Factory Farms | 249 On November 5, 2008, California voters approved Proposition 2: The Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, in a landslide This landmark citizen ballot initiative criminalized, with a phase-out period, the confinement of animals in battery cages, gestation crates, and veal crates Despite an agribusiness-funded campaign opposing the modest requirement to provide animals with enough space to stand up, lie down, turn around, and extend their limbs, more than 63 percent of the California electorate voted in favor of Prop 2, in the nation’s top agriculture state, no less California is in good company Since 2002, Florida and Oregon have passed laws against gestation crates, while Arizona and Colorado have banned both gestation crates and veal crates Although these improvements won’t prevent every problem with using animals for food, they’re a step toward ending the worst confinement abuses, and they’ve sparked major changes at the corporate level Over the past several years, retailers and restaurants, including Safeway, Whole Foods, Burger King, Wolfgang Puck, and even animal producers such as Smithfield Foods, have begun to move away from supporting the use of crates and cages on factory farms They’re also catering to the growing number of Americans who demand vegetarian and vegan foods that are more humanely produced, sustainable, and socially responsible Plant-based meat, dairy, and egg alternatives are exploding in popularity and are readily available at nearly every supermarket Gourmet restaurants are increasingly featuring vegetarian and vegan options as haute cuisine, and exclusively vegetarian eateries are now commonplace Even fast-food chains that used to be vegan wastelands offer menu choices, and many restaurants happily accommodate vegan customers Finally, vegan and vegetarian cookbooks have flooded the bookshelves, proving that plant-based cooking is accessible, easy, and delicious See also Food Animals, Ethics and Methods of Raising Animals Further Reading American Public Health Association 2003 Precautionary moratorium on new concentrated animal feed operations Policy # 20037 Eisnitz, G A 2006 Slaughterhouse: The shocking story of greed, neglect and inhumane treatment inside the U.S meat industry Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2006 Press release: Livestock a major threat to environment November 29, 2006 http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/ news/2006/1000448/index.html Accessed December 23, 2008 Greger, M 2006 Bird flu: A virus of our own hatching New York: Lantern Books Miller, J., and Ghiotto, G 2008 Video shows alleged mistreatment of chickens at egg ranch Riverside Press-Enterprise October 14, 2008 Masson, J 2003 The pig who sang to the moon New York: Ballantine Books Schlosser, E 2001 Fast food nation: The dark side of the All-American meal Boston: Houghton Mifflin Scully, M 2002 Dominion: The power of many, the suffering of animals, and the call to mercy, New York, St Martin’s Press Singer, P., and Mason, J 2007 The ethics of what we eat: Why our food choices matter New York: Rodale United Egg Producers 2008 UEP animal husbandry guidelines for U.S egg laying flocks, 2008 edition http://www.uepcerti fied.com/media/pdf/UEP-Animal-WelfareGuidelines.pdf Accessed December 23, 2008, p.1 See also U.S Department of Agriculture, NASS, 2008 Chickens and eggs 2007 summary http://usda.mannlib.cornell edu/usda/current/ChickEgg/ChickEgg-0228-2008.pdf, p.4 Accessed December 23, 2008