AUSTIN, Texas — On restaurant menus and in local meat cases, consumers in six countries around the globe can purchase meat products certified to Global Animal Partnership (GAP), creator of North America’s most comprehensive farm animal welfare standards. Retail stores and restaurants in Canada, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, St. Maartens, St. Kitts and Nevis, and the US offer meat and poultry from animals that have been raised under the same strict farm animal welfare standards.
“As consumers increasingly demand products that reflect their values, farm animal welfare standards are becoming more widespread around the world,” said GAP Executive Director Anne Malleau. “The industry will see further growth as restaurants and food service companies alike aim for GAP standards, including our Higher Welfare Chicken Initiative.”
New GAP-certified partners outside the US include Atkins Ranch in New Zealand, with 25+ GAP-certified farms that produce sheep, The Best Dressed Chicken with three GAP-certified farms in Jamaica, and Karro Food Group of the UK with more than 60 GAP-certified pig farms.
Currently, there are more than 3,200 farms and ranches certified under GAP’s 5-Step Animal Welfare Standards program, including 219 GAP-certified beef, pork, chicken and turkey farms in Canada. These standards spell out specific practices that promote farm animal welfare, and prohibit certain practices such as the use of cages, crates, and stalls.
The Global Animal Partnership is a global leader in farm animal welfare that has established a comprehensive step-by-step program for raising animals that requires audits of every single farm. GAP makes it easy for consumers to find meat products that reflect their values. A nonprofit founded in 2008, GAP brings together farmers, scientists, ranchers, retailers, and animal advocates with the common goal of improving the welfare of animals in agriculture. So far, the 5-Step program includes more than 3,200 farms and ranches that range from Step 1 to Step 5+ and now raise more than 290 million animals annually.
Source: The Global Animal Partnership
