We don’t believe in an all-or-nothing approach. There are still a huge number, and wide range, of actions you can take to be more ethical towards animals without going entirely vegan. Fortunately, there are multiple ways to check the ethicality of the meat you buy and consume and to help the world move towards a more ethical approach to meat. This section of the site focuses on the welfare of cows and other mammals—we are also working to add sections on our site about fish and chicken.
When shopping at the grocery store, there are so many meat options that it is tempting to just buy the first or cheapest one and go. However, if you look carefully, there are labels that some have and others do not. The ASPCA has provided a list of logos to search for on chicken, beef, pork, turkey, and other meats (and, for some, dairy and eggs). The list also provides information on whether each product can be found online or in a supermarket.
These three logos are the main ones to keep an eye out for, as they represent welfare-certified farms. These logos ensure that the animals that the meat comes from were treated with a baseline level of humanity and concern for their welfare. Each of these labels has different standards, but they all ensure that, at minimum, animals are not crowded, kept in cages, killed inhumanely, or kept indoors for their whole lives.
There is a way to determine just how ethical a product may be, which is the GAP system. This system provides a list of ratings and their meanings.
- Step 1: No cages, crates or crowding
- Step 2: Enriched indoor environment
- Step 3: Enhanced outdoor access
- Step 4: Pasture centered
- Step 5: (Animal centered) Feedlots prohibited, no physical altercations
- Step 5+: (Animal centered) Entire life on same farm
As the steps increase, it is obvious to see that the treatment of the animals are bettered. Unfortunately, many unethical practices are adopted in the first place as cost-cutting measures, so usually, the more ethical a brand is towards their animals, the more expensive it can be. Therefore, picking a product with more animal-friendly terms may cost an extra dollar or two. You may not always be able to make the most ethical choice, but by understanding these labels, you’ll be able to make the most ethical choice for you at that time.
If animal welfare approved products are not easily accessible to you, there are different things you can do that will still be better than nothing. You can write to your local supermarket and request that they provide welfare-approved products, or to your local representative to encourage legislation that will improve animal conditions. You can try cutting back on your meat consumption. You can also look for meat brands that advertise pastured or pasture-raised cows. These terms mean that the cattle were able to get a good amount of their food from pastures, which also mean that they had space and time to roam around outdoors. This could still mean there were other unethical practices used, but it’s a good start. On the other hand, meat from cows that were simply “grass-fed” may not be as ethical as it may seem. Grass-fed simply refers to what cows ate (grass), not that the animals were able to enjoy their lives outdoors.You may wonder if meat that is labeled as organic is more ethical. It seems like if the meat is more natural and healthier for humans, then it must come from better-treated animals, too. However, organic only means that the animal was not fed antibiotics or other chemicals. So, the treatment of animals may be just as inhumane as a non-organic product. For example, “organic” doesn’t mean that debeaking, dehorning, and castration without painkillers isn’t allowed (or being kept in tiny enclosures, etc). However, one potential benefit is that organic does mean that cows are not injected with hormones, which could be considered more ethical. When cows are implanted with pellets that release growth hormones over their lifetime, they can sometimes grow so large that it negatively affects their quality of life. There may be human health risks as well. Therefore, it may be worth those extra dollars for meat that ensures the health of the animals and the consumers—but from an ethical standpoint, non-organic but humane-certified meat is the better choice.