Compassion In World Farming
Encyclopedia
Compassion in World Farming is a campaigning and lobbying animal welfare
Animal welfare
Animal welfare is the physical and psychological well-being of animals.The term animal welfare can also mean human concern for animal welfare or a position in a debate on animal ethics and animal rights...

 organisation, with headquarters in the UK, branches in eight Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an countries and international representatives in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. The organization is supported by various celebrities including Joanna Lumley
Joanna Lumley
Joanna Lamond Lumley, OBE, FRGS is a British actress, voice-over artist, former-model and author, best known for her roles in British television series Absolutely Fabulous portraying Edina Monsoon's best friend, Patsy Stone, as well as parts in The New Avengers, Sapphire & Steel, and Sensitive...

, and campaigns against the live export
Live export
Live export is the transport of living farm animals usually across either state or national borders.Animal charities say that thousands of animals die en route from disease, heat exhaustion, thirst, suffocation, and crush injuries. The National Hog Farmer reports that 420,000 pigs are crippled and...

 of animals, certain methods of livestock slaughter, and all systems of factory farming.

Compassion in World Farming in the UK is a registered charity.

Organization Goals

The goals of Compassion in World Farming, as outlined by the organization, are:
  1. To ensure a compelling and influential voice for farm animals that delivers positive reform in Europe
  2. To drive change for farm animal welfare in the wider world
  3. To place farm animal welfare at the heart of the food industry
  4. To popularise farm animal welfare and empower consumers to make informed choices about their food
  5. To champion higher welfare farming practices

History

Compassion in World Farming was founded in 1967 by a Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

 dairy farmer called Peter Roberts (7 June 1924 – 15 November 2006) in response to the growth in factory farming
Factory farming
Factory farming is a term referring to the process of raising livestock in confinement at high stocking density, where a farm operates as a factory — a practice typical in industrial farming by agribusinesses. The main products of this industry are meat, milk and eggs for human consumption...

. Started in a small office above the Roberts family’s health food shop in Petersfield, Hampshire, by 2009 Compassion in World Farming's supporter-base had grown to more than 25,000.

Peter Roberts suffered from Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...

 and was forced to stand down as Chief Executive in 1991. He was replaced as Chief Executive by Joyce D’Silva. Soon after current Chief Executive Philip Lymbery took on his role (2006), Compassion in World Farming headquarters relocated to Godalming in Surrey.

On its 40th anniversary in 2007 the charity released a 6-minute film about their main achievements and challenges ahead narrated by their patron Joanna Lumley OBE, who is a long-standing supporter of the organisation.

Awards

The charity won the BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...

 Food and Farming Award in 2007 for the best food campaigner/educator.

Compassion in World Farming was also given the RSPCA Special Investigation Award in 2007 for its investigation on the long distance transport of calves from the UK to continental Europe and for investigating the intensive farming of laying hens in the egg industry in Europe.

Principal campaigns

‘Ban the battery cage’ is a campaign against keeping egg-laying hens in battery cages. A ban on the use of barren battery cages within the EU is due to be brought into force in January 2012 but “enriched” cages will still be permitted.

Compassion in World Farming works with politicians, retailers and producers to push for an end to this system. The organization's Good Egg Awards celebrate companies who commit to sourcing only cage-free (barn, free-range or organic) eggs.

‘Stop “cuts & crates”’ is a campaign for ending the use of crates for breeding sows, and for more space and environmental enrichment for pigs reared for meat. Compassion has created a book and DVD outlining good agricultural practices for pig farming.

‘Beyond calf exports’ looks at alternative uses for UK male dairy calves, which are currently unprofitable in the UK, so are either shot at birth or exported over long distances to be reared for veal on the continent in systems that do not meet UK welfare standards. Compassion is working with the food and farming industry to find solutions where calves are reared in higher welfare systems in the UK for beef or veal.

‘Free the chickens’ is a campaign to encourage consumers to buy chicken meat from "higher welfare" systems. Compassion is working with celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is a British celebrity chef, television personality, journalist, food writer and "real food" campaigner, known for his back-to-basics philosophy...

 on the Chicken Out! campaign.

‘End factory farming’ is a campaign to raise awareness about possible problems caused by factory farming and over-consumption of meat, such as health problems for humans, pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, world hunger and poverty. Compassion encourages people to eat higher welfare animal products and to eat less meat and dairy.

