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Subscribe to RSSMcDonald’s says it will require its U.S. pork suppliers to detail their plans to phase out using sow gestation stalls -– in which pigs cannot turn around -- following similar moves by a number of countries, states and other companies to end a practice that activists say is inhumane and can lead to health problems in the animals.
More than 5.8 million pigs are used for breeding in the U.S. pork industry, with an estimated 60 to 70 percent confined to gestation crates, or sow stalls, during their 112- to 115-day pregnancies. The metal crates are only a little bigger than the sow and are typically placed side-by-side in rows -- often with more than 20 sows to a row, according to a 2011 report by The Humane Society of the United States.
“McDonald’s believes gestation stalls are not a sustainable production system for the future. There are alternatives that we think are better for the welfare of sows,” Dan Gorsky, senior vice president of McDonald’s North America Supply Chain Management, said in a statement dated Friday. “McDonald’s wants to see the end of sow confinement in gestation stalls in our supply chain. We are beginning an assessment with our U.S. suppliers to determine how to build on the work already under way to reach that goal."
The crated animals can “suffer a number of significant welfare problems,” such as an elevated risk of urinary tract infections, weakened bones, overgrown hooves, lameness and behavioral restrictions, said the Humane Society report. Being confined prevents the sows from filling basic psychological needs and engaging in their natural behavior, such as rooting, grazing, wallowing and nest-building.
McDonald's announcement "came after years of dialogue" between the Humane Society and McDonald’s Corp., Wayne Pacelle, the nonprofit’s president and CEO, wrote on his blog.
"This is a bit of an earthquake in the world of the pork industry, with aftershocks that will be felt throughout the entire food retail sector. McDonald’s movement away from gestation crates is the latest acknowledgement from food sellers that extreme confinement practices have to go," he said.
The Humane Society said it has worked to pass laws to ban gestation crates in eight states: Florida, Ohio, Arizona, California, Colorado, Maine, Michigan and Oregon. A number of retailers have taken measures to shift from producers that still use the crates.
Sweden and the United Kingdom ban use of the crates, which are also being phased out in the European Union, New Zealand and Tasmania, according to the Humane Society.
Alternatives to the crates include free-range and pasture-based systems, indoor group housing and “turn-around” stalls, the Humane Society said in its report.
Some animals rights groups were advising a wait-and-see approach to McDonald's plan.
"We think that the company still has a long way to go to stop the suffering of pigs and also chickens, but we’re very encouraged that it’s now at least agreed to look at abandoning the 'iron maidens,’” Lindsay Rajt, a spokeswoman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, told msnbc.com. "We’re just cautioning consumers to ... watch and wait."
Nathan Runkle, the executive director for Mercy for Animals, welcomed the fast-food chain's actions, saying it was a "step in the right direction" that he hoped others would follow, and he also urged the company to make "similar commitments to improve the welfare of other animals raised and killed for its restaurants."
McDonald's will share the results from its assessment with producers and outline its next steps in May, Gorsky said. The company purchases 1 percent of the total pork production in the United States every year.
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I have no problem with the consumption of meat. I do have a problem with inhumane breeding, raising and processing. To be otherwise is a grotesque mockery of what humans are supposed to be and stand for. It costs little to belay the suffering of any creature but it costs us dearly emotionally and socially to cause/ignore it.
I agree wholeheartedly with Fabio. I am a meatatarian and eat meat probably five days out of seven, but we can and should do better for the live animals that are in our care, and that includes final processsing at kill plants.
I like meat but will not buy it . The only way I ever could see to fight the inhumane practices was to not vote with my market dollars. That's the only language business understands. Every dollar is a vote.
These crates were set this way so the baby pigs don't get crushed when the mother (sow) lays down. When I first saw these crates 35 years ago on a friends farm I said that is cruel. What is more cruel is that another friend by mistake left the sow in with the piglets when they were born. In one days time all the newborns were dead from being crushed except one. I know people looking in have different ideas but there not one. The sows on these farms are in there for a short time and then the piglets are taken away. What people should do is take a tour of these farms and ask questions with an open mind.
