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ESSENTIAL DESTINATIONS
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MONTH: September 2007
American Veal Association votes to phase out crating
WASHINGTON D.C.--With
U.S. veal consumption now less than half of what it was in 1980, a third
of what it was in 1970, a fifth of what it was in 1960, and a sixth of
the peak circa 1950, the American Veal Association board of directors
on May 9, 2007 voted unanimously to phase out crating calves by 2017--but
their decision did not reach the public until the Humane Society of the
U.S. and PETA claimed victory in early August 2007 press releases, while
urging faster action.
The American Veal Association resolution
mentioned that "industry must always be aware and mindful of consumer
concerns," and that "group housing was imposed legislatively"
in Europe in the mid-1990s.
Introduced to the U.S. from the Netherlands soon after World War II, veal crating was almost immediately criticized as inhumane by both animal advocates and farmers using traditional woodlot pasturing and group housing to fatten calves for early slaughter. Intensive campaigning against veal crating, however, was introduced by the Farm Animal Reform Movement and the Humane Farming Association in the mid-1980s. FARM has organized annual Mother's Day protests against veal crating for more than 20 years, while HFA has placed versions of ads similar to the one on page 5 of this edition of ANIMAL PEOPLE in national news magazines during the holiday seasons that mark the traditional peaks of veal consumption.