I was just reading the Vancouver Humane Society newsletter
which announced its Raising the Barn awareness program (www.raisingthebarn.ca) aimed in part at
getting consumers to stop or at least reduce meat consumption.
The campaign focuses on pretty well every type of meat
production — beef, chicken, pigs — and is pushing for five freedoms in
livestock production.
Animals should have:
Freedom from hunger and thirst
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Freedom from discomfort
Freedom from pain, injury or disease
Freedom to express normal behavior
Freedom from fear and distress.
The campaign has heading that says” Cattle are crammed into
feed lots where they are fattened on food that makes them sick.”
The campaign also urges consumers to buy organic meat,
poultry and eggs as a better alternative as organic producers are viewed as
using more humane production practices.
Along with animal welfare issues, the VHS website also plays
heavily on the environmental impact of agriculture, which may catch the
attention of consumers who still like to eat meat.
One message on the website says:
“Livestock
are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious
environmental problems. Urgent action is required to remedy the situation.
“When emissions from land use and land use
change are included, the livestock sector accounts for nine percent of CO2
deriving from human-related activities, but produces a much larger share of
even more harmful greenhouse gases. It generates 65 per cent of human-related
nitrous oxide, which has 296 times the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of CO2.
Most of this comes from manure.
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