("Veal crate" for calves --
photo credit: Yes on Prop 2 website, Farm Sanctuary)

Imagine yourself in a cubicle at work.

Now imagine yourself in a very, very small cubicle at work. So small that you’re elbow-to-elbow with your co-workers on either side, in front, and behind you.

Cranky yet? Wanna take a break? Too bad. You’re stuck here all day – no coffee break, lunch break, no bathroom breaks, and yes, that last one means what you think it means.

Want the end of your workday to come? Sorry, no can do. You’re here 24/7. All day, every day.

If you’ve been able to imagine that scenario, you’ve just imagined a bit of what it’s like to be an animal on a factory farm: a calf being raised for veal, a breeding pig, or a chicken, turkey, duck, or other fowl being raised for egg production or meat. In the case of egg laying chickens, you can add the following to your scenario -- you're in the same cage with about five other birds, the lights are on all day and all night so your normal daily and seasonal rest cycles are shut down and your egg laying continues, AND your beak has been cut off so you don’t have a little tantrum and peck at the bird next to you.

("Battery cage" for egg-laying chickens
photo credit: Yes on Prop 2 website, Compassion Over Killing)

If you treated your pets this way, you’d be arrested and jailed for anti-cruelty violations. Unfortunately, no such regulations exist for the treatment of farm animals or animals being raised for food (oddly enough, there are federal rules regarding humane treatment at slaughterhouses), but a proposition on the California ballot this November will help change that.

A Yes vote on the “Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act”, aka Proposition 2, will put into effect the following:
“In addition to other applicable provisions of law, a person shall not tether or confine any covered animal, on a farm, for all or the majority of any day, in a manner that prevents such animal from: (a) Lying down, standing up, and fully extending his or her limbs; and (b) Turning around freely.”

("Gestation crate" for breeding pigs
photo credit: Yes on Prop 2 website, Farm Sanctuary)

Seems pretty basic, that a chicken should be able to spread their wings fully out, or that a pregnant pig should be able to walk a couple steps in either direction, or that a calf should be able to change positions. But that’s not the way big agriculture does it, they don’t want to change, and they’re pouring big money into defeating Proposition 2. Also, in true Orwellian fashion, the anti-Prop-Twos are calling themselves “Californians for Safe Food.” Puhleeeeeese! Many experts point to factory farming as a primary reason Salmonella emerged as a major egg pathogen, and shouldn't we then be talking about the link between confinement and the "need" for massive doses of antibiotics?!

Among the factory farms’ most vehement arguments are: that Proposition 2 mandates totally free range and/or outdoor maintenance practices, that it will increase the risk of disease, that it will drive up the price of food , and that it will drive producers out-of-state. However, nothing in the language talks about free range, and it’s a laughable position that animals kept in slightly larger quarters will be more disease prone than those jammed together in their own filth.

Industry economic studies have indeed shown that the price of eggs will probably rise … about a penny an egg! As for fleeing California, in states that have already enacted similar guidelines, the factory food industries not only didn’t leave, but were prodded, so to speak, into reforming their practices – a change that more and more consumers are demanding of them anyway. Moreover, Proposition 2 gives California companies until 2015 to shift to the more humane practices.

What about the impact on non-factory farms? Well, these smaller operations tend to treat their animals better anyway, and judging from the long list of those endorsing passage of Proposition 2 – including Bill Niman, they seem to be mostly for it.

While you can’t vote the ballot until November 4, you can vote early and often with your food dollars, choosing food raised with responsible, humane, and sustainable practices. I hate to keep bragging about San Luis Obispo County (okay, not really!), but here we have the luxury of access to several such producers, among them Nick Ranch Beef, Charter Oak Meats, Gold Coast Meats, Hearst Ranch Beef, and a host of vendors who sell farm fresh eggs at farmers’ markets.

As always, the choice is up to you.

Here are more FAQS about Proposition 2

and in fairness, here's the link to "Californians for Safe Food"

and ... This just in!
Egg Industry Sued by Welfare Group
US - The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has filed a lawsuit in the District of Columbia against the United Egg Producers, the nation's largest egg industry trade association, and two major egg companies. HSUS alleges they engaged in false and deceptive advertising to mislead consumers about the conditions on factory farms.

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Are They Yolking?

