For many years, consumers in all EU shops have been able to choose packages of chickens reared in various ways, from conventional (the classic broiler) to organic, slow-growing, low-density and free-range.
Faced with this offer, the European consumer still clearly prefers conventional chicken, which now accounts for 91% of sales, mainly for cost reasons.
Put together, all other options account for only 9%.
If consumer preferences were to change, the poultry industry would be ready to produce what is required, but so far this has not happened.
Despite this, animal rights groups, like new proletarian vanguards, are trying to impose their views on society as a whole by trying to ban the conventional sector.
Other, more moderate European animal welfare associations have instead proposed a new specification for raising broiler chickens called the E.E.C. – European Chicken Commitment.
This E.E.C. should, according to them, improve the animals’ living conditions.
However, alongside reasonable proposals, such as a reduction in stocking density, there are others, such as an obligation to use slow-growing birds, which are totally ideological.
The result of a large-scale application of the ECC specification in Europe is an increase in the final price of at least 37% due to an increase in feed and water consumption (+34%) equal to the annual wheat production of countries like Bulgaria or Italy.
Despite the price increase, due to the use of slow-growing birds, about 40% of the meat consumed today would be lost.
In view of this, the issue is: either we are content to eat less or new farms will have to be built, some 10,000 more, at an expected expense of around 20 billion.
All this to slaughter the chickens 11 days later…
You can find the full document at https://avec-poultry.eu/resources/cee_adas_study/
The editorial staff of M.A.C.
