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Organic Meat
ShareOver recent decades, you may have seen a shift in the way animals that are produced for meat are farmed. Those dreamlike storybook farms have been replaced with battery hens, feed lot cattle, tiny concrete pig pens, to mention a few. Many of these husbandry practices have bought about profound concern in consumers who care about the welfare of our animals.
Organic Standards and Animal Welfare
Being certified organic can ensure that the welfare of the animals that are produced for meat consumption have been handled under more humane conditions than conventionally raised animals.As well as addressing the issues of sustainability, environment protection, food safety, you as a consumer can feel more at ease knowing that if you are going to eat meat, the welfare of the animal has been addressed.
Certified animal farming means:
- No factory farming
- Free range which addresses outdoor space and fresh air for the animal
- Strong encouragement of normal behaviour
- Unless absolutely necessary, there is no routine use of drugs or antibiotics;
- No GM feed;
- No growth hormones;
- Minimised stress in transport and slaughter.
How Organic Livestock are Grown
- Organic livestock are grown in farming systems that use natural and sustainable agricultural resources in order to develop fertile and structured soils in which micro-organisms can flourish. This will therefore enable a wide variety of healthy plants to grow. This will in therefore provide the livestock the natural minerals and vitamins they need for healthy growth;
- Synthetic herbicides and pesticides are prohibited
- No genetically modified organisms, reproductive or growth hormones are permitted;
- The soil must be kept fertile by means of rotational grazing and composed animal manures amongst other means
- A feedlot is prohibited
- Animal husbandry must incorporate the behavioural needs and the ethical treatment of the livestock.
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