NestFresh Eggs’ Post

SUSTAINABILITY IMPACT - ANIMAL WELFARE When we started we decided to set a new standard for animal welfare by doing both organic and free range eggs. At that time, there were not even cage free eggs in Thailand. We set a standard of 700 hens in an area of 2 Rai (0.8 Acres). This gives every hen more than 49 square feet of space, 25 times more than the US free range standard of 2 square feet per hen. US free range hens are also supposed to be able to go outside for 6 hours a day but at 2 square feet, where can they go? Sadly, conventional US “battery farming” gives hens a mere 76 square inches of space (so HTO hens have 93 times more space) and no access to the outdoors. These vital providers of nutrition live wing to wing their entire short lives, doing nothing but lay eggs. HTO gives our hens lots of room to run around and explore – and they love their freedom. We are now testing a pasture raised model (108 square feet per hen) where hens will have more than twice as much space as our current free range model and they must have fields where they can forage. This model will give our hens more than 207 times more space than battery farming. We have more learning to do but we love the idea of our hens having even more freedom and feeding off the land. We also were advised by many seemingly expert sources that the productive life of hens is 85 weeks, since hens start laying fewer hens at that age. It wasn’t long before we started to challenge that. We found that our hens lay eggs productively far longer than that since they are happy. So we keep them much longer: Of course, because we cannot use chemicals, pesticides and hormones, our hens are healthy during the dry season. But since we cannot use antibiotics, they tended to get sick during the rainy season just like people do. In the beginning, we treated sick hens with turmeric after they got sick. But then we thought why use turmeric only when the hens get sick? Let’s add it to their feed year round to help build their immune systems! So now we grow turmeric, along with corn and soy and add it to their daily feed. Now we are experimenting with other “health foods” to build the immunity of our hens:

Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) is now accepting applications for their next round of Fund-a-Farmer Grants! Apply at https://lnkd.in/e2mzi9F FACT awards competitive grants of up to $3,000 to working, independent farmers located in the 50 United States and five major U.S. territories who raise beef cattle, bison, broiler chickens, dairy cows, ducks, geese, goats, laying hens, pigs, sheep and/or turkeys. This year, FACT will fund the following types of projects: - Farms that wish to improve and expand pasture for animals. These grants for farms to transition to pasture-based systems, expand animals’ access to well-managed pasture, and improve the quality of pasture for animals. - Farms seeking one of three animal welfare certifications: Certified Animal Welfare Approved by A Greener World, Certified Humane, or Global Animal Partnership Animal Welfare Certified (steps 4 to 5+). These grants will be made for on-farm projects that help improve animal welfare. - Farms that already hold one of the welfare certifications above to build capacity or maintain certification. These grants can be for on-farm production-related projects, or for other projects related to the marketing, sales, and distribution of welfare-certified products.

Great to be at the BBFAW launch last week.  BBFAW is the leading global benchmark for assessing companies on their farm animal welfare policies, practices and performance. Used by investors to rate businesses and businesses themselves as a benchmark, it is a rigorous series of technical questions. Supported by Compassion in World Farming and for the first time FOUR PAWS these are my top three take aways from 2023 report. 😃 Great focus on policies and targets. 87% (131) companies hold formal animal welfare policies and 110 (73%) have formal timebound targets on improving welfare. 🙄 There's work to be done on implementation. Example - 9% (13) of companies for which pigs are a relevant species report that a proportion of sows is free from gestation/sow stalls. 🤔 First time there's been questions 'less' to enable 'better'. 14% (21) of companies have published time-bound targets on reducing reliance on animal sourced foods. Well done to the team involved and the business teams who take the time to constructively engage. Nicky Amos, Dr. Martina Stephany Carol McKenna Philip Lymbery Emily Wilson BSc Hons, MSc https://lnkd.in/eERsNRjA

