Temple Grandin to Smithfield Foods: Gestation Crates Have Got to Go

Smithfield Foods, the world's largest pork producer, recently produced a series of slick, whitewashed videos claiming to "take the mystery out of pork production." In reality, the videos aren't so much about solving a mystery as they are a response to the undercover footage, released late last year by the Humane Society of the United States, showing the squalor and abuse endured by pigs trapped in gestation crates at a Smithfield-owned facility.

As a spokesperson for their videos, Smithfield's crack PR team enlisted Temple Grandin, famous for overcoming the challenges of autism to become one of the most well-respected animal scientists in the business. Grandin walks a precarious line between animal agriculture and animal welfare, but one thing can be said for her: She calls it like she sees it, regardless of which side is claiming her as their own.

In the Smithfield productions, Grandin praises the company's decision to create the videos and its progress in animal handling. But in a recent article in the Virginian-Pilot, Grandin veers from the Smithfield script and reveals a few viewpoints on pork production that the company conveniently left off the table.

Grandin said that while the company has replaced gestation crates in favor of group housing at some farms, they need to pick up the pace on their conversion. With record profits, there's no excuse for Smithfield not fast-track the phase-out and meet its original generous deadline of being crate-free by 2017.

While Smithfield's treatment of animals may have marginally improved over the years (there's not quite as many beatings and electric proddings as there was back in the day), Grandin says they're not unique in the industry ... and they still have work to do.

What's responsible for the improvements in the industry so far? Not the goodwill of Smithfield executives. "It's pressure from activist groups," Grandin told the Virginian-Pilot. "Heat softens steel, and steel bends."

We have some more steel-bending to do. In Smithfield's "happy pig" videos, they don't deny that most of their pigs are still kept in gestation crates — confined to spaces so small they can't turn around or walk, have no access to the outdoors, and no social interaction with other pigs. This may be Smithfield's recipe for cheap pork, but it's not a recipe for raising animals free from suffering.

As Grandin said, "Gestation stalls have got to go." Tell Smithfield to recommit to its promise to get rid of gestation crates.

Photo credit: Baileynorwoodrocks