Page 94 - Vegan Life - Issue 59 (February 2020)

industry standard abuses and neglect,
this cemented our need to expose
‘free-range’ meat chicken farming.
Standards currently promoted by the
‘Better Chicken Commitment’ (BCC) ask
for standards which were equal to, or
even below, those that we found during
our investigation. This BCC document
is one which should be scrapped along
with all other farming documents. It does
not help chickens. It helps the industries
look as though they are progressing
and treating animals kindly. It helps the
consumer feel less guilty about their
choices. All of our findings can be found
at thefoultruth.org and I am sure that you
will agree with us that even the ‘higher
welfare’ systems are failing chickens.
Following our national launch,
we promoted our ‘Meet the Cluckers’
series — a story of three rescued broiler
chickens who escaped to freedom: Fleur,
Rosie and Basil. Over our series, we
showed them becoming more confident,
Fleur healing from an eye injury and
overall, watching them being able
to act like chickens. It was incredibly
heart-warming to see three six-week-old
chickens, who had completely given up farms. The remaining include ‘free-range’ us, they can have their of days and want
on life, become inquisitive and excited and organic chickens. The picture painted some peace and quiet. This is impossible
little characters. They felt the feeling of by the industry for these chickens’ lives is in a loud shed full of thousands.
safety and compassion for the first time one of acres of green luscious grass, trees
and they sure did love it. They became and dust baths. These chickens are seen But ‘free-range’ chickens get to have a
gentle souls who loved nothing more to have a life that even a person would be long life, right?
than foraging around in the mud, eating lucky to have. But, what is the reality? Wrong! With their factory farmed cousins
sweetcorn kernels and helping me finish being killed at an average of six weeks,
of my apple! these ‘lucky’ chickens are allowed to
A very exciting part of our campaign “We saw purposeful live until nine weeks old. The industry
has included sharing and disproving and industry standard will sell that as a huge positive, ‘50 per
the myths behind ‘free-range’ chicken abuses and neglect, this cent longer!’ but in reality, it is an extra
farming. To increase our reach, we went three weeks of living through miserable
on tour. We visited multiple British cemented our need to conditions. That is, if they survive that
universities during our Life of Lucy tour, expose ‘free-range’ meat long. In the first week of our investigation,
directly asking hundreds of people chicken farming” nearly 500 chicks died through stress,
— mainly students — questions such as abuse and neglect.
‘How many chickens are killed annually
in the UK?’ and ‘At what age are ‘free- Are ‘free-range’ chickens actually Eating chicken is healthy, isn’t it?
range’ chickens killed?’. Unsurprisingly, free-range? Wrong again! If you eat a chicken, that’s
the knowledge from the public regarding No. We found that thousands and a whopping 150g of pure fat you are
chicken farming was very little; chicken thousands of birds were kept in a single taking in. That is more than four ‘Flame
farming is an industrialised-sized secret. shed with no access to the outdoors for Grilled Whopper’ beef burgers from
We also launched our social media the first four weeks of their lives. They Burger King and more than double your
campaigning to highlight these myths, didn’t even have natural lighting. The daily recommended consumption of
which has truly started some fantastic latter few weeks included small doorway fat. Plant-based foods and fats are better
conversations and helped us educate access to barren and nettle-filled concrete for our health, as well as being kinder
people in a fun and interactive way. pens. The square in the image to the to chickens.
right portrays the exact space each of
The myths behind ‘free-range’ these ‘higher welfare’ chickens receives. They have a happy life before they are
chicken farming Despite chickens being incredibly killed, though?
Currently, around 95 per cent of chickens sociable and having a complex hierarchy, Unfortunately for them, that couldn’t be
in the UK are raised intensively on factory they also appreciate alone time and like further from the truth. Our findings from

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