Two giants in the United States foodservice industry have
announced they will be requiring their chicken to be strains that are slower
growing.
Compass Group and Global Animal Partnership (GAP), an animal
welfare organization based at Austin, Texas, jointly announced the standards
will come into force by 2024 as part of GAP's 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating
program.
Compass sources about 60 million broiler chickens per year,
has 270,000 employees and annual sales of $14 billion.
Key areas of the standard will include:
using approved genetic strains and meeting criteria for any new
strains, to be assessed
enrichments including hay bales, perches, and natural light,
and minimum space requirements (six pounds per square foot).
Compass has also agreed to require, by 2024, that all
broilers in its supply chain be rendered unconscious prior to shackling using a
method of Controlled Atmosphere Killing. Compass will also annually benchmark
its progress, and publicly report performance.
Aramark announcement similar GAP standards and deadlines,
but its joint news release was with the Humane Society of the United States and
Compassion in World Farming.
Aramark
has 270,000 employees and $14 billion in annual revenues.
Oh, my, but where will all this political correctness take us?