Speaking of egg production, I’m going to be interested to see how much of the gory details Sunny Anderson’s going to be allowed to see, show, or talk about in the upcoming “Eggs” episode of the Food Network's “How’d That Get on My Plate?” on November 3. I’d be willing to bet that there won’t be any shots of hacked beak chickens in battery cages.

And speaking of this show, has anyone else been watching this and found themselves aghast at the "inside look at the methods used to plant, nurture, harvest, transport, heat, cool, slice, dice, mix, package and otherwise process raw ingredients into the foods you eat."?

I’ve started calling it “WHY'D That Get on My Plate?” The sheer amount of water used in modern food processing to just move stuff around is mind blowing, and I was slightly disconcerted by the fact that sun-dried tomatoes really are sometimes sun-dried, as in yards upon yards of them laid out in the open air, which I assume is also open to flying birds. And did we need to know more bad things about maraschino cherries? Seems the red dye is the least of our worries! Here’s an excerpt from the website of the maraschino cherry maker profiled on the show:

As explained in “Lesson from the Orchard,” maraschino cherries begin as a fresh harvested cherry. Shortly after harvest, the cherries are placed in a brine solution made of water, sodium metabisulfite, citric acid and calcium chloride. The sodium metabisulfite, when mixed with water, is transformed into sodium dioxide, and this preserves the cherry. The calcium is added to help create a firm, crisp texture, and the citric acid is used to balance the pH of the solution. This brining process is similar to the way cucumbers are brined and made into pickles. After curing in the brine, the natural color and some of the sugar is removed from the cherry.

After brining, the cherries are sorted by size and then pitted. The pits are removed by a machine which pushes a large star shaped needle through the cherry, pushing the pit out the other side. The cherry is now ready to be sweetened and colored into a maraschino. This occurs in large processing vats where a constant stream of cold water rinses the brine from the cherry, and then corn syrup and red food color (FD&C 40) are slowly added. The cherries are then packed into jars, along with flavored syrup and a small amount of preservatives. At Gray & Company, each jar is vacuum sealed and pasteurized to ensure the safety of the finished product.

WHAT?!?!?

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And since I seem to be in a bit of a ranting mood …

Remember the social equity part of the sustainability equation?

The recent Slow Food Nation (SFN) in San Francisco was a glorious celebration of local food, farmers, and sustainability. The main thrust was the relocalization of our food system, a noble – and by all accounts necessary – goal and the topic of one of the “Food for Thought” seminars. Alas, until that happens, we do still live in and are inextricably tied to a modern, industrial food system.

Another Food for Thought seminar -- "A New, Fair Food System" -- dared to expose the ugly underside of that food system – the treatment of farm and field workers. As moderator Eric Schlosser (author of Fast Food Nation) noted, “Food workers are among the poorest people in the US … we are connected to these people with every bite we take … without these workers being treated fairly, the food system will never be sustainable.”

Of course, many companies and organizations -- to their immense credit -- have been longtime champions of the human aspect and how important it is to the overall picture of sustainability. Locally, one such group is Central Coast Vineyard Team. Since 2000, CCVT has spearheaded educational classes, in Spanish, for front-line agricultural workers, and has translated their entire Positive Points System into Spanish so that the entire spectrum of the human resource can be educated, informed, and included in the sustainability process. In addition, the certification standards have an entire “Social Equity” chapter devoted to human resources – including wages, benefits, education, safety and engagement.

Well, of course workers are important, you say, but the SFN seminar brought to light several shocking cases of abuse. Some occurred in California, but the most sobering anecdotes came from Florida, where the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (the group fighting the big fast food chains for modest pay increases, sometimes as little as a penny more per pound of tomatoes picked) has worked with the Department of Justice to prosecute cases of slavery and human trafficking in regards to Florida field workers. Yes, that’s slavery cases, not “just” substandard conditions, slavery. And yes, it is 2008.

I Guess It Was Just a Matter of Time ...

On a more upbeat note, I’ve finally hit the blogosphere! I’m happy to be a guest blogger over at Central Coast Vineyard Team’s “Sip, Savor, and Simplify” blog.

The site is aimed at showcasing the CCVT’s new sustainable winegrowing certification program, an admirable effort several years in the making and including independent verification of practices.