Airline Food - Ethical Considerations
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Airline Food - Ethical Considerations
Assuming that the airline(s) you use provide catering, could I please ask you to spare a moment to write and request that they behave responsibly when purchasing catering supplies. Unfortunately, the pressures of cost-cutting are leading to greater suffering among livestock!
In the UK, far more meat is produced using Halal and Kosher ritual slaughter methods than required by the religious communities requiring said practises. The surplus carcases, together with "spoiled" animals (ie ones where the single cut across the throat failed to sever windpipe, aorta and vena cava together) are sold cheaply to wholesale caterers. Removing a large market for this cheap meat would result in fewer numbers being unnecessary killed by ritual methods.
Religious needs are not being questioned - if someone wants Halal or Kosher supplied, so be it. However, those of us who fall into the "Gentile" category have an ethical responsibility to ensure animals required for food are rendered insensible - currently by electrically induced Grand Mal epileptic seizure in the case of pigs and sheep and by captive bolt in the case of cattle - and despatched swiftly before any return to sensibility occurs.
Could I therefore ask you to request your airline to:
(a) Ensure all meat used in their catering is branded "Farm Assured" (in the UK, a red tractor symbolises this) and Farmers and Abattoirs permitted to label their product as such have satisfied strict conditions regarding animal welfare and husbandry.
(b) Ensure eggs used are "Free Range"
Thank you for your support from the farming and animal welfare communities!
On a slightly different note, could you also please mention that you would like "Fair Trade" tea and coffee supplied. The "Fair Trade" marking ensures the suppliers and workers involved in the industry receive fair treatment and fair wages for their labours.
In the UK, far more meat is produced using Halal and Kosher ritual slaughter methods than required by the religious communities requiring said practises. The surplus carcases, together with "spoiled" animals (ie ones where the single cut across the throat failed to sever windpipe, aorta and vena cava together) are sold cheaply to wholesale caterers. Removing a large market for this cheap meat would result in fewer numbers being unnecessary killed by ritual methods.
Religious needs are not being questioned - if someone wants Halal or Kosher supplied, so be it. However, those of us who fall into the "Gentile" category have an ethical responsibility to ensure animals required for food are rendered insensible - currently by electrically induced Grand Mal epileptic seizure in the case of pigs and sheep and by captive bolt in the case of cattle - and despatched swiftly before any return to sensibility occurs.
Could I therefore ask you to request your airline to:
(a) Ensure all meat used in their catering is branded "Farm Assured" (in the UK, a red tractor symbolises this) and Farmers and Abattoirs permitted to label their product as such have satisfied strict conditions regarding animal welfare and husbandry.
(b) Ensure eggs used are "Free Range"
Thank you for your support from the farming and animal welfare communities!
On a slightly different note, could you also please mention that you would like "Fair Trade" tea and coffee supplied. The "Fair Trade" marking ensures the suppliers and workers involved in the industry receive fair treatment and fair wages for their labours.
Last edited by bealine; 26th Apr 2003 at 04:58.
