Cargill to phase out gestation grates; pork producers balk
June 09, 2014 | 06:37 PM
Cargill, the agribusiness giant, will phase out pig gestation crates on its company-owned pig facilities by 2015 and its contractors’ facilities by 2017, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported over the weekend and Supermarket News reported today.
The Humane Society of the United States said Cargill’s decision is a victory for animal welfare.
“Cargill’s decision brings us closer to the day when gestation crates will be relics of the past in the pork industry. Americans simply don’t support locking animals in cages barely larger than their bodies, and Cargill is right to be leading its industry away from the practice,” HSUS Vice President of Farm Animal Protection Paul Shapiro said in a statement.
“Over the past two years, many of our retail, foodservice and food processing customers have made decisions about future sourcing of pork products from suppliers that use group housing for gestating sows,” Mike Luker, president of Cargill Pork, said in a statement, according to Supermarket News.
“While Cargill was a pioneer in the use of group housing for gestating sows dating back more than a decade, in the past few years growing public interest in the welfare related to animals raised for food has been expressed to our customers and the pork industry.”
But Dallas Hockman, industry relations vice president at the National Pork Producers Council, said the Humane Society and other animal rights groups have made gestation crates into a “black-and-white” issue, the Star Tribune reported.
▪ Supermarket News — Cargill agrees to phase out gestation crates
▪ Star Tribune — Consumer pressure leads Cargill to give pigs more room
▪ Food Marketing Institute — Corporate Policies to Eliminate Gestation Crates from Pork Supply Chains
The Humane Society of the United States said Cargill’s decision is a victory for animal welfare.
“Cargill’s decision brings us closer to the day when gestation crates will be relics of the past in the pork industry. Americans simply don’t support locking animals in cages barely larger than their bodies, and Cargill is right to be leading its industry away from the practice,” HSUS Vice President of Farm Animal Protection Paul Shapiro said in a statement.
“Over the past two years, many of our retail, foodservice and food processing customers have made decisions about future sourcing of pork products from suppliers that use group housing for gestating sows,” Mike Luker, president of Cargill Pork, said in a statement, according to Supermarket News.
“While Cargill was a pioneer in the use of group housing for gestating sows dating back more than a decade, in the past few years growing public interest in the welfare related to animals raised for food has been expressed to our customers and the pork industry.”
But Dallas Hockman, industry relations vice president at the National Pork Producers Council, said the Humane Society and other animal rights groups have made gestation crates into a “black-and-white” issue, the Star Tribune reported.
▪ Supermarket News — Cargill agrees to phase out gestation crates
▪ Star Tribune — Consumer pressure leads Cargill to give pigs more room
▪ Food Marketing Institute — Corporate Policies to Eliminate Gestation Crates from Pork Supply Chains
