By Leslie Ballentine, Farming and food commentator
Turning chicken feathers into ‘green’ plastic is not a new idea. Government and university scientists in the U.S. first began serious research into the possibility years ago. The goal for researchers and plastic manufacturers has been to develop a substitute for petroleum in some plastic products. This year, some technical hurdles have been over-come and this bio-degradable plastic is now being produced commercially.
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Posted by FFC on November 7th, 2011 :: Filed under
animal by-products,
Chickens,
Environment,
Innovation and technology,
PETA,
ResearchTags ::
environment,
Poultry,
Research,
sustainability,
technology
The following is reprinted with permission from the Animal Agriculture Alliance in the United States (www.animalalliance.org). For its full collection of Meatless Monday resources, visit http://animalagalliance.org/current/home.cfm?Section=Meatless_Monday&Category=Current_Issues.
The Myth of Meatless Mondays – Alleviating the Consumer’s Conscience Without Affecting Climate Change
Judith L. Capper, PhD, Washington State University
In July, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) released a report claiming that everybody should eat less meatand dairy products in order to mitigate climate change. It was an interesting report, not least because it recommended that if consumers were going to eat meat, they should choose “meat, eggs and dairy products that are certified organic, humane and/or grass-fed as they are generally the least environmentally damaging”. Working within the sustainability arena, I firmly believe that any production system has a role within agriculture provided that it is environmentally conscientious, economically viable and socially acceptable. However, the EWG’s promotion of organic or grass-fed systems as having a low environmental impact is ironic given that such systems actually have a greater carbon footprint per unit of meat or milk produced compared to their conventional counterparts.
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Posted by FFC on October 6th, 2011 :: Filed under
Activism,
Beef cattle,
Feeding the world,
Global Warming,
Meatless Monday,
Misconceptions,
Organics,
Sheep,
VegetarianTags ::
activists,
beef,
Consumers,
environment,
meatless Monday,
misconceptions,
organic,
Research,
sheep,
Vegetarian
By Leslie Ballentine, Farm and food commentator
Genomics is a touchy subject, whether we are talking human or plant and animal. That is why the biotechnology debate can get so heated. In my opinion, and in the opinion of most in the farm and food sector, biotechnology gets a bad rap in these debates.
To use an old cliché, biotechnology is just one tool in the tool box whether it is used for food production, medical advances or to help the planet. It isn’t perfect all of the time but in my experience, the end results are rarely dangerous and usually beneficial.
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Posted by FFC on August 2nd, 2011 :: Filed under
Animal health,
Chickens,
Feeding the world,
Innovation and technology,
ResearchTags ::
chicken,
Research,
sustainability
By Leslie Ballentine, Farming and food commentator
I just finished reading some more animal science studies out of Europe (a sure cure for insomnia) on what “free range” and “free run” laying hens are up against. And it’s a bit of a buyer-beware scenario too. Although it is a small niche market here in North America, so-called “cage-free” egg production in the UK has steadily grown in the last 20 years. That is where egg laying hens can move around within the confines of a pasture or barn. But the health and animal welfare news isn’t all good.
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Posted by FFC on May 12th, 2011 :: Filed under
Chickens,
eggs,
Housing,
Poultry,
ResearchTags ::
animal welfare,
eggs,
free range,
Housing,
Research
by Patricia Grotenhuis, Lifelong farmer and agricultural advocate
Storms have always filled me with awe. I love sitting, safe and secure, in my house or in the barn while the wind howls around us, snow or rain coming down with no end in sight. There is always one big fear with storms, though: what if the power goes out?
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Posted by FFC on May 10th, 2011 :: Filed under
Animal care,
Farm life,
Farm Safety,
Innovation and technology,
Uncategorized,
Weather,
winterTags ::
animal care,
animal welfare,
Canada,
Farmers,
Research,
weather
By Leslie Ballentine, Farming and food commentator
I am often asked what, if any, laws govern the treatment of farm animals in Canada. On that score there’s plenty to report.
Since 2005, there have been changes to most provincial animal welfare laws. You can see for yourself at: http://www.afac.ab.ca/lawsregs/awlcanada.pdf
Mainly, these have been penalty increases but have also included a few other common changes.
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Posted by FFC on January 26th, 2011 :: Filed under
Animal cruelty,
Regulations,
ResearchTags ::
animal welfare,
regulations,
Research
This is an interesting perspective on science and politics. There are lots of parallels between the misconceptions and debates around climate change and those around animal welfare – OFAC.
By Ronald L. Doering
In spite of the media treatment of them, there is nothing that is surprising about the now famous Climategate emails. Surprise could only come from a misunderstanding of the relationship between science, policy and politics. Of course the emails reveal that the climate scientists were affected by policy and political considerations. They had to be. Science, policy and politics are inextricably intertwined. What is surprising is how much our public discourse is still dominated by the quaint utopian view that science and policy can be strictly separated.
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Posted by FFC on January 22nd, 2010 :: Filed under
Activism,
Regulations,
ResearchTags ::
activists,
misconceptions,
regulation,
Research
Steve Buist, Hamilton Spectator, 2008.05.30
It’s 7 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 21, and it’s one of the coldest mornings of the winter so far. The snow crunches under foot, there’s just a hint of grey light along the eastern horizon and an icy mist rises off the nearby Grand River.
Two gleaming silver tanker trucks from the Wallenstein feed company have already started emptying their loads into the metal silos at Curtiss Littlejohn’s pig farm in the hamlet of Glen Morris.
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Posted by FFC on July 22nd, 2009 :: Filed under
Canada,
Family vs factory farming,
Farm life,
Innovation and technology,
PorkTags ::
agriculture,
antibiotics,
Biosecurity,
environment,
feed,
fuel,
hormones,
misconceptions,
nutrition,
Research,
technology
Steve Buist, Hamilton Spectator, 2008.05.28
Six months, 250 pounds. That’s Piggy’s destiny in life.01 At first, he’ll double his weight in a few days, then it will double in a week, then every couple of weeks, then every month. It’s incredible, isn’t it, to think that a barnyard animal is capable of growing so large, so quickly.
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Posted by FFC on July 22nd, 2009 :: Filed under
Canada,
Education and public awareness,
Farm life,
PorkTags ::
animal welfare,
artificial insemination,
Farmers,
meat,
Ontario,
pigs,
Pork,
Research
Source: Farmers Weekly Interactive 22/11/2007
Poultry meat uses less global energy than other livestock systems and
intensive poultry uses less than free range and organic, according to new research.
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Posted by FFC on July 21st, 2009 :: Filed under
Education and public awareness,
Family vs factory farming,
Poultry,
ResearchTags ::
chicken,
environment,
Farmers,
free range,
livestock,
organic,
Poultry,
Research
