April, 30 2009, 03:09pm EDT
Farm Sanctuary Releases Report on "Humane" Meat Labels
Organization launches “Truth Behind Labels” campaign to advocate for transparency in animal welfare standards
WATKINS GLEN, NY
Farm Sanctuary, the nation's leading farm animal protection
organization, today released a new report that thoroughly evaluates the
animal welfare claims made by agribusiness industry groups, food
retailers and third-party certification organizations. As the most
comprehensive report of its kind, "The Truth Behind the Labels: Farm
Animal Welfare Standards and Labeling Practices" analyzes the criteria
used to define such commonly-used marketing phrases as "humane," "free
range" and "naturally raised."
As more consumers have
learned about the animal welfare concerns related to factory farms,
they have increasingly demanded that farm animals receive better
treatment. They have also shown that they are willing to pay a premium
for meat, milk and eggs from so-called "humane" farms. This growing
demand has led to the creation of more than a dozen animal welfare
assurance schemes sponsored by industry groups, food retailers and
third-party organic and humane certification organizations.
Government-regulated animal welfare labels and marketing claims have
also emerged and expanded.
According to Farm Sanctuary
Co-founder and President Gene Baur, "Most people will be surprised to
learn that even the most stringent standards often fail to meet their
expectations about how animals should be treated. For example, in many
of these labeling schemes, 'free range' birds still spend their entire
lives tightly packed together in sheds, physical mutilations like
debeaking and tail docking are still allowed, and there are no
requirements for outdoor access for some species. We developed this
report to provide the facts and increase the transparency of the
labeling process so the public knows what they are purchasing."
"The
Truth Behind the Labels" is an updated and expanded version of a 2005
Farm Sanctuary report entitled "Farm Animal Welfare: An Assessment of
Product Labeling Claims, Industry Quality Assurance Guidelines and
Third-Party Certification Programs." Farm Sanctuary's labeling reports
remain the only comprehensive analyses of animal product
labeling schemes ever published to help today's consumers understand
the process. The creation of this report has led to the launch of Farm
Sanctuary's Truth Behind Labels campaign which serves to
educate consumers about the reality of these labeling schemes and to
advocate for transparency in animal welfare standards.
Farm
Sanctuary has produced two versions of "The Truth Behind the Labels" to
meet the needs of different audiences. One is a 16-page summary booklet
designed for consumers, and the other is a 68-page report for academics
in university agriculture departments and other specialists (such as
government officials working for the USDA and the Food and Drug
Administration) who are studying these issues for the purpose of policy
formation.
Farm Sanctuary's summary booklet and report
entitled "The Truth Behind the Labels: Farm Animal Welfare Standards
and Labeling Practices," is available at www.farmsanctuary.org/issues/campaigns/truth_behind_labeling.html.
Farm Sanctuary fights the disastrous effects of animal agriculture on animals, the environment, social justice, and public health through rescue, education, and advocacy.
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US Voter Registrations Surge as Republicans Try to Limit Ballot Access
One group said it has registered over 100,000 new voters since U.S. President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race.
Jul 26, 2024
The group behind a popular get-out-the-vote technology platform said Friday that it's registered more than 100,000 new U.S. voters since President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential race, a surge that came amid mounting Republican efforts to make it harder to register and vote.
Vote.org said that 84% of voters registered in the new wave are under age 35. Nearly 1 in 5 new registrees is 18 years old. Andrea Hailey, the group's CEO, said that "since 2020, we have led the largest voter registration drive in U.S. history," with more than 7.8 million people registered.
After dropping out, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to face former Republican President Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) in the November election. The new presumptive Democratic candidate has already earned endorsements from many Democrats in Congress and groups advocating on issues including climate, labor, and reproductive rights.
Vote.org's success comes as Republicans at the federal level are proposing and passing legislation creating obstacles to the ballot box.
Earlier this month, U.S. House Republicans passed Rep. Chip Roy's (R-Texas)
Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require proof of American citizenship to vote in federal elections. Republicans claim the bill is meant to fix the virtually nonexistent "problem" of noncitizen voter fraud.
However, Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.)
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Lee said the SAVE Act underscores the need to pass her recently introduced Right to Vote Act, "which would establish the first-ever affirmative federal voting rights guarantee, ensuring every citizen may exercise their fundamental right to cast a ballot."
Earlier this year, U.S. Senate Democrats also reintroduced the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, legislation its sponsors say will "update and restore critical safeguards of the original Voting Rights Act."
Meanwhile, Republican-controlled state legislatures and red-state governors are enacting laws imposing tough restrictions on voter registration, with violations punishable by stiff fines that critics say are meant to dissuade people from registration drives and similar efforts.
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Climate and environmental defenders on this week implored U.S. senators to block a permitting reform bill introduced this week by Sens. Joe Manchin and John Barrasso that campaigners linked to Project 2025, a conservative coalition's agenda for a far-right overhaul of the federal government.
Common Dreamsreported Monday that Manchin (I-W.Va.) and Barrasso (R-Wyo.)—respectively the chair and ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee—introduced the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024.
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"This dangerous bill doesn't deserve a floor vote."
These are nearly identical policies to what's proposed in Project 2025's Mandate for Leadership. The plan, which was spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation, calls for "unleashing all of America's energy resources," including by ending federal restrictions on fossil fuel drilling on public lands; limiting investments in renewable energy; and rolling back environmental permitting restrictions for new oil, gas, and coal projects, including power plants.
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Hartl added that "to preserve a livable planet," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) "must squash this legislation now."
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The border city of Adré in eastern Chad is the main international crossing into the Darfur region of Sudan, but the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the state's official military, which is engaged in a civil war with a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has refused to issue permits for U.N. trucks to enter there, as it's an RSF-controlled area.
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Last week, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the United States ambassador to the U.N., said that the SAF's obstruction of the border was "completely unacceptable."
Both warring parties in Sudan continue to perpetrate brazen atrocities, including starvation of civilians as a method of warfare. This piece focuses on the SAF's ongoing obstruction of essential aid. The situation is catastrophic. The policy is criminal. https://t.co/FKhqQh3EI9.
— Tom Dannenbaum (@tomdannenbaum) July 26, 2024
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