Trump Administration Eliminates Animal Welfare Rules

[Swordsmyth]

The Trump administration officially withdrew an Obama-era rule that would set higher standards for the treatment of animals whose meat could be sold as organic.
The rule, created under the United States Department of Agriculture, would require poultry to be housed in spaces large enough to move freely and fully stretch their wings. Livestock would be required to have some access to outdoor space year round.
The USDA officially overturned the rule Monday, after delaying its implementation three times. It was first created in 2016 and built on seven years of deliberation.

More at: https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-administration-eliminates-animal-welfare-200022013.html

[Zippyjuan]

When people hear about organic cage free chickens, they probably picture something like this:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ApBQNrA5WKg/maxresdefault.jpg

But this is more likely. These are also cage free chickens.

http://survivalgardener.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/free-range-chickens.jpg

Free Range means they have at least a tiny door they CAN go outside through. Even if most are still indoors.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/87/f7/37/87f737fc4376dbb60ad715e4e99f199f.jpg


Cage Free Eggs

The certification is meaningless. Do you think it matters whether or not thousands of hens packed into a warehouse are in cages? In “cage free” facilities, each hen only gets around 1 square foot of space per bird. For sanitation reasons and overall flock health, keeping hens in cages may actually be better for flock health. Watch the video below to see what “cage free” actually means. It’s straight from United Egg Producers.

Also, let’s be clear, the term “cage free” is only relevant for the egg industry. Chickens and turkeys raised for meat in the U.S. are not, and never have been, raised in cages. All poultry raised for meat is cage free. The “cage free” label on poultry serves no other purpose than to capitalize and profit from consumers’ ignorance of industry rearing methods for meat birds. I posted more in detail on this a few months ago: How Labels on Chicken Meat are Intentionally Deceptive

Organic Eggs

In terms of poultry products, this is another certification that is essentially worthless now that it’s been bastardized by big business. Organic eggs come from hens fed a diet of corn and soy that was sprayed with organically certified pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and fertilizers instead of conventional synthetic products. Keep in mind, with the USDA Organic certification, the hens can still be packed into warehouses, live seemingly inhumane lives and follow the same ridiculous regulations that qualify for “Free-Range”.

Free Range Eggs

The lax definition means that producers can, and do, label their eggs as “free-range” even if all they do is leave a single doggy-door open in their huge chicken warehouses. They’re sold as “free range” regardless of whether the birds ever learn to go outside. There are no regulations on what the outside ‘free ranging’ area is. It may be a muddy yard without vegetation or cement platform. In addition, regulations on environmental quality, number of birds, square foot per bird, or de-beaking are not specified.