[ViewPoint] A View on Animal Welfare

The question of animal welfare is one that is ever in the background of the meat industry and often brought to the forefront through incidents and media focus.

In November alone, FDA warning letters to two Minnesota farms for drug residue in cattle made national headlines. The release of Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer brought renewed attention to "factory farming." And McDonald’s study refuting PETA’s attack on its "inhumane" chicken slaughter continued to rouse controversy.

What tends to get less prominent coverage is the other side of the story: the fact that less than one eighth of one percent of USDA sampling reveals any excess chemical residue; the industry’s voluntary enforcement of guidelines beyond those which are regulated; and the industry leaders, workers, auditors and advocates whose focus on humane treatment has vastly improved animal welfare since the 1980s.

This issue’s cover feature focuses on that side of the story and the woman who is the driving force behind much of the improvement.

In November, I spent two days with animal welfare guru Temple Grandin in an auditor training course in what I would define as the most eye-opening experience of my years with the industry. In addition to the classroom work, I, with 21 trainees, took part in hands-on auditing of the pre-slaughter and slaughter areas of Hormel and Cargill plants.

Prior to leaving for the Nebraska training, I told my vegetarian son that if I were ever to swear off meat myself, this trip would be the cause. Indeed, watching live cattle and pigs walk peacefully off the truck toward slaughter unequivocally dispels any self-pretense of the live-animal root of pork, bacon and beef.

There is, undoubtedly, progress yet to be made in animal welfare, as Grandin will be the first to acknowledge. And there are certainly plants and managers who see the animals as simply commodities, and will do the bare minimum to stay on the right side of the law—or not.

Yet, just as Grandin herself can be seen both stroking a cow’s ear and dining on a good piece of beef, I was not deterred from what I see as human’s natural carnivorous consumption. Rather, I was impressed with the humanity by which the animals are treated and the systems in place to assure it. Thus, I will continue to enjoy traditional holiday feasts of turkey, ham and pork. With a clear conscience.

The author is Managing Editor of QA magazine.