“We like to sleep on sawdust” (image: Gangsan, Korea’s first animal-friendly hog farm)
Muan, South Jeolla, May 16 (Korea Bizwire) – Driven by growing consumer interest in animal-welfare issues and “sustainably produced” meat and poultry products, not only the related industry but the local authorities have begun adopting such “feel good” labeling as “animal-friendly” certifications in their production systems or farming policies of late.
A hog farm called “Gangsan Story,” or “Gangsan Iyagi,” which is known for laying a good deal of sawdust on the pen floor so that the pigs can feel more comfortable, won the nation’s first animal-friendly swine farm certification. The “feel good” recognition has been awarded by the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, said the South Jeolla Provincial Government on May 14 in which “Gangsan Story” farm is located.
For any livestock herder to be certified as such, per-pig breeding space must be at least 1.66 square meters (if the pens are filled with straw bedding, the minimum requirement is 1.3 square meters).
In addition, no “tail docking,” cutting of a pig’s tail, or canine teeth clipping must be practiced. The use of electric sticks and the raising of pigs in metal pens are to be avoided in order to be considered for the certification. In particular, the gestation space must be wide enough for the sow and piglets so that they can express their “pigness.” The certification scheme, introduced in September last year, suggests such strict and complicated requirements that there has been no farmer qualified up until now.
Since 2006, the provincial government has actively encouraged farmers to be more environmentally friendly, with accompanying ordinances in 2011 to give designations to eco-friendly livestock farms. Currently there are 23 farms designated as environmentally friendly farms, including 11 beef farms, 3 dairy farms, 3 hog farms, 4 chicken farms, and 2 goat farms.
Korea is in its infancy regarding “animal welfare” issues. In the US however, the “sustainably produced” meat has raised some concerns of late, providing Korea with predictive lessons of what kind of challenges will be arising in the near future, in terms of improving animal welfare issues.
Here is the thing: A new report finds that the US government was unable to provide convincing proof that many meat and poultry producers are living up to many of their “sustainably produced” labeling claims.
In fact, advocacy group Animal Welfare Institute spent last three years requesting documentation from the USDA about companies that boast their animals are well cared for or raised in accordance with high environmental standards. The USDA failed to supply documentation supporting these sorts of claims—which range from “Humanely Raised and Handled” to “Sustainably Farmed”—for 20 of the 25 products AWI investigated, reports Time.
Written by Jerry M. Kim (jerrykim@koreabizwire.com)