It matters not, it is still wrong. They are not meant to be stuck in cages 24/7 period. If they were free they stand a better chance of not stepping on each other. I do not eat pork at all because of this pratice it is cruel, cruel, cruel, like many dog breeding farms are. We could all use a little less meat in our diet, look at how fat people are now, even children it is ridiculous. Bill Clinton dropped a lot of weight when he stopped eating meat. What we sow we reap and that is not a pun. People need to pay attention. What you eat you are. It is sad they way we treat animals on this planet. All over the world in all different situations. If we do not stand up for our planet than it will not be here very much longer.
@zeus--that is incorrect. You are referring to farrowing crates; they are not (and will never) be banned from use because they are so effective at reducing piglet mortality. Gestation crates are traditionally used for cows during gestation (pregnancy) to allow them easy access to food and help them gain weight. As group housing has recently been expanded in some operations and more studies performed, producers are finding efficient ways to deal with the aggression among the sows that originally drove them to using gestation crates (the dominant sows would attack the weaker ones and control the food supply, thus leaving the weaker ones to be less healthy and possibly in poorer condition for birthing healthy piglets). In many states (such as Ohio), this is a moot point: we have begun phase-outs of gestation crates over the next 5-10 years depending on certain states. McDonald's simply recognized the trend and is using it as a positive PR spin to make it seem like they actually care about the welfare of the pigs. (I doubt they care, in all reality).
Ariole: You are thinking on emotion not with brains. As i explained the sows are in these cages at these places that I've been to ,for a short time to feed the piglets. It is not 120 days. Sows are not as gentle with there offspring as dogs. As I explained to all ,open area for big sows will kill piglets and average 1/4 as many survive. You said open rage them , sure the coyotes need lunch too. Standing up for this planet has nothing to do with this.
I agree with zeus' last comment (because he is correct). Keeping piglets in free range would cause higher mortality. Sows can weigh in excess of 600 lbs., and they have no idea if one of their 12+ piglets is underneath them when they lay down. Again, though, a distinction must be made between farrowing crates and gestation crates. This is a common mix-up outside of the industry, so if you Google the terms you can find examples of both. Advice: don't use videos supplied by H$U$, PETA, Mercy for Animals, or other animal rights activist organizations (They only post the extremes of horrible conditions, and while it important to punish those operations, they typically do not represent the industry and its accepted practices). Find video supplied by farmers on the different methods of hog farming, and use sources like Journal of the American Veterinary Association, or state Vet Med Associations (California, Ohio, North Carolina, etc.) to see what the current research and policy is on hog farming.
I agree with zeus' last comment (because he is correct). Keeping piglets in free range would cause higher mortality. Sows can weigh in excess of 600 lbs., and they have no idea if one of their 12+ piglets is underneath them when they lay down. Again, though, a distinction must be made between farrowing crates and gestation crates. This is a common mix-up outside of the industry, so if you Google the terms you can find examples of both. Advice: don't use videos supplied by H$U$, PETA, Mercy for Animals, or other animal rights activist organizations (They only post the extremes of horrible conditions, and while it important to punish those operations, they typically do not represent the industry and its accepted practices). Find video supplied by farmers on the different methods of hog farming, and use sources like Journal of the American Veterinary Association, or state Vet Med Associations (California, Ohio, North Carolina, etc.) to see what the current research and policy is on hog farming.
Osuguy. Thanks for setting me strait on different crates. I never seen people keep pigs in gestation crates unless the vet was coming.
Waitaminute..... McDonalds actually use real meats?!?
There are many scientific studies available that show no difference in piglet mortality rates between pigs kept in farrowing crates and those left free range, so please, OSUGUY and ZEUS, don't tell others that they are wrong without research. Check out Weber and Keil's works for more information. Just because we are at the top of the food chain doesn't mean we need to be cruel.
This is simply McD's doing what is politically correct.....
I simply don't eat meat that comes from other mammals. I used to, but I put my foot down on the issue. This is one of those reasons. Red meat comes from animals that are either too cute or too abused to be eaten.
Elpea: Yes there is scientific study on this. UW Madison has done many of these studies and the same conclusion is what I said. The reason I know this is that my Aunt has a degree in pigs, what the proper name for her degree is but she has one.
I LOVE bacon, pork chops, tenderloins, sausage, hamhocks, chitlins, and smoked boston butts!
Thank you, McDonalds. This is maybe a first step in decreasing inhumanity in areas of animal breeding and livestock raising. I believe that someday we will or should pay for our cruelty and indifference- should it be toward animals or humans.
I'm going to put you in a crate for 115 days and then see how you like it--sadistic sickos!