‘End long-distance live transport’ is a campaign against the long distance transport of animals via road, rail, sea or air. Compassion in World Farming joined forces with MEP Neil Parish
Neil Parish
Neil Quentin Gordon Parish is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Tiverton and Honiton, elected at the 2010 general election. He had been a Member of the European Parliament for South West England from 1999 to 2009.-Career:Prior to beginning his career in...

 in support of his petition calling for an EU-wide limit of 8 hours on journeys to slaughter.

Other work

Research: Compassion in World Farming produces reports, websites, fact-sheets, briefings, educational materials and videos relevant to the food industry, legislators, educators and the media.

Food business: Compassion’s Food Policy Unit was set up in 2006. It launched the Good Egg Awards in March 2007 to recognise companies in the EU who are using cage-free (barn, free-range or organic) eggs. The Awards reflect the charity’s food policy work which aims to engage with and reward companies for the efforts they make to improve farm animal welfare through the products they sell. Previous winners have included McDonald's (Europe), JD Wetherspoon (UK), Carrefour (Belgium), Subway (UK and Ireland) and Marks & Spencer (UK). Combined, the 2007 and 2008 Awards have ensured a cage-free life for 15 million hens. The Food Policy Unit also conducts a UK supermarket survey every two years to score all major UK supermarkets on their farm animal welfare performance. Food retailers scoring highly in the survey are celebrated in the Compassionate Supermarket Awards. In 2007 Marks & Spencer was the overall winner with Sainsbury’s taking the prizes for both Best Volume Retailer and Most Improved Supermarket. Results from the Supermarket Survey are also used to advise British consumers about how to shop compassionately in the UK and the charity’s Compassionate Shopping Guide aims to help consumers to make more informed shopping choices.

Investigations: Compassion in World Farming obtains footage and photographs of animal treatment in various farming systems.

Education: Compassion produces educational resources for teachers and students including videos, teaching materials, information booklets and web-based software. These have been translated into a range of languages and adaptations have appeared in the Netherlands, Australia and South Africa.

Main achievements

Veal crates banned in the UK and Europe In 1987, following a campaign by Compassion in World Farming, the UK government voted to phase out veal crates for calves. The ban came into place in the UK in 1990. Six years later, continued pressure from Compassion in World Farming also resulted in the EU agreeing to phase out veal crates. The EU ban came into force in 2007.

Sow stalls banned in the UK and across Europe Compassion in World Farming’s campaigns for higher welfare standards for pigs resulted in the UK introducing legislation in 1991 to phase out sow stalls (gestation crate
Gestation crate
A gestation crate, also known as a sow stall, is a 7 ft by 2 ft metal enclosure used in intensive pig farming, in which a female breeding pig may be confined during pregnancy, and in effect for most of her adult life....

s) and sow tethers for pregnant sows by 1999. In 2001, Compassion in World Farming also achieved an EU-wide ban on tethers from 2006 and on stalls from 2013.

Animal sentience Following a ten-year campaign by Compassion in World Farming, in 1997, a Protocol annexed to the Treaty of Amsterdam legally recognised animals as sentient beings, capable of feeling pain and discomfort. The Protocol requires the EU and its Member States to ‘pay full regard to the welfare requirements of animals’. This agreement underpins and paves the way for all future legislation regarding farm animal welfare in Europe.

Barren battery cages banned across Europe In 1999 the EU agreed to ban barren battery cages for laying hens from 2012. Compassion in World Farming is now campaigning to ensure the ban comes into force as agreed. In 2007, the UK government stated the ban would be enforced in the UK despite continued opposition from many in the egg industry and many EU member states.

Live exports: an end to subsidies In 2005, export subsidies for EU farmers transporting live cattle to the Middle East were eliminated. Compassion in World Farming continues to campaign for a maximum journey time of eight hours to be endorsed by EU Agriculture Ministers.

In 1988 Compassion in World Farming made a Public Information Film
Public information film
Public Information Films are a series of government commissioned short films, shown during television advertising breaks in the UK. The US equivalent is the Public Service Announcement .-Subjects:...

 called Welcome To The Battery for the cinema advertisements. This was to promote awareness and encourage the boycotting of Battery Farming. Rated 18, it was set up like a public announcement
Announcement
An announcement is a Usenet, mailing list or e-mail message sent to notify subscribers that a software project has made a new release version. Newsgroup announcement recipients often have a name like "comp.somegroup.announce". Mailing list announcement recipients often have a name like...

 and centered on a spokesperson describing what happens to chickens on entering the battery and what occurs from there on in. Ending on a solitary scrawny chicken that is missing feathers and is in obvious poor health. With the caption displayed being Buy Free Range Eggs...THEY DON'T COST THIS MUCH.
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