15 December 2023
Big Meat had a good year in Europe. Plans to set emission limits for large-scale cattle farms were scrapped. Rules requiring landowners to restore wetlands were mostly gutted. And a keenly anticipated reform of the animal welfare rules was mostly consigned to the deep freeze. Among those promised animal welfare reforms: legislation to End the Cage Age. The idea was that hens, pigs, calves, rabbits, and quail would no longer be reared in conditions that inflict suffering and that underpin industrial farming, which is responsible for large amounts of greenhouse gases and other pollution. The campaign was the result of a European Citizens Initiative that garnered 1.4 million signatories and was backed by key European commissioners, parliamentarians, and scores of environmental and consumer rights and animal protection advocates. But in her state of the union speech, in September, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made no mention of animal welfare, let alone cages. And by October, the European Commission was in full retreat. So, what happened? In this episode: a deep dive into the activities and influence of a group called European Livestock Voice with Andrea Bertaglio, a journalist and the group’s campaign manager. Also in this episode: Thin Lei Win, the lead food systems reporter for Lighthouse Reports that oversaw the investigation; Arthur Neslen, a freelance journalist for The Guardian; Silvia Lazzaris, editor at Food Unfolded; and Olga Kikou, the head of Compassion in World Farming in Brussels. “This takes us far beyond animal welfare,” says Olga. “It’s a democracy issue.”
