{"id":928,"date":"2022-10-07T01:46:15","date_gmt":"2022-10-07T01:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/farmforward1.wpengine.com\/?page_id=928"},"modified":"2022-11-21T21:40:01","modified_gmt":"2022-11-21T21:40:01","slug":"what-is-humanewashing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/issues\/animal-product-labeling\/what-is-humanewashing\/","title":{"rendered":"What is humanewashing?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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Simply finding a \u201chumane\u201d label on a product doesn\u2019t make it so<\/h2>\n

Instead, these labels are often industry-driven humanewashing tools: efforts to market animal products to conscientious consumers through deceptive packaging and labeling, promoting the illusion of animal well-being while concealing the extent of animals’ illness and suffering.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\t

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Factory Farm (credit: We Animals Media)<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Organic\/Free Range (credit: Animal Outlook)<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\t

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While the most basic of these tactics take the form of “all-natural” or “free range” labels, even independent welfare certifications have become embroiled in the dirty business of humanewashing. In our report \u201cThe Dirt on Humanewashing\u201d<\/a>, published on the heels of us resigning in protest<\/a> from the board of the nation’s largest independent welfare certification, Global Animal Partnership (GAP), Farm Forward reveals that by putting their stamp of approval on factory-farmed products, certifications, too, are deceiving shoppers and betraying the animals whose welfare they are charged with overseeing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\t

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Common \u201chumane\u201d and \u201chealthy\u201d claims and what they mean for animals<\/h2>\n

With an ever-expanding array of product labels and marketing confronting shoppers, it’s hard to know who and what to trust\u2014but we know what we want the labels to mean: a 2021 Farm Forward survey<\/a> found that 45 percent of Americans believe that all high welfare certifications need to ensure that animals are raised continuously on pasture, and more than half felt that the \u201ccage-free\u201d label should mean that chickens live on pasture. In reality, though, the smiling cows and hens on grocery store shelves belie the harsh reality for 99 percent of farmed animals: factory farming.1<\/a> Here are what common “humane” and “healthy” claims mean for animals:<\/p>\n

Natural<\/h3>\n

Nothing. This term only refers to post-slaughter ingredients and additives.<\/p>\n

Humanely raised<\/h3>\n

An unregulated term that does not ensure higher welfare standards.<\/p>\n

Organic<\/h3>\n

The USDA’s National Organic Program does have specific standards that must be met for certification; however, the welfare components are weak. Animals should be given enough space to accommodate natural behaviors and provided outdoor access, but space requirements are not clearly spelled out, and animals generally have only slightly more room than on conventional farms. Animals cannot be given hormones or unnecessary antibiotics and must be fed an organic diet.<\/p>\n

Hormone-free<\/h3>\n

No hormones given to dairy cows, but no requirements for welfare. No meaning for chicken, eggs, or pork, as hormones are already prohibited in these industries.<\/p>\n

Cage-free<\/h3>\n

This term applies to virtually all chickens used for meat, who are raised indoors on factory farms, as cages are not used by the broiler industry. For egg-laying hens, cages are replaced with crowded indoor aviaries. No outdoor access is required.<\/p>\n

Free-range<\/h3>\n

Birds must be given access to the outdoors, but actual outside time varies widely. Many birds on crowded farms may never use the small outdoor opening provided. This claim gives consumers no assurance that animals actually go outside.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\t

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Who is behind animal welfare labels?<\/h2>\n

What should shoppers make of all those certification seals and check marks that are on products? Certifications fall into three categories:<\/p>\n

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  1. Schemes created by meat industry groups like the National Chicken Council that merely obfuscate standard factory farming practices behind an authoritative-looking seal.<\/li>\n
  2. Certifications run by organizations that appear to be watchdogs but are in fact deeply embedded with the meat industry: American Humane Certified (AHC), whose standards condone practices like crate confinement of mother pigs and dehorning of cows,2<\/a> and the new One Health Certified (OHC)<\/a> created by the nation’s sixth largest poultry producer, Mountaire Farms, which embodies greenwashing, healthwashing, and humanewashing, all rolled into one.<\/li>\n
  3. Independent certifications like Certified Humane and Global Animal Partnership (GAP). These labels can provide meaningful welfare improvements: both certifications, for instance, require environmental enrichments for chickens, prohibit debeaking birds and routinely tail docking pigs, and require cage-free housing for laying hens.3<\/a> 4<\/a> However, the vast majority of the products they certify still come from factory farms where animals are subjected to conditions like confinement and unhealthy genetics.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Some of the most basic and least-considered welfare provisions, like those listed in the chart below, are simply incompatible with factory farming and are often left unresolved by even the most stringent certifications.5<\/a> The reality is that the certified “better” meat dominating grocery shelves is still cruel and overwhelmingly derived from genetically modified, unhealthy animals.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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    American Certifications on Underconsidered Welfare Issues<\/p><\/div>\n

    “Antibiotic-free” and humanewashing<\/h2>\n

    Labels paint a rosy picture of our food system, obfuscating animal suffering as well as rampant drug use to keep animals alive in sickening conditions that would otherwise kill them. Farm Forward\u2019s consumer survey<\/a> revealed that 25 percent of Americans believe that an \u201cantibiotic-free\u201d label indicates that the animal was raised on pasture\u2060\u2014despite the claim having no bearing on welfare.<\/p>\n

    In 2022, rigorous testing by Farm Forward<\/a> found that \u201cantibiotic-free\u201d labels aren\u2019t even delivering on their explicit promise. A sample of GAP Animal Welfare Certified\u2122 and Organic Certified beef purchased at Whole Foods tested positive for monensin, an antibiotic used to promote growth that is banned by both programs. These results were corroborated by a peer-reviewed study in Science<\/a> that found that over a quarter of GAP-certified cattle in their sample came from feedlots that had residues of medically important antibiotics.<\/p>\n

    Whole Foods and GAP have done nothing to ensure that animals treated with antibiotics don’t end up on store shelves. And even if Whole Foods did test its products, that wouldn\u2019t eliminate the reason for widespread drug use in the first place: factory farming. If we can\u2019t trust a supposed leader like Whole Foods, who can we trust to protect animals and consumers? Whole Foods must take factory farming off its shelves<\/a> if it can\u2019t live up to its promises.<\/p>\n

    What can you do?<\/h2>\n

    Humanewashing fools us into paying higher prices for factory farmed products. So how can you shop according to your conscience? Our label guide<\/a> helps shoppers identify the rare products that meet a minimum standard most of us expect: animals free to roam on pasture. However, for many shoppers, choosing to center plants on their plates is easier than decoding the sea of deceptive labels at the grocery store to find the few products that align with their values.<\/p>\n

    You can also make a difference by holding supermarkets and meat companies accountable.<\/strong> Supermarkets stock what their customers demand, so your voice matters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\t

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    Stay up to date<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

    Join the movement for truth in labeling. Stay up to date on the latest humanewashing news.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t