❓Do you want businesses to prioritize animal welfare in their operations? During this proxy season, more than 40 shareholder resolutions have been or are planning to be filed to address animal safety at companies. Consumers and shareholders are more aware of the animal cruelty that goes on in animal factories, which is 99% of the animal foods on the market. Now it seems that consumers are realizing the power of their voice combined with their dollars, working through shareholder engagement to push for more humane practices. Animal-welfare resolutions have historically failed to get much backing. “Proposals, going back to 2015, have received average shareholder support of 11.3%, well below the 30.4% average for all proxy votes over the same time period,” mentioned Rob Du Boff, CFA, senior ESG analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. According to a recent Bloomberg article, a shareholder recommendation filed two years ago with Papa John’s International Inc. garnered among the highest backing of any animal-welfare resolution since 2015, at 41.8%. We are excited to see the growing concern among investors for animal welfare. At VegTech Invest, our publicly traded ETF focuses on ❌ removing animals from the supply chain for clean, cruelty-free foods. 🐄 According to YourStake, our investments are 4.04x more impactful at reducing animal suffering than diet alone. Impact investing can make a tremendous difference for the animals and we are happy to see the rising shareholder engagement surrounding animal welfare. Article link is in the comments. #shareholderengagement #animalwelfare #impactinvesting Josh Balk The Humane Society of the United States Heidi Welsh Sustainable Investments Institute

Join Kipster in defending farm animal rights and supporting farmers. Kipster advocates for humane treatment of farm animals, ensuring they have space to roam, forage, and express their natural behaviors. However, a group of politicians wants to introduce new legislation called the EATS Act which threatens these freedoms. The EATS Act aims to strip states of their power to enforce animal welfare laws, endangering the rights to be free from crates and cages of millions of animals. It would overturn vital regulations like California’s Proposition 12 and Massachusetts’ Question 3, which were overwhelmingly supported by voters in these states. Despite claims of protecting farmers, the EATS Act undermines progress in humane farming practices. It's crucial to oppose this bill and stand up for animal welfare. Join us in voicing opposition by signing petitions and contacting state representatives through the resources provided below. Let's protect the rights of farm animals together. Want to get involved? Share this post with your network to help stop this bill before it’s too late. https://lnkd.in/ewMhqSxS https://lnkd.in/eVEAgHgs https://lnkd.in/eZyXMsT8 Actual Veggies, Applegate Bon Appétit Management Company, duBreton, Earth Animal, Handsome Brook Farms, Hungryroot, Kipster, Kettle Cuisine, Mission Driven Meat and Seafood, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Niman Ranch, North Country Smokehouse, LLC. , Pederson's Natural Farms, Perdue Farms, RoliRoti, SUNDAYS FOR DOGS, INC., Thrive Market, True Story Foods, Whole Foods Market, and Whole30

❓Do you want businesses to prioritize animal welfare in their operations? During this proxy season, more than 40 shareholder resolutions have been or are planning to be filed to address animal safety at companies. Consumers and shareholders are more aware of the animal cruelty that goes on in animal factories, which is 99% of the animal foods on the market. Now it seems that consumers are realizing the power of their voice combined with their dollars, working through shareholder engagement to push for more humane practices. Animal-welfare resolutions have historically failed to get much backing. “Proposals, going back to 2015, have received average shareholder support of 11.3%, well below the 30.4% average for all proxy votes over the same time period,” mentioned Rob Du Boff, CFA, senior ESG analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. According to a recent Bloomberg article, a shareholder recommendation filed two years ago with Papa John’s International Inc. garnered among the highest backing of any animal-welfare resolution since 2015, at 41.8%. We are excited to see the growing concern among investors for animal welfare. At VegTech Invest, our publicly traded ETF focuses on ❌ removing animals from the supply chain for clean, cruelty-free foods. 🐄 According to YourStake, our investments are 4.04x more impactful at reducing animal suffering than diet alone. Impact investing can make a tremendous difference for the animals and we are happy to see the rising shareholder engagement surrounding animal welfare. Article link is in the comments. #shareholderengagement #animalwelfare #impactinvesting Josh Balk The Humane Society of the United States Heidi Welsh Sustainable Investments Institute

