Alarm over cruelty behind the bacon on our breakfa

[sweet soul]

Alarm over cruelty behind the bacon on our breakfast plates.

MPs demand better labels for continental pork.

Two thirds of pork, bacon and ham imported into Britain are from pigs reared on the Continent in cruel farm conditions that are banned in the UK.

In a hard-hitting report published today, MPs say that British consumers will be shocked that almost 500,000 tonnes of pigmeat a year, some 66 per cent of total imports, would be illegal if produced on British farms.

<snip>

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article5505295.ece


Dont but Euro bacon! there animal welfare standards suck!

[modified to snip out the whole article. Please remember to copy just a sentence or two with the link. Copyright issues are complicated]

[radge]

Care about as much for pigs well being as i care about the Taliban.

[flatandy]

Bacon is lovely. Cruelty is talking about bacon when I had none for breakfast.

[flatandy]

Oh, and I'm all in favour of decent welfare standards for animals. The idea that somehow British farmers are better than all their continental counterparts, though, is dribbling nonsense.

[sweet soul]

they keep there pigs in a horrible lifestyle for months, we dont do the same here, dont but euro bacon

[flatandy]

We do exactly the same here. British bacon, except for free range stuff, is treated horribly.

[sweet soul]

it was on tv this morning, it showed you Euro pigs, its was horrid!! BUY BRITISH

[puffin]

With the labelling rules being as they are you can't always know where your bacon is grown. A British label doesn't necessarily mean the pigs were raised in Britain.
If the carcasses are shipped over and then processed in Britain they can label the produce as British bacon.
When you go to the supermarlet to pick up your bacon you can have no idea how the pigs were raised unless you get certified free range, or buy from the farm.
Saying buy British isn't the answer. Raising the standards abroad, and our importers checking that good standards are met before they buy, is the only way you will be sure that any none free range pig produce is cruelty free.
Consumers ask for low prices. Animal welfare doesn't come cheap.

[Victor Meldrew]

Well, at least, I suppose, this is something the Jews can't get the blame for. Even from certain people on this board.

[Libby]

Just checked, the bacon in my fridge is marked as British. So how can we be sure that our bacon is from pigs that've been treated well?! Probably impossible i would think!

[kog]

You will find most people don't give a sh*t about animal welfare so long as they can shove food down their own gobs - its got something to do with the selfish gene.

Its unecessary barbarous cruelty, truely sickening

[VikingHumpingWitch]

I'd be prepared to lay good money and lots of it on the fact that nobody, least of all those screaming the loudest about this, can say they never eat meat that was reared in cruel conditions. Even if you religiously buy free range everything, you're bound to have eaten Cruel Meat in a restaurant or ready meal or something.

[radge]

I dont care about farm animal conditions no.They are made to feed us. Yes maybe they should have a nicer life while they have it, but then again, what they dont know cant hurt them.

[dwad]

I feel slightly bad about some farming conditions and tend to buy free range eggs and such but with 300 million actual kids in the world living under abuse and poverty and such I really struggle to get in much of a lather about chickens. And frankly while I could afford a more pampered roast on a Sunday there are probably those that can't and I'm not going to stand in the way of good protein in those urchins' bodies.

[kog]

The whole problem with western society is we have moved so far from nature we no longer have any respect for it. We polute the oceans, air and land, we spread disease and destroy most things we get our hands on, there is untold cruelty we inclick on other wildlife for no apparent reason.

We are a cancer on this earth and I dought we'll stop devouring it until, like all cancers, we have completely destroyed all life on earth, including ourselves.

But so long as there's bacon on the table, hey.

[puffin]

I go for fish or pasta dishes when I eat out.
I don't eat much meat and what I do I buy from the farmer next door.
It's a personal choice and, as with everything else, it's up to everyone to make their own choices.
It's a fact that animal welfare isn't always high on the list of priorities for most producers and consumers.
With most price is the main concern.

[flatandy]

Free range meat does actually taste a lot better, some times. There is a good reason to eat it.

And I repeat: the idea that pork raised in factory farms in Britain is somehow not badly treated is utterly, utterly insane.

[radge]

Kog chill out, we may destroy many animals, plants habitats and areas of the world, thus we will end up destroying ourselves. But i can promise you when we're all gone the world will continue and life will grow again. We couldnt destroy this planet if we tried, however we could destroy it so that we cant live on it effectively anymore. which i see as a bonus. I agree humans are like a cancer (did you watch the Matix last night by any chance?) but we will only kill ourselves, we wont kill the world.

[VikingHumpingWitch]

Can I just suggest that this is getting a bit dramatic. We're not going to destroy the planet by being mean to pigs.

[radge]

Oh i dont know about that VHW. This is a HUGE issue that affects everyone and everything...apart from the Jews of course