Farmers must take the lead on animal welfare – their livelihoods depend on it. We like this article, published recently in the Guelph Mercury newspaper, that discusses this fact and a recent national funding announcement designed to take animal welfare even further in Canada – OFAC

Farmers understand benefits of animal welfare
Guelph Mercury
Owen Roberts
May 10, 2010

Healthy animals are profitable animals. And for farmers, profitability is the bottom line. Farmers who treat their animals poorly can face veterinarian bills, and other costly problems – such as a turned-off, unsupportive public. But right now, for the most part, consumers are on farmers’ side. And farmers aim to keep it that way.

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Posted by OFAC on May 20th, 2010 :: Filed under Animal care, Animal health, Canada, Farm life, Innovation and technology, Media, Research

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Posted by OFAC (This article first appeared in OFAC’s February, 2010 newsletter)

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is well known for its outrageous and attention-grabbing antics, “behind the scenes” pressure tactics and for capitalizing on the efforts of others. At the same time PETA (and other animal rights groups) use more subtle methods to exert their influence and line their pockets.

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Posted by OFAC on May 19th, 2010 :: Filed under Activism, Consumers, Family vs factory farming, Media, PETA, Vegan, Vegetarian

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By Dairy Herd news source  |  Friday, October 30, 2009

Mike Rowe, host of the show “Dirty Jobs” on the Discovery Channel, has been trying to separate myth from reality when it comes to farming and many other occupations in this country.

“Anybody from a city, in my opinion, who spends a day, a week, maybe even just a few hours on a working farm is going to be quickly disabused of a lot of what they believe,” Rowe told AgriTalk radio host Mike Adams last week.

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Posted by BCFACC on November 4th, 2009 :: Filed under Activism, Animal health, Consumers, Education and public awareness, Farm life, Media

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Lilian Schaer
Owen Sound Sun Times
October 19 2009

I ‘ve started noticing a bit of a trend in popular media — the bashing of farmers, especially those who grow crops we all depend on.

These horrible people — or so the theme goes — are ruining the environment by producing large volumes of corn and soybeans and they’re making us fat to boot.

There are two sides to every story and the farmer’s is rarely heard or included in the barrage of popular media and consumer criticism about agriculture. So let me debunk a few of these myths.

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Posted by OFAC on October 21st, 2009 :: Filed under Canada, Consumers, Education and public awareness, Media
Tags :: Canada, Consumers, Farmers, food, Media, misconceptions

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Source:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/01/prweb1822754.htm

The recent flow of media about animals being treated cruelly in factory farms, and the up and coming vegetarian movement is covered every Saturday, on Voice America Health & Wellness Network. Listen online, download, even listen on your phone, but don’t miss a single show.

Phoenix, AZ (PRWEB) January 6, 2009 — Every Saturday morning Wake UP America and its expert guests will examine our food choices and talk about the wonderful animals we share the earth with. We will discuss how mega- corporations are destroying our health and polluting our world – and most importantly – the simple solutions that will keep our families healthy and safe, save animals lives, and help our planet at the same time…..

Upcoming Guests on Wake UP America:

January 3rd, 2009 – Wayne Pacelle
Few are in a position to speak for the animals like Wayne Pacelle. As President and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States, he leads nearly 10.5 million members and constituents in the mission of celebrating animals and confronting cruelty.

January 10th, 2009 – Ingrid Newkirk
PETA President and cofounder Ingrid Newkirk has led the world’s largest animal rights organization for more than 25 years. Her passion and dedication to making this world a better place for all living beings has inspired countless others to do what they can to help animals.

January 17th – Gary Francione
Gary Francione is professor of law and Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Distinguished Scholar of Law and Philosophy at Rutgers University School of Law in New Jersey. Gary is an author of several books, the newest being, Animals as Persons.

January 24th, Rory Freedman
Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin started a movement when they wrote their best-selling manifesto, Skinny Bitch. Both a wake-up call and a kick in the ass, Skinny Bitch exposed the horrors of the food industry while inspiring people to eat well and enjoy food.

January 31st, Howard Lyman
A successful Montana cattle rancher for nearly four decades, Howard Lyman sold his farm in 1983. Lyman went on to become one of the most prominent activists in the animal rights and environmental movements, authoring 2 books, and travelling over 100,000 miles each year speaking.

About the host:
Tina Volpe is the author of the book The Fast Food Craze, Wreaking Havoc on Our Bodies and Our Animals, and coauthor of The Missing Peace, The Hidden Power of Our Kinship with Animals, scheduled release in Spring, 09. She is a health researcher, speaker, educator/consultant, television guest appearing all over the country, hosted the top rated radio show “Wake Up America” on GlobalTalk Radio, now with Voice America Radio, and published columnist. Tina is now affiliated with PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) as a “Heart Health” speaker, and SPEAK (Supporting and Promoting Ethics for the Animal Kingdom), as a “Humane Educator:”. She lives on a ranch in Northern Arizona, supported by her family, and 21 unique animal friends.

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Posted by Admin on July 21st, 2009 :: Filed under Consumers, Education and public awareness, Media
Tags :: activists, animal rights, HSUS, Media, misconceptions, PETA

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Source: Michele Payn-Knoper blog
Posted: 15 Oct 2008 11:59 AM CDT

What a week it’s been for the agrifood business to go on a wile ride with the national popular press. The ride started with Sunday’s edition (October 12) of Food Fights, the New York Times Magazine, with a reported circulation of 1.7 million.

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Posted by Admin on July 21st, 2009 :: Filed under Education and public awareness, Media
Tags :: agriculture, animal rights, Farmers, HSUS, Media, Michael Pollan, misconceptions, Oprah

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Ron Eade, The Ottawa Citizen, 2006.09.06

A distressed mother sent me a plea for help the other day after discovering her 22-year-old daughter on the Internet, reading radical websites posted by animal rights activists.

As you may expect, the vitriolic hyberbole convinced her daughter to immediately stop eating meat. She, in turn, tried to convert her mother.

This misplaced sense of moral rectitude is largely due to a tsunami of misinformation that has overwhelmed our pop culture in matters concerning food. (No surprise, really, considering that a scant two per cent of Canadians today are farmers compared to more than half the population a century ago.)

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Posted by Admin on July 19th, 2009 :: Filed under Canada, Consumers, Education and public awareness, Family vs factory farming, Media
Tags :: activists, animal rights, Canada, Farmers, food, misconceptions, Ontario, Vegetarian

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By Steve Buist, Hamilton Spectator, 05.24.2008; Chapter 1

I’ve never owned a living creature that I intended to eat. That hardly makes me unique in this country. An overwhelming majority of Canadians have no direct connection with the front end of the farm-to-table food chain.

Things were different 80 years ago. In those days, more than one-third of the country’s workers were employed in agriculture.

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Posted by Admin on July 13th, 2009 :: Filed under Education and public awareness, Family vs factory farming, Farm life, Media, Pork
Tags :: Farmers, Ontario, pigs, Pork

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By Anita Yang, Associated Press, 30.Oct.2008

BEIJING — The industrial chemical melamine is commonly added to animal feed in China to make it appear higher in protein, state media reported Thursday, in what appeared to be a tacit admission by the government that contamination is widespread in the country’s food supply.

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Posted by Admin on July 13th, 2009 :: Filed under Consumers, Food safety, Media, Poultry
Tags :: China, food safety, melamine

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