If we want to eat pork reared to acceptable and humane standards we have to be prepared to pay more for it, says Catey Hillier.
French farmers routinely dump loads of farmyard manure on the steps of government offices to protest about this and that, but their British counterparts rarely do anything as demonstrative. So it came as quite a surprise when, on my return recently from judging for the 1999 Organic Food Awards, I encountered delays at the Severn Bridge. These were the result of a blockade set up by a small group of farmers protesting because they are no longer able to make sufficient profit to keep a roof over their heads. Since the BSE crisis, the cost of enforcing new hygiene rules and regulations introduced as a result has gnawed into their profit margins, and the strong pound makes exporting a virtual impossibility.
So what? I hear you ask. Having just been surrounded by organic food, how could I possibly sympathise with such people? These are the meat producers responsible for rearing animals intensively, for pumping their livestock full of drugs to speed development in order to enhance their bottom lines. Nevertheless, their "Is it curtains for agriculture?" signs got me thinking about the provenance of our food and about the lot of British farmers.
Take your joint of pork: the plight of pig producers is exacerbated because these animals tend to be intensively reared. The physiology of the animal and the fact that they eat grain means they can be reared indoors and, like poultry, their production has, over the years, been intensified into an agri-industry.
On top of problems arising from the strength of the pound and the costs of complying with new regulations, there is currently a glut of pork being produced, so prices are at rock bottom. The National Farmers Union estimates farmers are losing between £15 and £30 per pig as production costs exceed the prices obtained at market. Because this sector operates a free market, with no EU subsidies available, and because sows can produce more than 20 offspring a year, it is notorious for its boom and bust production cycles. The net result of all this is that pig farmers trim costs to be as efficient as possible in order to stay in business when times are tough.
Hey presto, before we know it we're eating even more intensively reared pork. Cheaper, yes, but not necessarily tastier meat, and certainly not more carefully reared animals. Welfare issues are relegated to the bottom of the priority list - piglets' tails are routinely docked and their teeth cut to prevent them from biting each other in increasingly higher density production units.
There's more. EU legislation stipulates the conventional stall and tether system, where sows are kept in pens, unable even to turn around, is to be phased out. Britain is banning this archaic system by January 1999, but other member states are not as quick off the mark.
This means if you buy imported pork and bacon - currently flooding into the country because of the strong pound - you are more than likely eating meat from an animal which has been tethered all its life, and has been fed a diet which has included meat and bonemeal. The recycling of animal protein has been banned in the UK since the BSE crisis. Abattoirs also work to different standards on the Continent. One abattoir-owner who has visited abattoirs in other EU countries told Food Illustrated that practices there would often not meet UK standards. "They are beyond a joke," he said.
So is the message buy British? Yes, if you want to be sure you aren't buying pork from animals kept in stalls, or fed other animals' remains, or if you want to eat pork that has been more humanely slaughtered.
Helen Browning of Eastbrook Farm, Wiltshire, says the only way to ensure the pork joint you're buying has come from an animal reared outdoors to acceptable welfare standards is to buy organic (Soil Association-certified) meat. "Rearing pigs organically bears no relation to intensive indoor systems - there's no teeth cutting, no tail docking, piglets are kept with the sows until they're eight weeks old, and of course our animals don't spend their lives on wooden slats - they're outdoors."
Farmers producing pigs to organic standards are being paid three times the price conventional farmers are getting for their animals. "We're not comparing and contrasting prices on the open market, we're paying farmers what it costs to rear these animals to Soil Association standards. It costs money for farmers to rear better tasting meat from slower growing breeds, or introduce kinder production systems," says Browning.
Perhaps those protesting farmers on the M4 were just pawns in the game, I venture. "Yes," agrees Browning. "Through no fault of their own, they have been encouraged to produce meat as cheaply and efficiently as possible. Now it's time for people to vote with their purses. If consumers want animals reared to standards they find acceptable, they must be prepared to pay farmers to do this."
Next time my journey is severely delayed by protesting farmers on the M4 motorway, I might just be a little more patient.
pork: the questions to ask
- Is this pork British?
- Where do you buy your meat from?
- Are the pigs outdoor reared?
- Have the animals had their teeth cut or tails docked?
- Are the pigs kept in a straw-based system?
- Have they been fed growth promoters?
- What guarantees are there to back up the information you're giving me?