Slow Food Goes Brussels: The paradoxes of animal welfare in Europe.

The protection of animal welfare on farms has gained momentum in recent years in Europe, with more and more EU citizens calling for the end of their cruel exploitation. And this is with good reason, for farm animals are considered as mere profit machines.

You’ve all seen those images of cows, pigs or chicken packed into tight cages or confined to small spaces where they spend a short but painful life. In a never-ending quest for profit, industrial farming allows farm animals to be mutilated, abused, crammed together, fed with low quality feed, and transported across the world in dreadful conditions. Overall farm animals are prevented to live according to their natural needs.

Yet, it is said that the European Union has the most advanced legislation in the world regarding animal welfare standards. So why such a gap between the European law and farming practices on the ground? How bad is the state of animal welfare in Europe, and what is being done at the EU level to right such wrongs? Also, what alternatives are there to industrial animal farming? You want the answers to these questions? No worries, Slow Food Europe investigated for you! In this episode, you will hear different points of view on this topic from:

• Jacopo Goracci, farmer of local ancient breeds of cows and pigs in rural Tuscany (Italy) and coordinator of a Slow Food presidium
• Andrea Gavinelli, who is in charge of the animal welfare unit at the EU Commission
• Olga Kikou, European Affairs Manager at the organization Compassion in World Farming

Do not hesitate to follow @SlowFoodEurope on Twitter, as well as our guests: @Olga_CIWF, @CIWF_EU and @andreagavinelli. And if you don’t yet follow SFYN on Instagram, time to catch up!

Host: Alice Poiron
Production, editing: Valentina Gritti
Music: Leonardo Prieto

A project by Slow Food Youth Network

Financed by the European Union. The contents of this podcast are the sole responsibility of the author and CINEA is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.