COMPASSION IN WORLD FARMING INC.

Compassion in World Farming is laser focused on ending factory farming. We do this through targeted work with corporations and governments and public campaigning.

Better Chicken Commitment (BCC)

The Better Chicken Commitment (BCC) is the leading policy agreement made by corporations setting a minimum standard of welfare for broiler chickens in their supply chains. Next year our goals are to have BCC commitments from 1 new producer and 1 new buyer and 7 new companies publishing implementation roadmaps.

US Working Group for Broiler Welfare

Membership in the US Working Group for Broiler Welfare accelerates companies’ progress in transitioning to higher welfare chicken. Monthly meetings allow companies to learn from one another under the guidance of Compassion’s US food business team. Membership requirements have been upgraded to require that all members have a Better Chicken Commitment in place, an active roadmap, and a pledge to publicly report meaningful progress by June, 2023. Goals for next year include holding 6 – 12 meetings, adding 2 new members, and rolling out a BCC standard audit including labelling and marketing that reflects its different components.

Cage free commitments

Goals for next year include adding 2 cage-free laying hen commitments and 3 commitments for sows (gestation crate/group housing.) Commitments for laying hens will specify global cage-free systems and the banning of combination and limited access systems. There is a strong push in the industry towards backsliding so the main focus this year will be on maintaining and making progress toward existing commitments. The food business team will also develop a resource on cage-free implementation for retailers.

Compliance tools

Progress reporting tools are one of Compassion’s most useful contributions to encouraging companies to achieve their commitments. The fourth iteration of ChickenTrack, reporting on companies’ Better Chicken Commitment progress, will be published shortly with 32 companies currently reporting, more than double the target of 15. Next year for EggTrack, we are targeting 70% of US companies reporting progress and 37% of the US egg market going cage-free. We will also explore the development of a compliance tool for crate -free commitments for pigs, potentially Sow Track.

In the words of our Global CEO, Philip Lymbery, “Our goal remains firmly to achieve better lives for animals today and tomorrow by driving up welfare standards on the way to ending the biggest cause of animal suffering on the planet: factory farming.”

Compassion’s new strategy takes a two-pronged approach: raising welfare standards for animals in the current system and changing systems entirely to those that can truly deliver high animal welfare. We are pulling out all the stops, working with governments, corporations, the United Nations, and the financial sector and campaigning with the general public around the world, driven by a sense of urgency in this decisive decade.