Environment
Coles urged to extend sow stall ban
The pork industry has accused the Coles Supermarkets chain of a double standard on the battery farming of pigs.
Coles has announced it will no longer sell Australian pork from pigs raised in ‘sow stalls’ – metal cages used to confine pigs during pregnancy.
But even supporters of the ban are unhappy, because the ban only applies to Australian producers and not imported pork products.
Earlier this month the Tasmanian Government became the first state to ban sow stalls, and now Coles has broken ranks among mainstream retailers and announced its Australian pork producers will phase out sow stalls from next year.
Allister Watson, the general manager of meat and seafood at Coles, says the supermarket is making a stance.
“Customers have told us for some time that they want animal welfare issues at the forefront of the products that they buy,” he said.
“One of the issues with pork is sow stall use in the supply chain, so we’ve made the stance to take sow stalls out.”
Matthew Evans, who was a food critic but is now an artisan pork producer in Tasmania, says he supports the decision to ban small pens on the grounds of cruelty.
“They allow a sow to stand up and to lie down but they don’t have to be any bigger than the sow essentially, they only have to be one centimetre bigger than the sow and one centimetre wider than the sow,” he said.
“So if you think of taking a 180 kilogram animal and putting it in something the size of a bath, is essentially what a sow stall is.
“Sometimes they would stay in there for most of their adult lives.
“Though the industry is going to a system where they’ll only be in there for six weeks during pregnancy, during a phase when the heightened hormones means the sows actually fight with each other.”
But the ban being imposed by Coles only applies to fresh pork and Australian pork producers.
“We only sell fresh pork from Australian producers, so we’re not talking about hams and bacon at this stage but we want to go through a process there,” Mr Watson said.
“But certainly from a fresh pork perspective, well we’ve got to start somewhere and we’re starting with that.”
Mr Evans says applying a limited ban is slightly disingenuous.
“I don’t think the fact that it’s fresh pork or processed pork has any impact on the pig,” he said.
“The banning of a sow stall is actually in the interest of the pig, it’s not in the interest of human beings.
“If they’re not buying pork because they believe it’s not appropriate they shouldn’t buy it whether it’s processed or fresh.”