I'm glad you have begun to mentally come out of the dungeon.
Until I saw the word pork in the story. I just saw the headlines McDonald's to quit using restraining crates. I was worried they were using them for their employees ! Ghost of Ray Croc let your McPeople go.
This is a positive step. if we could just get out of the production line mentality, and actually farm the animals as they are meant to be, our food supply would be of much higher quality. Factory farming is efficient, but all those chemicals and hormones are gonna play hell on us in the future. Support sustainable agriculture!
"The crated animals can “suffer a number of significant welfare problems,” such as an elevated risk of urinary tract infections, weakened bones, overgrown hooves, lameness and behavioral restrictions, said the Humane Society report. Being confined prevents the sows from filling basic psychological needs and engaging in their natural behavior, such as rooting, grazing, wallowing and nest-building."
When I read this article, suddenly I wasn't thinking of pigs, but of the poor sheeple in cubicles. If we don't let businesses treat animals inhumanely, why do we let them do it too people?
Definitely a positive step - just a shame that it took so long. Still, better late than never.
I have nothing wrong with consuming animals. But I do think we should treat them with respect. They are giving their lives for us, and we are not giving them a choice in the matter. The least we can do in return for benefiting from their death is treat them humanely during their life.
I have backyard chickens. I love seeing them happily scratching at the dirt, running around clucking. It's good to see animals leading a good life. Thinking of getting goats next. :)
Mmmmm... mcgoat.
Because Mr trust,,, McDonalds has clout. The can dictate to the conditions of the animals. You cannot. You have no clout,
How many pork products does McDonalds even have? Last time I went there the menu was beef and chicken.
They have biscuits and [pork] sausage, biscuits and bacon, pancakes and sausage, McGriddles (with sausage), biscuits with sausage gravy and the famous McRib barbecue sandwich. Lots of pork there.
I was thinking the same thing at first, but there's the bacon in their burgers, the McRib and presumably the sausage in their breakfast items.
God knows what's in the mcrib. Could be pig...could be pressed sawdust. It has no taste. All I could taste was the sauce. Mmmmmm mcsauce.
You can look up what's in the McRib. It's basically things like hearts and other random internal organs that would otherwise be discarded because no one would eat them. Grind them up, press them into a rib-like shape and there you go.
McRib is the scrapple of the fast food world. Don't know what scrapple is? Look it up, just not while you're eating.
About time!! I never eat there, but the most likely outcome will be the increase in prices...labeled as "inflation". Inflation is the price those that eat there are going to pay. It's plain economics. I have no problem with that, but please....no whining when it happens!!!
I'm unclear on the motive here. Is this going to make bacon taste better? Cheaper?
So out of all these comments that states it inhumane how many people have actually been on a farm? How many have physically seen this??? Hmm...probably nobody here...amazes me what people say and just jump on the bandwagon. I can tell you from personal experience is my dad was (until he retired) a farmer who raised a large sum of pigs every year. We used these crates...let me tell you what these animals live and eat like they are queens. The are in extremely sanitary conditions...extremely well taken care of medically and are off more than a lot of children that I have seen that are in poverty. On my family's farm we used 0 steriods, and mistreatment was not tolerated. If we had a had so much try and hit an animal they were fired immediately. So to simply come out and state this with very little facts is crap. Of course their will be stories out there where people have mistreated animals. Those are the bad apples and those people should and farms should be fined just like other business who don't follow rules.
On a side note that nobody has stated here...My guess is a lot of people won't be eating pork anymore if they are raised "Free range". It completely changes the taste of the meat. So good luck if you like your current ham.
Also if the prices do increase...don't blame the farmer...blame the packer. Farmers are being stuck with one of the largest monopolies that exists but nobody cares about.
So everyone...good luck in being meat eaters.
Sleepless... Is English your first language? It is hard to tell what you are trying to say. Did you read about the negative effects of the crates? We don't blame your dad but this is a different era and quality is not going to be diminished by more humane methods being used.
I can certainly see the point of not causing undue cruelty to animals,and dont get me wrong,I love meat,its tastes great and I eat far more of it than I probably should,but that being said,most animals are much better off when they are NOT being killed and eaten. Just sayin is all...
I think most creatures would prefer life to death. Got to have bacon though...
Maybe this will make that McRib taste a whole lot better.
