Globally, nearly 70 billion animals are farmed annually for meat, milk and eggs. Two-thirds of these are farmed intensively. The views held by food companies on animal stewardship, and the management practices and processes that they adopt are, therefore, of critical importance in determining the welfare of these animals.
Yet, despite the scale of the food industry's impact, farm animal welfare remains a relatively immature management issue. There is a lack of consensus around the specific responsibilities companies have for farm animal welfare, and around how companies should treat the animals in their or in their suppliers' care.
This book, The Business of Farm Animal Welfare, provides an extensive, authoritative analysis of current corporate practice on farm animal welfare. It critically reviews and assesses the ethical and business case for action. Through a series of practitioner case-studies, it describes how companies have addressed farm animal welfare in their operations and supply chains. It analyses the key barriers to companies adopting higher standards of farm animal welfare, and offers a series of practical recommendations to companies, consumers and policy makers on the role that they might play in raising farm animal welfare standards across the food industry.
As the first comprehensive account of business and farm animal welfare, this book is an essential resource for researchers, practitioners and general readers looking to understand and influence corporate practice on farm animal welfare.
List of Contributors
Foreword
Temple Grandin
1. Introduction
Rory Sullivan and Nicky Amos
PART I
Core principles
2. The key issues in farm animal welfare
Tracey Jones
3. Ethics, religion and farm animal welfare
David Grumett
PART II
Why should companies be concerned about farm animal welfare?
4. The legal journey to improved farm animal welfare
Heleen van de Weerd and Jon Day
5. Consumers, corporate policy and animal welfare: how societal demands are shaping the food industry's approach to farm animal welfare
Sally Healy
6. The power of partnership: the role of NGO-corporate engagement in setting farm animal welfare standards
Jemima Jewell
7. Farm animal welfare as an investment issue
Rory Sullivan, Kate Elliot, Abigail Herron, Helena Vińes Fiestas and Nicky Amos
8. Investor case study: Rathbone Greenbank Investments
Kate Elliot
9. Investor case study: Aviva Investors
Abigail Herron
10. Investor case study: BNP Paribas Investment Partners
Helena Vińes Fiestas
11. Bringing farm animal welfare to the consumer's plate: transparency, labelling and consumer education
Minna Autio, Jaakko Autio, Ari Kuismin, Brigit Ramsingh, Eliisa Kylkilahti and Anna Valros
12. The human-animal bond: a risk and asset for animal-based agriculture
Emily Patterson-Kane and Cia Johnson
PART III
Corporate practice
13. Global food companies and farm animal welfare: the state of play
Nicky Amos and Rory Sullivan
14. Case study: Barilla - Good for You, Good for the Planet
Leonardo Mirone
15. Case study: animal welfare as a part of the DNA of BRF
Geraldine Kutas
16. Case study: COOK and animal welfare
Richard Pike
17. Case study: the business of farm animal welfare at Greggs
Malcolm Copland
18. Case study: animal welfare at the epicentre of a perfect storm
Steven McLean
19. Case study: The Co-op's agricultural journey
Rosie Barraclough and Ciara Gorst
20. Case study: Unilever and farm animal welfare
Bronwen Reinhardt
PART IV
Wider reflections
21. Revisiting the business case for action
Nicky Amos and Rory Sullivan
PART V
Technical briefings
22. An introduction to farm animal production systems
Heather Pickett and Inęs Ajuda
23. Antibiotic use in animals: impacts on human health and animal welfare
Inęs Ajuda, Vicky Bond and Jemima Jewell
24. An introduction to animal welfare issues in aquaculture
Martin Cooke
25. Farm animal welfare: disclosure practices and expectations
Rory Sullivan and Nicky Amos
