Maybe it's the summer heat and the electricity blackout, but the number of U.S. food-chain executives taking leave of their senses continues to grow.
I'm referring to the foolish announcements that companies will insist that the pork they market comes from farms that don't confine sows during gestation in crates or stalls.
This is really dumb since the crates end bullying and ensure that every sow gets enough to eat and drink every day. They also aren't snooting around in their shit.
Blame the Humane Society of the United States. It's very name raises questions of legitimacy since it has nothing to do with Humane Societies as most North Americans think of them, but it a purely political organization that makes its money and reputation from lobbying.
Fresh Enterprises, LLC, owner of the Baja Fresh, La Salsa Mexican Grill
and Canyon’s Burger restaurants, is the latest to announce that it is committed to purchasing
pork only from suppliers with documented plans to end their use of gestation
stalls.
The three restaurant chains combined have 279 locations worldwide.
“We believe moving to group housing systems for sows is more humane and
sustainable than crate confinement,” said Chuck Rink, Fresh Enterprises’
president and CEO. “Shifting away from gestation crate pork is in line
with the commitment of Baja Fresh, La Salsa Mexican Grill and Canyon’s Burgers
to provide the highest quality, freshest food.”
Rink doesn't cite any peer-reviewed science to support his claim that it's more humane and sustainable to move sows out of gestation stalls. And I'll bet he's never scratched a single sow behind the ears.
The company has not said when it will shift to stall-free pork.
It was the Humane Society of the United States that put out the news release about Fresh Enterprises. Makes you wonder why the company farms out its public relations, eh?
The Fresh Enterprise announcement followed two others - CKE Restaurants and Oscar Mayer – who announced their
bans Friday. How Oscar Mayer thinks it can police that policy I'd like to know.
Since February, McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Denny’s, Cracker
Barrel, Sonic, Kroger and Safeway, have all announced various moves toward
sourcing pork from suppliers that do not use gestation stalls.
I'm holding my breath, waiting for somebody to post a video on You Tube of a bunch of sows slashing into each other, biting and shoving and bullying like crazy. Unlike the food-chain executives, I grew up on a hog farm and saw far too many fighting sows. I used to have to try separating them to restore peace.