Our latest YouGov poll at Animal Justice Project has revealed that most egg consumers believe 'animal welfare' to be important to them, yet they also believe industry propaganda like free-range hens having daily access to the outdoors (our investigation has confirmed this is not true over several RSPCA Assured free-range farms). Interestingly, 80% of the vegetarians polled did not think it was acceptable to kill male chicks at a day old, yet they still bought eggs. How do we get vegetarians, which I believe is a key audience for us to grow the vegan movement, to stop buying eggs and align their values to their actions? We are soon to launch another cage-free investigation, which will show the cracks in the 'higher-welfare' side of the egg industry across several companies. Keep a look-out!

✨ ASPCA Awards 18 Fund-a-Farmer Grants to Help Build a More Humane Farming System🌱🐄 Since 2017, the ASPCA has partnered with Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT), an organization that works to ensure all food-producing animals are raised in a more humane and healthy manner. FACT’s Fund-a-Farmer grants award farmers who want to obtain or who already hold a meaningful animal welfare certification, as well as to farmers who are improving their animals’ access to pasture. FACT has awarded 695 grants, totaling over $1.3 MILLION to improve farm animal welfare, expand higher welfare farming practices and support work benefiting an estimated 1 million animals since 2012. This year, the ASPCA funded 18 of the grants, bringing our total supported farms through FACT to 128! These grants are vital for creating a more humane farming system, providing necessary resources like adequate fencing, food, water, and other higher welfare practices to ensure farm animals lead better lives. The ASPCA is dedicated to building more opportunities for farmers across the country so they can transition to higher-welfare systems, despite the financial challenges. FACT’s grant programs are a fantastic start, but the demand is high — they received over 600 applications this year alone! Let’s keep supporting humane farming together! Visit the link to learn more: https://lnkd.in/eDiSRXkr

In 2021, North Carolina animal shelters had the second-highest euthanasia rate in the country. And shelters across the state are full. It's the responsibility of the Commissioner of Agriculture to regulate animal welfare. I'm ready to work with lawmakers to address this issue. I wanted to share this letter to the editor in support of my campaign that was published in The Sanford Herald recently. "To the Editor: Do you get angry or teary-eyed when you see those horrible SPCA ads about abused and neglected animals? Have you ever witnessed a puppy or kitten being flung from a car onto the side of the road? Have you ever taken home a hound that is nothing but skin-and-bones that someone abandoned in the woods? Or have you ever gone to a shelter and looked into those pleading eyes of dogs or cats that some irresponsible owner no longer wants? If you have answered yes to any of the aforementioned questions, you already know that some of NC’s laws pertaining to animal welfare need to be improved. Did you realize that Animal Welfare comes under the Department of Agriculture, and we have had the same Commissioner of Agriculture for the past 20 years, the same Commissioner who does little to help the over-population of pets, the same Commissioner who allows a statute for hunting dogs to read that “Nothing” in the previous article about food, water, and housing “shall apply to those kennels or establishments operated primarily for the purpose of boarding or training hunting dogs.” In other words, hunting dogs do not need even the basics, and the same Commissioner of Agriculture who allows huge farm conglomerates to dump their hog waste into rivers. We need a Commissioner of Agriculture who cares about animal welfare, who wants to lower the euthanasia rate, who wants owners to take responsibility for their pets, and who wants to work to help the environment. Sarah Taber is running for Commissioner of Agriculture. She is dedicated to helping the farmers and farm industry of North Carolina, but she is also dedicated to improving the plight or unwanted pets in the state. We need Sarah Taber as our next Commissioner of Agriculture. Naomi Johnson Carthage" #Election2024 #animals #animalwelfare #agriculture #TimeForTaber

💡 How are #soil, #foodsecurity, #animalwelfare, and #humanhealth interconnected? Beginning with reflections during a nighttime train journey, followed by a tale of lifeless sand, Mr. Philip Lymbery illustrates real-life challenges of #OneHealth and propose strategies for better safeguarding a healthier world.