Food animals can be humanely prepared for food consumption.
There is a push for citizens to understand the steps of how food gets to the table. The processing of meat is no exception. Considering the somewhat brutal ways that food animals can be slaughtered, alternatives do exist. For those who still eat meat but would prefer meat processed and slaughtered in as humane of a way as possible there is Certified Humane meat. Humanely slaughtered meat products are sold in stores but it is sometimes hard for the consumer to discern which meats comply with this standard. Add this to my Recipe Box.
Instructions
1. Learn what humanely slaughtered meat is. There are many websites online that will extensively explain this process and educate you on what to look for when you go to the grocery store. In general most meats found in grocery stores are not humanly slaughtered meats. Meats that are humanely slaughtered will have this stated on their wrap label. The best products will have an official certification.
2. Visit or call your local grocer and ask if they sell Certified Humane meats. Prepare yourself to explain this because certified humane is not the majority of the meat product being sold. The easiest and quickest way to explain this is to say, "I am looking for beef and chicken that has a Certified Humane label on it. This means that the animal was raised on a certified farm required to raise and process the animal under humane standards." Meat with this certification will have a blue and white sticker on it that clearly states, "Certified Humane: Raised and Handled."
3. Go to the Certified Humane website to find stores that carry humanely slaughtered meats. You should note that Certified Humane is not a brand name or company, but a classification. Your local farm or beef company may process humanely and its name will be on the label as well. The website will give you the names of grocery stores and brand names of meat companies to look for.
4. Ignore products without certification that say "free range" only. It is important to note that some might confuse free range with humanely slaughtered. They are not one and the same. Free range meat is meat that has allowed the animals to be free from housing in factories or tight enclosures where they typically eat grain only and never graze or eat grass. While this may be better for the animal than factory enclosures, free range is not a requirement of humanly slaughtered meats.
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