Happier cows?
Edeka is changing drinking milk to higher forms of husbandry - but criticism remains
Created: 01/11/2022, 4:40 PM
From: Ines Baur
Are they all so happy then?
Edeka and Netto want to gradually switch to milk from husbandry forms 2, 3 and 4.
© picture alliance / Oliver Berg / dpa
Real organic milk has long been a popular item on the shelves of health food stores.
And there is still a long way to go before all the cows are happy.
But at least some discounters are switching to milk from better husbandry methods.
Hamburg - The Edeka association wants to expand its commitment to better animal welfare.
According to their own information, Edeka and Netto Marken-Discount are the first large grocery retailers to have set themselves the goal of converting the entire range of drinking milk for their own brands to two or more types of husbandry in the course of 2022.
From spring 2022 - according to the press release of the Edeka Zentrale Stiftung & Co.KG - all drinking milk products from Gut & Favorig, Edeka and Edeka Bio will gradually be labeled with the housing types two (stable plus), three (outdoor climate) or four (premium).
Edeka therefore wants to do without posture type one completely.
Retail is obliged to pay more attention to animal welfare
Edeka organic milk should meet very high criteria: It is labeled with the premium husbandry form four.
Consumers can see at first glance that the dairy cows have more space to move about, graze on and additional exercise options.
The regionally available Edeka pasture milk, which has been awarded two stars by the German Animal Welfare Association and the label “For more animal protection”, corresponds to this type of husbandry.
Edeka involves agricultural producers in programs
According to the press release, the Edeka group is consistently pursuing its overarching goal of improving the conditions for keeping livestock in Germany together with agriculture.
According to their own statements, the companies in the association actively involve the agricultural producers in their programs and support them with long contract periods and guaranteed purchase quantities.
One, two, three, four - what does which type of posture mean?
More and more consumers want farm animals to live well.
But how can animal welfare be recognized?
Definitely not because of fancy packaging or clever marketing strategies.
After various individual initiatives by the various retailers - which confused consumers rather than informing them - an agreement was reached on a uniform "posture" label from one to four, which officially started on April 1, 2019.
Housing type 1 "Barn housing"
stands for the statutory minimum standard for keeping pigs and broiler chickens.
In the case of cattle and turkeys, it shows the husbandry that is customary in the industry, as there are no special husbandry regulations for these animal species.
In addition, the companies must participate in the "QS" test system.
Housing form 2 "Stall housing plus"
Pigs, broiler chickens, turkeys and cattle have a little more space in the stable and additional equipment.
Cattle are not allowed to be tied up.
Housing type 3 "outside climate"
means that the animals have even more space in the barn.
Continued
contact
with the outside climate, as is the case with a partially roofed outside area at the barn or with a barn side that is open to the outside.
Feed without genetic engineering is mandatory.
Housing type 4 "Premium"
offers the most space in the barn and the animals can actually run outside.
The feed is without genetic engineering.
Level four is organic meat.
If conventional animal husbandry meets the requirements, it can also be kept in the fourth type.
It is the other way around with eggs
The ways in which eggs are kept create a bit of confusion.
Because while chickens are kept from one to four, it looks different with their product.
If there is a zero on an egg, it means organic production.
A maximum of six animals per square meter may then live in the barn and no more than 3,000.
The stable has perches and at least a third is littered with straw, wood shavings or sand.
And in the adjoining field there is at least four square meters of exercise space per animal.
Most of the feed comes from organic farming.
If an egg is kept for three, it comes from an animal that is kept in small groups.
Means up to 12.5 animals per square meter.
The label of the type of husbandry is not an animal welfare label
The commitment of the retailers and the sensitization of the customers are certainly another important step for the welfare of livestock and in the direction of animal welfare. But there is still no final solution. "The posture labeling of the trade is a good approach," writes the consumer advice center. “But it doesn't guarantee that the animals were really doing well. Because more space and material in the barn does not automatically mean more animal welfare. ”For reliable statements, behavior and health-related criteria such as lameness, injuries, organ findings, etc. must be systematically collected and evaluated in animal husbandry and at the slaughterhouse.
“From our point of view, the decisive factor is that the state animal welfare label that has been announced for years is now introduced quickly,” demands the consumer advice center.
"Because it is more binding than individual business initiatives and goes beyond mere husbandry and focuses on animal welfare."
