Happy Cows and Chickens

I eat a largely vegan diet since rediscovering the horrors of factory farming, but I usually include dairy or eggs in my meals when I go out. However, these restaurants and food stalls use normal eggs and dairy, which means really inhumane conditions, such as cows unable to move and so pumped full of growth hormones that their udders make their backs ache, and separated from their calves almost immediately after birth so that they live lives of depression, anxiety and loneliness. Because of this knowledge, I feel pretty guilty when I eat these foods.

People concerned with animal welfare are usually vegan, but it's a step I haven't fully been able to take. I love having some Stilton blue with my red wine, or an eggs florentine for breakfast. However, I'm thinking that to be a more conscious consumer, I can actually buy animal products for my home, and eat vegan when I go out, effectively reversing what I've been doing. That way, I can control the animal products I buy.

I discovered today a nonprofit that certifies animal foods under the label, "Certified Humane Raised and Handled." I have been searching for something like this for some time, as I learned that there are no legal standards defining "cage-free" eggs, and those hens are often poorly treated, too. The nonprofit, Humane Farm Animal Care, has high standards for humane treatment, based on veterinary and farmer expertise, and enforces those standards. The label that you find on food can be seen in the top left corner of the site. There is a handy "Where to Buy" page that lets you search for these products at stores near you. I found out that Whole Foods carries a label of eggs, Vital Farms, under this label, as well as two dairy labels, Eros and Green Valley Organics.

I found this information in Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet, a New York Times bestseller that explores the benefits of a vegan diet, and has good recipes! If she, a famous animal advocate, is okay with this compromise for animal foods-eaters, then so am I.

Just letting you know that this option is available. I highly recommend using the search on the website instead of just going to the store and looking for the label, because very few producers have the label.