I finally had one. It tasted like a sauce sandwich with a piece of pressed something inserted. It could have been cardboard for all I know, considering it had no taste. I must be missing something...
That's the kind of rare good news coming from a big corporation that I'd like to hear more.
As many have said, I have no problems with those that eat meat, as well as those that don't. Every body is different. You should go with whatever eating lifestyle that makes your own body healthy and leaves you with energy and feeling satisfied.
With that said, treating animals inhumanely should never occur, EVER. They feel pain when they die, many have emotions just as humans do, and most of all, and providing us their own flesh to eat after we slaughter them so why are we allowing them to live in such inexcusably poor conditions? Many are caged up day and night without ever stepping foot outside in open pastures in all its life, crammed together to fit as many as possible without ability to turn, move or sit and stand freely, given loads of hormones and antibiotics because of it, etc. Chickens are debeaked from early on and then crammed into rows and stacks of battery cages in the dark or indoors in filthy environment, many looking gaunt and with some living, some dead.
It is so sad that farms aren't looking out for the best of consumers nor the animals, but themselves for the money profit. It's all about raising animals from birth until slaughter as quick as possible and making their hormone and antibiotic laden meat as cheap as possible. I'm not talking about the independent farm owned by your local farmer that has extensive knowledge about animals and treat them with respect, I'm talking about the huge corporate meat processing plants with CEOs and such that hire incompetent workers (which make up for some, but not all of the workforce, I know) that couldn't care less about animal life and wellbeing. Organic, free-range labels are misleading because there is no real legal standards set up by the USDA, and for some companies, is a marketing scheme and an opportunity into tricking people that they are as ethical as they make it out to be.
Nonetheless, this is a good start, as I'm sure many other fast food and other restaurant establishments will follow suit. The meat packing and farming industries are slowly changing for the better. The USDA and FDA just need to stand their ground and set standards as they should be instead of being weak by receiving funds and being influenced from lobbyists.
Thank you Mr Pig for bringing me bacon...nature's perfect food.
zeus316. having lived on a farm for 20 years I know damn well that pigs can and do give healthy birth to piglets without being abusively confined to a crate. they are not confined to save the sow or piglet sorrow, but to create efficiency and mass production of life for slaughter. i have family who mass produce turkeys in indoor mass confinement which is about as depraved as crates. peek into a turkey barn and see all the birds standing half feathered, with full attention to you and, if you have a connection to the feeling that arises, you should recognize it as terror. the little birds are born and die in terror and that is no drama; we can do better to ourselves than this.
oh McDonalds like most big corporations you are full of @!$%#. This is more a quick lets fix our image reputation as a result of all the reporting regarding the sources of their meat products.
http://www.mcdonaldscruelty.com/
If everyone told McDonald's that they would quit patronizing their fast food unless they practice humane treatment of animals, they wouldn't spend "years of dialogue" with the Humane society and then, conclude that they will encourage their suppliers to get rid of these crates. If you could get all of the U.S. to boycott them for one day, I would think that would prod them to move quicker.
Why all this misguided outrage about living conditions for these animals, when the end case scenario is death to the animal.
What it sounds like people are saying is "Be nice to the animal before you hit it in the head with a rock or stick and put it on the table".
Somehow, the outrage seems entirely hypocritical.
If all the food animals are put into comfortable living conditions and treated like pets, will the consumer of the meat be willing to pay the astronomical cost difference at the market? Easy living even for animals is not cheap.
Are you kidding me? I mean we are talking HSUS and PETA here.You know RADICAL animal rights wackjobs.Anyone who believes in this extremist agenda needs their head examined.
I'd be more worried about how they treat the pink slime they slather onto their burgers. Do they use a huge vat? Or is the pink slime free-range, allowed to ooze at will, tendrils of the stuff creating yet more pink slimettes for the greater good of the McDonalds Corporation?
Why does NBC always have to cater to this radical animal rights stupidity? I mean we are talking HSUS and PETA here.You know tree hugging nutjobs.Why doesn't somebody ask these urban nutjobs how they feel about hunting.Human filth pure and simple.
Wow, you are really showing how unevolved you are. It's people like you who have caused this mess with Mother Nature, thinking you're so much better on the food chain. Puleeze! These animals suffer, period. Just because you eat meat, doesn't mean the animal has to suffer before it hits your plate, ignoramus.
Kudos to McDonald's for their decision. They have a long way to go before I will ever set foot in there however.