improve the lives of animals as a result.

Unfortunately, the laws around food labeling allow for half-truths and misleading claims, says Freund. For instance, there's no clear definition for "free-range," so the type and amount of outdoor access farms offer animals varies wildly and sometimes doesn't amount to much at all. "Cage-free" on chicken meat doesn't mean the bird was raised humanely—only chickens who lay eggs are raised in cages. Hormones are prohibited for use on chickens, turkeys, and pigs, so a "hormone-free" label doesn't mean much for these products. And anything labeled "natural" as defined by the USDA refers only to how meat is processed after slaughter and has nothing to do with how an animal was raised.

Buy local, in-season food when you can, and talk to farmers directly at the farmers market about their practices. If you're an omnivore, try adding more plant-based alternatives to your diet. Eating more plant-based foods helps reduce the number of animals in factory farms and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

"Livestock production causes as much climate pollution as all the tailpipe emissions from the world's vehicles combined," says Brook, "so even small reductions in red meat consumption—even picking a meal or day that you eat only plant-based foods—can make a big impact on GHG emissions."

When it comes down to it, 25 animals are raised each year per capita, says Freund. So at the very least, each of us has the power to affect about 25 animals every year through our purchases (if we eat meat, eggs, and dairy). "Our daily choices about what we buy may seem inconsequential, but they mean a lot to the many animals who lead much better lives as a result."

From The Cutting Veg | Serves 2

From Kale & Caramel | Serves 8

Ingredients

From Finding Fullness