KingHarvest wrote:organic and such doesn't really mean anything, it is pretty much just an excuse to raise the price on foodstuffs.
As far as I know, organic chicken farms are very different from battery farms, and are required to be so by the authority that issues/controls the organic label. This is what Finnish "organic eggs" mean for chickens:
Luomukananmunat tuotetaan voimassaolevien luonnonmukaisen kotieläintuotannon tuotantoehtojen mukaisesti. Luomukanala on lattiakanala, jossa kanat voivat liikkua vapaana ja käyttäytyä lajilleen luontaiseen tapaan. Kanalat ovat tyypiltään kuivikepohjaisia kestopehkukanaloita tai osaritiläkanaloita, joissa kanalan lattiapinta-alasta vähintään puolet on pehkun ja hiekan tms. peittämää aluetta. Luomukanaloissa on myös ikkunat, orret ja virikkeitä kanoille kuten jyviä pehkun seasta etsittäväksi. Kesäaikaan kanoilla on käytössään ulkotarha. Kukot pitävät järjestystä. Kanat saavat ruoaksi luomuviljeltyä ohraa, kauraa ja hernettä sekä jonkinverran heinää, olkea ja juureksia. Mitään keinotekoisia lisäaineita ei anneta.
I.e.:
- floor farm with free movement
- half the surface area covered by litter/sand
- have windows
- have "stimulus", like grains hidden to be sought by the chickens
- in summertime possibility to be outside
- have roosters
- eat organic feed
(Also, there can be five chickens per square meter, and each flock is restricted to 3000 chicken.)
If all this can be provided and the price is still higher only because it's a clever trick, then we have just proved that there is no economic reason not to provide chickens with better conditions
.
KingHarvest wrote:The only real way to prevent suffering of other creatures is to do absolutely everything you need to survive yourself.
Personally, I don't even dream of preventing it fully, only steering away from the worst treatments by using education which will hopefully lead to legislation.
KingHarvest wrote:And I'm also responding to a belief that annoys me that the Industrial Revolution has somehow changed human cruelty for better or worse.
Some of us are obviously less cruel than others. I think we should make animal treatment legislation using the less cruel people's views, within reason, of course.
EDIT: And btw, happy birthday to HerrFreuline
.