Posted by kathryn in Ethics & Sustainablity and Junk Food

Burger King, the second largest fast food chain, have announced plans to start sourcing pork, chickens and eggs from farms where the animals are not reared in cages and crates. Here in Australia, Hungry Jack’s is Burger King’s local franchise.

The transition will take place over an extended period of time, with their immediate goals being quite small. Starting now, 2% of their eggs will come from cage free chickens, while 10% of their pork will come from farms where the pigs are allowed to move around inside their stalls. By the end of the year they plan to have 5% cage free eggs.

From the SMH:

The company said those percentages would rise as more farmers shifted to these methods and more competitively priced supplies became available.

While Burger King’s initial goals may be modest, food marketing experts and animal welfare advocates said the shift would put pressure on other restaurant and food companies to adopt similar practices.

Both chickens and pigs suffer considerably when reared in confined spaces. They are more prone to disease and suffer extensive stress and boredom, which leads to aggression. This marks a significant development in the world of fast food. Burger King have also announced their plans to continue working with animal welfare experts during the transition.

This follows the announcement in January by Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork processor, of their plans to stop the practice of keeping pigs in metal crates over the next decade.

06 April, 2007