Giving Back By Michelle Russell
Take Away
Eating MoreHumanely
The Certified Humane program is helping to improve the lives of 26.5 million farm animals—while making consumers feel better about their food choices.
Adele Douglass,the 64-year-oldCEOofHumane Farm Animal Care—a nonprofit organization that she launched in 2003 to better the lives of farm animals by setting rigorous standards, con- ducting annual inspections, and certifying facili- ties that offer humane treatment—sees herself as “your average consumer.” While her kids were growing up, she said, shewould seemedia cover- age of inhumane treatment of farm animals and wonder what she could do to make a difference. “There was never anything other than to stop eat- ing meat,” she said. “And in my family, that wasn’t going to happen.” Douglass, who had experience lobbying for
children and animal welfare and had worked in Congress, said that she knew that legislation
“I wanted to see something done in my lifetime. I thought this was a good way to do it.”
wasn’t the answer. “It took almost 100 years to get a humane slaughter act passed,” she said. “I want- ed to see something done in my lifetime, so I thought that [initiating humane certification for farm-animal products] was a good way to do it.” The only research she conducted to determine
if there was a market for her idea, she said, “was talking to people. I felt like everyone was saying [farm animals’ treatment] is bad, but no one was offering any solutions.” Her solution was to incentivize farmers, who
would get more for their products if they met Humane FarmAnimalCare’s standards—which include raising animals on a nutritious diet with- out antibiotics or hormones, and with shelter, rest- ing areas, sufficient space, and the ability to
engage in natural behaviors. Consumers, in turn, would “vote with their pocketbooks,” Douglass said. Certified Humane food costs more than conventional but less than organic products. Douglass launchedHumaneFarmAnimal Care
with fivecompaniesandfarms—and143,000ani- mals—certifiedunder the program. In2010alone, that number swelled to 26.5 million farm animals.
Group Consumption While Douglass’ efforts have been focused on retailers—more than 4,000 stores nationwide now carry Certified Humane products — the program is starting to catch on at restaurants. “Restaurants want to promote the logo,” she said, “but they have to be inspectedfor segregation, sep- aration, for traceability, because we found that if we let them use the logo in conjunction with the product, they may not buy the product anymore, but continue to use the logo.” Meeting plannerswho are interested in offer-
ing Certified Humane products at their meal events, Douglass said, should check the “Where to Buy” section on the CertifiedHumane website, which lists distributors (see ON_THE_WEB, below). She offered the example of theMassachu- setts ASPCA as an organization that has served Certified Humane products at its meal events by working with caterers and distributors in the Boston area that carry those products. As for convention centers, in 2009, ARA-
MARK at the Anaheim Convention Center announced a pilot program, the first of its kind among convention centers: the purchase of a herd of cattle from Hearst Ranch, which holds a certi- fication fromHumaneFarm Animal Care. It’s the only convention center Douglass knows of that offers Certified Humane products — at the moment. “It only takes one person to be the leader,” she said, “and once someone puts their feet in the water, then everybody else follows.”
ON_THE_WEB: Learn more about Humane Farm Animal Care at
www.certifiedhumane.org. To locate distributors in your area and in upcoming event destinations that carry Certified Humane products, visit
www.certifiedhumane.org/index.php?page=where-to-buy.
28 pcma convene April 2011 ILLUSTRATION BY ROBERT HANSON
A Higher Standard Why did USA Today call Certified Humane “The Gold Standard”? “Our standards were written by the best animal-welfare scien- tists in the world,” said HumaneFarm Animal Care’s Adele Douglass. “Temple Grandin is on our sci- entific committee.” (For a Convene Leading by Example profileof Grandin, visit
http://bit.ly/ fNEZin.) The sole purpose of the pro- gram, Douglass said, “was to improve the lives of farm animals in food production, whether in an indoor or outdoor system.” She believes that
consumer trends are inducing farmers, retailers, and restaurants to embrace the Certified Humane program. Some- times, she said, “consumer trends and altruism do go together, and that’s a nice thing.”
Michelle Russell is editor in chief of Convene.
Giving Back is sponsored by Fairmont Hotels & Resorts,
www.fairmont.com.
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