This means that about 26 million more animals are now benefitting from being reared to our higher welfare standards, compared to five years ago.
The amount of Freedom Food labeled products in supermarkets has also increased 30% in the last two years. It’s further proof, says Freedom Food, that ethical shoppers remain committed to farm animal welfare despite a tough economy.
Leigh Grant, chief executive of our Freedom Food, said: “The trend for ethical purchasing has had a huge impact on farm animal welfare. Consistent consumer demand for Freedom Food products has helped millions more farm animals have a better life than they did just five years ago.
But despite this growth, only around 8% of the UK’s farm animals are under Freedom Food. And with some animals like ducks and turkeys dropping in number last year, there is clearly still much more work to do.
And we need people to help us. The more shoppers demand Freedom Food products, the more supermarkets will stock them and the more farm animals will have a better life.
The number of pigs under Freedom Food has grown nearly 84% (from 1.4 million in 2006 to 2.7 million in 2011) including a 16% increase last year.
This means pigs farmed under Freedom Food to RSPCA standards now account for about 28% of UK pig production.
Chicken numbers have risen 60% in five years (from 25 million to nearly 40 million birds) with a 13% rise last year. This accounts for about 5% of the 860 million chickens farmed every year in the UK.
Egg laying hens increased 53% overall from 11.6 million to 17.8 million birds. This means the vast majority of UK cage-free egg production is under Freedom Food. Ducks rose 21.5% from about 3.8 million to nearly 4.7 million but took a 28% fall last year. However, this still accounts for about 36% of UK duck production.
Turkeys quadrupled from just over 247,000 in 2006, to more than 1.2 million birds. However, dipped by about 10% last year.
There are now more than 900 different Freedom Food labelled product lines available in major retailers, independents and online. These include chicken, eggs, salmon, pork, duck and dairy products.
Source: RSPCA
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